"The Beach" from the Movie, actually called Maya Bay
Another shot of the beach...so many tourists :(
Long boat in Maya Bay
Nicola feeding the monkeys at Monkey Beach
Tropical fish pecking the bread right out of your hand
Nicola getting swarmed by hungry fish
Muay Thai Boxing match at Patong StadiumWell it's been a little while since our last post on the blog. To be perfectly honest we really haven't been doing that much different everyday. A typical day for us in Patong Beach has been sleeping in, throwing on our bathing suits, heading down the beach, reading, tanning and swimming for the whole day, relaxing or going out in the evenings and then doing it all over again the next day. We literally did that every day for about 10 days. One of the nights we took in a Muay Thai fight at the local stadium which was really entertaining, better than the fights we saw in Bangkok. There were a lot of international fighters on the card and all the fights were very aggressive.
We also did a day tour out to the Koh Phi Phi islands. These are regarded as some of the most beautiful places in the world, and certainly in Thailand. As I mentioned in a previous post, the movie "The Beach" was set on the islands off Koh Samui but was actually filmed on a beach on one of the Phi Phi islands. We went to this beach, called Maya Bay, and were awestruck with just how perfect it was. Nestled in a very protected bay, surrounded by towering cliffs, a perfectly white sandy beach sits in the back of bay filled with crystal clear water thriving with tropical fish. The only downside to the area is that everyday thousands of tourists make the trip out there and the place has been perpetually busy since the 1999 release of the film displaying it's beauty. However, if you are able to look past all the boats and all the tourists it's easy to see this is one of the world's 'not so hidden' gems. After visiting that beach our tour boat took us around to many other places around the islands and for a buffet lunch on another very nice beach in a quieter area. We also visited an almost equally busy 'Monkey Beach' where the beach and surrounding trees are full of Monkeys ready and willing to accept bananas from the tourists in exchange for being photographed more than Paris Hilton or Britney Spears.
Our time in Patong beach was great, though we may not think of it like this we really converted from travelers to tourists for a week and a half but we definitely enjoyed the relaxation. I will certainly never argue with $6 for an hour long massage or $1 for three giant spring rolls delivered right to my beach chair while reading a book. Now that our time is up there, Nik has flown back to Bangkok to return home today and Nicola and I have flown to Chiang Mai, a city of about 200,000 in Northern Thailand. We will spend probably 5 nights up here, exploring the city and some of its many temples before returning to Bangkok for a few nights and then home for us too. Our itinerary includes one afternoon and night in Singapore on the way home so we'll get to explore that city a little bit more this time.
