The Phi Phi Islands... ahh... this is the one trip I look back on with equal amounts of love & sadness.
We basically booked our entire 2 week Asia trip around this one location. It was our dream to visit "The Beach", aka Maya Bay, which was located on the island right next door to the Phi Phi Islands. When I was planning this trip, I was thinking "this is PERFECT! we will end our holiday with 4 days on the most beautiful beach in the world". As you can tell by the title of this post, I was wrong.
To give you an example, the picture to the left is from our hotel website and the picture to the right is what we experienced. I mean... its still a hammock on the beach in Thailand - who am I to complain... but geez.
Our longtail boat to our hotel should have been the first sign...
So instead of writing about everything we didn't do on the Phi Phi Islands, I thought I'd write a post about...
HOW TO STILL ENJOY YOUR BEACH HOLIDAY WHEN THE FORECAST EVERYDAY SAYS RAIN:
1. GO SWIMMING! The rain doesn't bother you if you're already wet. These were actually some of our most memorable moments from the Phi Phi Islands.
2. DRINK AWAY YOUR SORROWS: we did a good amount of this while on the Phi Phi Islands. Nothing cures a case of FOMO (fear of missing out) than some pina coladas.
3. GRAB AN UMBRELLA AND EXPLORE THE LOCAL TOWN. We ended up finding an awesome little cafe, Aroy Kaffeine, in the small village behind our hotel and it was amazing. The girl who owns it left her family and friends behind and moved to the Phi Phi Islands with some cash and a dream to open a cafe. She also rents out the second floor bedroom. Talk about taking a leap out of your comfort zone!
4. Go back to that local village at night for some DRINKS & GAMES.
5. Watch THE BEACH when you're meant to be visiting The Beach. Well, if we couldn't get to this magical island, at least we could watch it on my laptop while enjoying lunch and wine from the porch of our hut. Although it was a bit painful knowing that we were literally on the island next door and couldn't reach it.
6. TRY SOME AMAZING LOCAL FOOD: well, we did plenty of this! For those of you who know us, we are complete foodies. Favorites from the trip was definitely duck with red curry... or anything with lemongrass.
7. THE MOMENT THE RAIN STOPS, GET OUT THERE AND ENJOY IT! Our last full day on the island, the rain finally stopped. (but as you can see, still no sun). After renting the hotels free kayaks, we ended up finding a private little beach with a tree swing, how perfect?
8. ENJOY EVERY BIT OF THE ISLAND YOU CAN, DESPITE THE CLOUDS. No matter the rain or clouds - this place is still unbelievable, right??
WHAT NOT TO DO WHEN YOUR BEACH HOLIDAY GETS RAINED ON:
1. Spend the 4 days moping. That wont change the weather! And at this point you've taken the vacation days, paid for flights and hotels... so enjoy it to the best of your ability.
2. Try to visit "The Beach" (Maya Bay) despite weather warnings. Knowing the wind & waves were quite bad, we still went out thinking "how bad can it be? we NEED to see Maya Bay while we're here" - it was one of the worst experiences. Scary waves, sea sickness, feeling trapped out at sea. All we wanted was to be back at our hotel. (don't let these smiles fool you)
So that was the end of our 2 week Thailand & Cambodia holiday. Although the last few days of our trip was covered in rain, we still came home with some amazing memories and experiences!!
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