Speeding along the Phi Phi islands

One of the best things you can do if you ever find yourself in the Phuket or Krabi area is to take a detour along towards the Phi Phi islands.

The island itself (the main one where you are bound to stay) is nothing short of a complete gaijin haven. Literally, you will not find this many foreigners in one place that clearly out number the natives in just about any other place in Thailand. So the down side of that is tough luck on the cultural aspect of the area. There is pretty much no culture or traditions left for the island.
However, what it is really known for is their preservation of everything surrounding it. Next to Phi Phi island, you will find Phi Phi Lei which is another island that is uninhabited for the most part and well preserved. Additionally you will find a series of islands, beaches, and caves that are magnificently preserved and available for touring. This is one of the things I highly recommend about going to the Phi Phi islands. Book a tour. Don't do this online, since you can actually get a lower price by bargaining on location. I think I paid 250Bhat (like 7-8usd) for a half day trip through a bunch of islands, caves, and swimming/snorkeling adventures.
My trips details went as such:
We left at 2:30 on a long tail boat stopping to see and feed monkeys just at the tip of Phi Phi island. And then we toured past Viking cave, where a number of local inhabitant reside without electricity, running water, plumbing, or really any privacy. We then proceeded into a cove for swimming times. The water was crystal clear and perhaps 4-5 meters deep. I could not reach the bottom on a dive when trying. A good number of boats were there with all the occupants swimming. The men and all their manliness decided that jumping, diving, and propelling themselves off the boat bow in twisting interesting positions was a good use of time, always trying to out do one another.We spent perhaps an hour in this pool before moving to the next. The next area was another alcove nearly encircled by small direct upshooting islands but in a much larger scenario. Here we spent an hour or perhaps longer snorkeling. The gear was provided for us and away we went. The water was again extraordinarily clear and there were man fish to be seen. There were giant clam-like things bigger than my head, spots of coral and colorful fish. Out of the few places I have been snorkeling ( Key West, Langkawi, Hawaii...) I think only Hawaii topped this experience in means of beauty. For the wind down, we headed over to Maya bay. A completely natural beautiful pristine beach that is secluded and romantic...now if only all of the other tourists weren't around...On the way back, the boat drivers provided us with pineapples and water and also with the opportunity to see the sunset of the island from an ocean point of view. They held the boat in water for us to admire its beauty.

An alternate breath taking sunset can be seen from one of the view points from the top of the Phi Phi islands. A special tip on getting there: if you follow the signs you are taking the long way. And it will take you way too long to get there. Through mud and mosquitoes and too many kilometers to successfully hike in flip flops. A word to the wise though, there are stairs to the view point. They are located near the end of all the hubbub and hostels. You actually climb right past a bungalow styled hostel and right to the top, where there is a convenience store type of thing.

Floating through the Market

This is by far the most interesting thing that I did during my sojourn in Thailand.

This market was made famous by a Bond movie, or so I am told. And it is a market that is mostly based on boats. These long wooden boats adorn the canals of with their fruits, food, spices, and other wares. Since the boost in tourism, this place has become extremely touristy in nature and sells many of the tourist knick-knacks that you find almost everywhere else in Thailand; the bags with elephants stitched upon them, the baggy pants, the woven hats and statue elephants. As well as a variety of other items. But originally, this market was a place for the locals along the canals to sell their wares and food. Here there are many banana and mango and coconut farms along the canals which are harvested and sold for profit. In addition to the raw fruits of the area, there is also cookery that is sold. No I don't mean the cooking utensils. I mean people actually cooking aboard their little boats. With hotplates and fires and spices. Sounds dangerous? Definitely. But perhaps the most interesting.
You can rent a boat and a driver for about 100Bhat to take you on a tour of their canals where the locals have developed these interesting hooks with which they will hook onto your boat and pull you over to them to try and vend their wares. For the most part all of the people who have actual stores along the canal front will sell the same type of stuff. It is the people in boats who are far more interesting. It is a definite recommendation that you grab yourself a snack and a coconut and sit back as you tour the canals.
If you are looking for a more extensive tour, then there is another boat that will take you along the local canals, through their village. They will show you the coffee house, the locals homes, restaurants, and the hospital, as well as the groves and orchards from which they farm. You might even see some people going about their daily lives at their homes, hanging laundry, making house calls, cooking and such.

The aspect that makes this village famous however, is the photography. There are several bridges over the canals that pose as excellent vantage points from which you can snap a photo or few of the amazing array of colors below. Between the Thai peoples colorful clothing, the water, the boats and the fruits and wares, there will be no such thing as a bad photo from this vantage.

In addition to the waterworld, there are also many stalls on land in the surrounding area to explore as well. Which will again sell you more of the same stuff. But for those who want a stable place to sit with their land legs firmly on the ground while sharing a cup of coffee and admiring the view, then this is the place.