Ko Phi Phi island

Last Wednesday and Thursday (another backlog blog post from Hanoi):
On Wednesday, the ferry took us to Ko Phi Phi island, and from there a longtail boat (thai-style motorboat) took us around the island to our hotel.

The longtail boats were interesting-- they used outboard motors consisting of an exposed engine driving a propeller shaft extending directly from the engine at least 10ft behind the boat. It looks like the simplest possible design.

The hotel had ~20 fairly rustic bungalows, as well as a restuarant area and plenty of hammocks. The bungalows had mosquito nets over the beds and only cold water, but the excellent scenery, weather and good food made up for this. Since it was the low season, there were only a few other guests. The hotel was run by a middle-aged couple with another two people working for them. The food included excellent stir-fry, fruit pancakes and shakes, and fresh coconut, all very cheap.

Snorkeling from the beach was excellent-- coral with many fish from near the beach to the edge of the coral reef about 150m out. We rented masks and snorkels from the hotel. I did see a few clownfish (as in "Finding Nemo") hiding in anemones, as well as clownfish, barracuda, angelfish and other kinds. Some of the coral was dead (bleached white or brown rather than bright colors), and visibility was about 10m underwater, but the water was warm enough (pleasantly warm on the surface, pleasantly cool at ~10m depth) and the schools of fish sufficiently aquarium-like that it was exactly the snorkeling I was looking for anyway. I considered a boat trip to another coral reef, but got a mild sunburn after several hours of snorkeling on the first day, so I stayed in the shade in a hammock for most of the next day.

Another highlight was the view from the top of the island-- Ko Phi Phi is two mountains connected by a low hill/sandbar, forming two crescent-shaped bays. Kipp and I saw the view shortly before dusk and then hiked back to our hotel on a path through the jungle.

The coral sand beach in front of our hotel had many burrowing crabs. We saw crabs scurrying sideways between holes similar to gopher holes, and sometimes scooping up sand and tossing it out of a hole.

 I was surprised not to see any seagulls or similar birds. At one point we saw some monkeys eating coconuts out of the palm trees.

I'd recommend the place we stayed, but some people might want a nicer hotel (with a/c, hot water, and less wildlife). For a backpacker-style trip, I thought it was good.