Koh Phi Phi Day 2
With no set plans for today, we set off from the hotel in simple exploration mode. Of course it is a beautiful sunny day, so we figure we’ll check out the island and just take things as they come. We have cheesy hotel map to give us some guidance, and end up heading in the general direction of a viewpoint. Our guidebook also mentions something about great views from some trails north of town, so that seems like as good of a plan as any.
The flaw is that none of us seems to remember just how far you have to walk along said trails, or connects the dots that good views generally means being much higher than sea level. There are very few markers on the trail we have chosen, so we continue on in hopes that our destination will be just around the next corner. Instead, what we find is just one steep hill after another. A tropical rainstorm adds some salt to the wound, not only soaking the few scraps of clothing that jungle humidity hasn’t caused us to sweat through, but turning the top layer of the dirt trail into sludge.
Despite all of that, when we finally do reach the top, the view is definitely worth it. We take some time to just look down over the two bays and the crystal blue water, before turning around and staring back.
On the way down, we come to a junction with another trail heading off to a place called Viewpoint #2 (we have just come from Viewpoint #3), and decide we may as well take a gander while we are up there. It’s a short trail, followed by a bit of rock scrambling that ends in…wouldn’t you know it, a very developed outpost with a small restaurant, general store, and a paved trail all the way back to town. It turns out that we missed the main path most people take to the viewpoint, and instead ended up on one much more rustic. We pass dozens of day trippers that are heading up the paved trail who likely will never make it as far as the third viewpoint (which in my opinion was the better one), so even though it would have been easier, we are pretty happy with the way things turned out.
All this exercise has earned us some time just cooling off in the ocean, with Nick trying in vain to catch the crabs that periodically poke their heads out of the rocks. Massages also seem warranted, and after two weeks, we are finally able to convince Nick to give it a try. The lady agrees to go pretty mellow on him rather than the full on Thai pretzel twist, which I suspect would have freaked him out beyond all repair. The place is right next to Slinky’s, so not quite as quiet as the sala by the beach, but Nick still seems pretty happy with the result and is on the road to becoming a convert.
For dinner, we head back to a gritty little place we found in our previous night’s walkabout, run by a guy named Samee. He advertises the best food on the whole island, and, well his name is Samee, so we have to give it a try. We are not disappointed, finishing off with a mango and sticky rice that is easily the best we have had since we arrived (an important lesson learned is that November is not mango season, making my favorite Thai dessert somewhat difficult to find).
Tomorrow is a dive day, and starts pretty early in the morning, so no rave again for the Roberts’.