Someone reminded me tonight how important it is to blog regularly to preserve memories and feelings for a time when things might be different.  Before I start to get fresh content up, I need to move bits over from my old blog.  A lot of things have changed since I posted this, but here is my post about THE beach (from The Beach) in Phi Phi…

We arrived in Phi Phi on Wednesday and within 1.5 hours Keith and Tim had us on a boat, drinking beer and heading off to the island with THE beach from ‘The Beach’ film.

Perfect blue skies, beautiful scenery, beer and rice onboard, crystal clear water, good friends a boat full of like minded people made the boat trip a perfect trip!

We stopped several times during the trip for site seeing, snorkelling and swimming.  The boat was only about 70% full, so there was plenty of space for sunbathing, dancing, star jumps or whatever else we wanted to do.  The captain didn’t even seem to mind when was (accidentally) standing right in front of his view window, when I realised and jumped out of the way the only comment was – ‘It doesn’t matter, no rules in Thailand!’

When we arrived at THE Beach, I didn’t realise straight away because it’s slightly different in the film due to the fact that they superimposed an additional rock to make it look like the beach is fully enclosed – which in reality it is not.  However, once we had actually sailed in to the bay, the beach became familiar.

Whilst there are no hotels or types of development on the island, it is far from the deserted paradise which is portrayed in the film.  It was actually pretty busy and when arrived on the sand we found a bar, snack bar and toilets.  It was still an amazing beach though, with sand which felt like flour and water which was as clear as any swimming pool I have been in.

We stayed for about an hour, had so me drinks, played Frisbee and soaked up the sun.  When we got back to the main boat, I did not think anything could actually top the day, but then we saw the sunset…

As the sun set we headed back, partied on the boat for a little longer, Tim put on his santa outfit, Larry Limbo socialised with everyone on the boat and eventually we arrived back at the dock just in time for dinner.  Top 1st day in Phi Phi!  More to come soon