Thailand Tour: Day 4
To say that I woke up feeling dandy would be a lie. I struggled to make it out of bed but it was time for breakfast before we left. I physically could not put anything in to my mouth so I just sat and sipped water whilst Nina made her way through the daily plate of pancakes ( which continued through out the trip). I decided that since we would not arrive at the hotel until 4, as difficult as it may be I would have to eat something as otherwise I could experience short term starvation during the forthcoming 2 hour ferry. Thanking the Lord I was mostly packed we vacated our room and headed to the lobby. Here we were subject to a great surprise when told of the tales of the previous night.
It turned out that Nina and I had definitely made the right decision in leaving an hour earlier than the rest as in that time the streets had flooded to up to waist deep in places due to the on slaught of rain. When the rest of the group were walking(swimming?!) home they encountered water ranging in depth from knee to waist deep, but amazingly it had disappeared in the matter of hours from then to check out. Due to this influx of water the bad news had been delivered that the ground floor of the hotel had flooded, along with some of the group’s rooms resulting in a soggy suitcase. Yet we all benefitted from this as in attempt to remedy this the hotel get us a free open bar, meaning MANGO SMOOTHIES FOR ALL! I also took the opportunity to stock up on water bottles for the journey. A short trip was made to the closest 7/11 (that occur almost everywhere you turn) for snacks for the journey ahead before we set off for the ferry.
At the ferry terminal we were given stickers as our tickets but also to show which port we were getting off at so that someone could wake us if we fell asleep. It was safe to say that everyone was shattered so once on the ferry we all took our seats and pretty much didn't move. Most of us sat on the top deck, so, many people laying down to sleep and sunbathe. Knowing me, no I did not sleep even though I welcomed it so. The journey wasn't too bad as I sat with the wind blowing through my hair and eyes shut, the 2 hours plodded by. When we had finally disembarked on Koh Phi Phi we all collected our bags (after a minor *major* panic that mine hadn't made it) and walked onto the stunning island. It was strikingly beautiful with white sandy beaches and little stalls lining the paved alley ways. They journey was not over yet as we still had to navigate said alley ways to get to the hotel of a 15 minute walk away for which we had organised boats to take us to save us having to trawl our suitcases through the sand. But did they turn up? Of course not.
Finally we made it to the Bayview Hotel, which we were assured was tsunami proof and had the stairs to prove it! Absolutely shattered now we made the climb up the stair clad hill to our cute little rooms. We still had a few hours before dinner, so with the sea calling me, a bunch of us headed in the direction of the beach. With low tide it meant that it took a distance of what seemed like a mile to even get knee deep so at this point we decided that was good enough for now and a shower was the best option.
Group dinner was at a place called Unni’s, serving quite global cuisine. There was indeed exactly what I was craving on the menu, a burrito, but I decided that I would be a fool to have such a thing when I Thailand, so I ordered my first vegan Pad Thai of the trip – and let me tell you, it did not disappoint! With every dish that came to the table my hunger level increased so that when my food was placed in front of me I practically rejoiced. Sitting next to Ema again we chatted further and discussed the possibility of a quick LA visit when in there in April. Then came the task of payment which came as a bill of over 4000 THB for the table. Briefly stopping to browse the stalls and shops on the way, we ambled back to the hotel for a well deserved sleep ready for the next day of adventure in the morning.