The Best Day Ever

Koh Phi Phi has 2 separate islands, Koh Phi Phi Don, where all of the hotels are, and Koh Phi Phi Leh, home of Maya Bay where The Beach with Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. Koh Phi Phi Leh is uninhabited and it is illegal to build on the island, but there are many day trips over there. We shopped around for a boat tour to take us there, so we could search for Leo. We were interested in one tour, a booze cruise with unlimited beer vodka and rum. When we asked a travel agent the price she said, "2000 baht for ladies, 2200 baht for men, and 2100 baht for ladyboys". Too funny! She better not have thought I was a ladyboy and needed that info...We went with a non-booze cruise instead for 550 baht and went on a shopping hunt for a cooler to make our own, cheaper booze cruise. This ended up being a GREAT decision. The tour had cliff jumping, so we obviously needed some liquid courage (yes, liquid courage is for more than hitting on girls!).

The next day we had 10 double Chang's packed in the cooler and were ready for the "booze cruise". As we waited to leave, we fed the smallest kittens I have ever seen milk from bottles. They were taken in by the boat tour people (there are TONS of strays in Thailand). If i did nothing else that day, it may still have been the best day ever.

Cliff jumping was the first stop so we hurried to finish our first large Chang. Our tour guide said that no, we do not want to be buzzed for the jump. I thought he was going to continue on to say that this would be dangerous, but his reasoning instead was that you want to be really scared! I told him not to worry, I would be very scared no matter how much liquid courage I had in me. It was probably the most terrifying thing I have ever done. Not only was the jump itself scary, but also the rock climb to get to the jumping spot. It was practically straight up and down, jagged rock. Our tour guide, Art, waited at the top, giving us advice for the jump. His advice to me: fuck it. Don't think. I did just that and jumped without any more thought. I was scared of doing a belly flop or a butt flop. Instead, I landed slightly diagonal onto my ear, and felt intense pressure, along with tons of salt water up my nose. I swam back to the climb, because even though my ear hurt, that was not going to be my best jump or my only memory of the jump. The second jump was even more terrifying, having slightly hurt myself on the first, but it went much better and with that I decided to retire cliff jumping. My other friends went a third time while I stayed down below and caught their jumps on video. After Lucila's last jump she swam over to me and says "Oh man, I feel like I just got raped in the ass!" Danielle shouted from the top of the cliff....."ummmm guys, we can hear you pretty clearly up here". OOPS

After the jump it was time for our next stop and our next large Chang. This stop was a beautiful lagoon where we made diaper seats out of life jackets to bob in the water while sipping our beers. We had our second snorkel spot of Thailand next (no injuries this time) and then we headed to Leo's beach at Maya Bay. On the way, our tour guide Art sang songs and played his guitar. It was such a great atmosphere. We were really happy at this point we took this cheaper tour, since no other tour had Art.

Getting my diaper floating device ready!

Bobbing in the lagoon with Art and Changs!

Maya Bay was absolutely gorgeous. It was hard to believe each place could get more gorgeous than the last. We were on our 3rd large Chang at this point. We had to swim from the boat to get to shore. Luckily, the boat was equipped with waterproof backpacks, so I tossed in my camera and swam it to shore. My friends ran in the water as I waited back on the beach to take pictures. They ran straight for some boys from our boat and told them they were getting on their shoulders. It was not a request, but the guys happily obliged. They all yelled at me to come get in the picture. I spotted one set of empty shoulders and ran straight for them, leaving my camera with someone else. Thanks for the great pic British boys! Lucila and I then instructed our pairs of shoulders that they were going to participate in a chicken fight. They weren't sure what that was, but caught on quickly. Lucila was victorious, but I put up a good fight! A short while later, when the British boys were far away from us in the water, one of us (I think Danielle?) suggested we skinny dip. Without even discussing it, the 4 of us were immediately taking off our suits and twirling them in the air like a helicopter and woOoOoOing. We were of course shielded by the water... a minute later we here whoops at the other end of the bay and see the British boys also twirling their trunks above their heads. They obviously thought it was a good idea.

This picture really captures the mood of the moment! Sorry, no pics/videos of the chicken fight that followed.

Maya bay was sadly the last stop on this best tour ever. It was our last night in the islands so we were going out, obviously. Lucila and I grabbed another large change on the way back to the hotel laughing at our ways in the process. She said it right: "might as well keep it going!" We showered and got ready for dinner and it was around then that I realized I had only eaten some pineapple and piece of watermelon all day, it was now 9pm. No wonder things got a little crazy! We ate at Garlic, a little hole in the wall place recommended by my book, and the best Thai food we had all trip. I had coconut chicken soup with rice. And a large Chang.

We headed to the beach party next. I lost track of how many more Chang's I had there, but can recall at least 2...things get a little fuzzy at that point. We were all dancing on a crowded platform when I see a tall, attractive man (attractive being a relative term after 6+ double Chang's) give me the eye. I give him the eye back and he comes up on the platform and introduces himself. Literally 10 seconds later I see that him and Lucila are holding hands! I quickly tell her what happened and we agree he is not worth our time. We back away from him and find him and Rachel dancing a few minutes later. I blame the Chang's. He was not THAT attractive!  I don't remember this next part but Danielle tells me that a few minutes after we also tell Rachel he was a douche, I was back talking with him. She thought I was being sneaky at the time, but I think after a few minutes and more Chang I probably forgot the whole situation even happened.

Last night in the party islands.

Danielle went home before the rest of us that night and when I came home I just crawled into bed not wanting to wake her with any lights. We had to be at the ferry at 840 the next morning, and I assumed she set an alarm already because she is the responsible one. Also because and stopped drinking after the boat tour. In the morning Danielle wakes me up by saying, we have to leave in 10 minutes. She had set an alarm, but just not with her normal 30 minutes of get ready time. Oh boy, my stuff is all over the room. We wake up Lucila and Rachel, stuff our crap in our bags and head out.  I'm still feeling the Chang and still have on my makeup from last night. Fuck it, let's go to Phuket!