Carefree, Katie and I boarded the speedboat for the Phang Nha Eco Tour to Phi Phi Island. We visited two islands - Phi Phi Don (larger one) and Phi Phi Ley (smaller). When the guide asked those seated in the front of the boat if anyone was pregnant or had back problems, we happily declared no and were excited for a wild ride.
Little did we expect to develop back problems en route. The ride was WILD and the waves tossed us up and down onto our butts. A few jostles felt less than pleasant but we continued pounding into the crashing waves and one shocking pounce lifted us 4 feet into the air and sent shrieking pain up our spines when we came crashing down. We both experienced unbelievable back pain, eeked for the boat to slow down, and tearfully moved to the back of the boat for a calmer ride. In the moment, it was scary and we weren't sure what kind of lasting damage we'd done to our backs. Both of us recovered within a few days and are back to normal now. Katie shakes her finger at the mean boat.
Our first stop was at Maya Bay where the Hollywood film "The Beach" was produced. We had beautiful sunny weather in this tropical paradise but we could hardly move. I got off the boat and immediately fell onto my back directly in the sand. I forced myself to move around in the water to try keep my back from tightening up. These expressions of grimace and pain were not over-exaggerated!
The color of the water was amazing as we jetted around the islands.
We stopped by Monkey Beach and watched the boat crew feed the monkeys fruit. The monkeys ate like humans.
We saw 8 or 9 monkeys in the trees including this baby monkey.
The water seemed to almost glow with fluoresence in this spot. We went for two rounds of snorkelling in Lho Sa Mah Bay, Pi Leh Cove, and Hin Klang. The second round was the best snorkelling we've ever done in terms of the quantity and brilliant colors of the fish we saw. Katie's favorite was the black spiky sea urchins and funky coral. We stopped by Laem Tong Beach for lunch and walked barefoot into the restaurant which had a thin layering of sand across its floor. Not a bad lifestyle.
The final stop of the day was at Khai Nai Island where we reclined on beach chairs in the sun. There was lots of sharp coral and shells in the sand with minnows swimming in the shallow water. We were somewhat delusional with back pain and our favorite expression of the day was "sneezing is like farting out your nose" - yep, that's a true original.
We rode by this tsunami damage on our way back to the Boat Lagoon Marina.
These were the only remnants of the tsunami we saw while in Phuket. The areas we visited were completely rebuilt. That night we collapsed into our hotel beds without a prayer of moving. We did painfully pack our suitcases in the event we were even worse off in the morning and completely unable to move. We were hopeful the next day of flying would not be complete torture.
