Koh Phi Phi & Koh Lanta, Thailand
Deciding on which islands to visit in Thailand was hard. There are so many and they all look beautiful. As we were working our way down to Malaysia, we opted to do the Adaman sea islands. From Krabi, we decided to visit the nearby Phi Phi islands and Koh Lanta before making our way to Koh Lipe which is close to Langkawi in Malaysia. We opted for only one night in Phi Phi as it was more expensive and four nights in Koh Lanta and Koh Lipe to relax!
Phi Phi islands were beautiful! We got to the island around 11 am so had plenty of time to make the most of our first day. We took a recommendation from our hotel to visit a beach 15 minutes from Long Beach that would be a little quieter. The beach was beautiful and quiet with the water so clear. There were some cranes and lorries doing work here which was a little bit of a shame. We got in the water straight away as the trek there took around an hour through the jungle. After this, it rained for around 20 minutes and it became a little cloudy. We took this opportunity to go to the viewpoint. The viewpoint was busy with a lot of tourists waiting to see the sunset. It was a nice view of Phi Phi and interesting (and scary) to see the destruction caused by the tsunami in 2004 in photos around.
We happened to have chosen the Loy Krathong festival as the day we arrived in Phi Phi. This meant there were lots of people making flower baskets with candles ready to release in the water. We found a hotel that allowed people to make their own but as we were running out of time we didn’t. I was lucky enough; however, to win one after answering a question about the festival. We later released the baskets into the water. It’s always interesting learning about new traditions in different countries. As Phi Phi is known as being a bit of a party destination, we were a little worried about sleeping. The music was loud but eventually we managed to sleep (I was glad at this point that we were only staying one night).
The following day, we decided to do a boat tour of Phi Phi. Unfortunately, Maya Bay was closed to tourists but we did pass by to see it from a far. The tour was really good! It cost £10 each and included lunch and breakfast and took us to some beautiful locations where we snorkelled and enjoyed the views. Our first stop was monkey beach where Chris managed to get a monkey to sit on his shoulder! The monkey also jumped onto our boat and found some food on there before our guide shooed him away. We visited different bays and lagoons for the rest of the time and the views were amazing!
I am actually really glad we went to Phi Phi as it is such a beautiful island. It is shame that it is so touristy now but I think it’s still worth a visit!
After Phi Phi, we headed to Koh Lanta for a bit of a relax. We arrived around 6ish and, as this was the last night Dan and Charlotte were in Koh Lanta, we decided to do dinner and drinks again. We ended up having drinks at bars on the beachfront and played cards which was lovely
The next day, we took a scooter to a nearby hotel where we could use their swimming pool. We stayed there all day and relaxed which was amazing for me! I love sitting in the sun with a good book!
This was a similar story for the next two days. We rented a scooter for the second day and wondered down towards the south of the island. We stopped at an amazing viewpoint on the way for lunch. On our last day we went to the animal shelter in Koh Lanta to take the rescue dogs for a walk. After this, we headed back to the pool to relax and enjoy our last day. The sunsets in Koh Lanta were pretty spectacular. On our last night, we enjoyed having some cocktails and watching the sun set - perfect.
