5/21 - A Three Hour Tour

It's 8:30pm on Saturday. Yesterday we didn't do any volunteer work because HiPhiPhi encourages Friday off. We treated it as a vacation day and had a great time sea-kayaking and snorkeling again. We headed out the same way as the other day with the goal of circumnavigating the West "lobe" of the island - from Ton Sai Bay to Loh Dalam Bay. We stopped at Godzilla cove to do some snorkeling -- again, the sea life was simply amazing. When we finished up and started out towards the high seas, we realized that in the excitement of renting the vessel "Gemini", we left our water on the beach. Just as we resigned to shortening our trip, Ken spotted the J Mansion's speedboat anchored nearby. We paddled over and the gracious crew offered us 4 free bottles of precious aqua. Three cheers for the J Mansion crew! Now back on course, we passed our previous turnaround point and ventured into uncharted waters. The sheer limestone walls of the other side of the island soar hundreds of feet out of the water with no place to moor the sloop except Wang Long Bay (no kidding) - so once you commit, you're committed. On our voyage, Ken got a bit seasick and Steve managed to capsize the boat while climbing back on following a brief snorkeling mission near some spear fishermen. With cat-like reflexes, we managed to grab all of our stuff before it disappeared save a lone bottle of J Mansion brew. In about three hours, we pulled into Loh Dalam Bay, portaged the Gemini across the isthmus, and eased her back into port. Mission accomplished.

This morning, we hiked up to "Viewpoint" on the mountain behind where we're staying. It offers the best view of the island. The scenery was incredible. We met a man who runs the small store at Viewpoint. In this jungle clearing, he has planted an amazing garden. The whole atmosphere is very peaceful and relaxing. Since the tsunami, he has very few visitors - this is a must see for anyone visiting Phi Phi. We talked with him a bit about his tsunami experience. He recounted the successive waves that pummeled the beach. While he was physically unaffected, his family's house and business down on the beach were destroyed. We also asked him about tourists and development: He likes the former, but not the latter - a catch 22.

Post hike, we got lunch and headed over for an afternoon of volunteering. We resumed the project we worked on the first day - picking up small debris. After just a few minutes we were both questioning whether the task had real benefit to anyone. We are finding it difficult to clearly express our thoughts on the subject of the Phi Phi volunteer work via the blog. It's a topic best discussed in person. This coming week, we're hoping to spend time with some of the kids affected by the tsunami at a day-school on the mainland. We're planning to escape Phi Phi under cover of darkness via sea kayak. :-) We'll keep you posted.

More random stuff:

- Restaurants serve food as it is ready - one plate at a time. They never check back and you have to find the wait staff in order to pay your bill.

- Our hotel bathroom is a shower/toilet/sink combo with a drain in the corner - no tub or curtain. The shower and sink dispense saline water.

- The hotel key fits in a slot that turns on power to the room - good energy saver.

- Cost of various items: 1 liter bottle of water = 15cents, candy bar = 75cents, ice cold coke in a glass bottle = 50cents

- The 32% deet bug repellent has been doing the trick.

Viewpoint