I Gotta Go Phi Phi!

(Fyi, Phi Phi is pronounced Pee Pee)

So, my travel plans have evolved considerably due primarily to Joleen. Although I did book the plane tickets. Joleen, you owe me about $600! ;) Anyway, we're going to Thailand from January 29th (Lunar New Year) until February 8th. We fly into Bangkok and from there fly right to Phuket where we'll stay one night. Phuket is/was a big tourist area. It was also hit pretty hard by The Tsunami. I guess it's cleaning up fairly well, however. The next day we're taking a ferry to Ko Phi Phi, which is apparently the 3rd most beautiful island in the world but who determined that I don't know. Phi Phi was also hit hard by The Tsunami, especially a main beach there (Ton Sai). I guess around 800 people died on Phi Phi and there are still 1,000 people missing (not to be pessimistic here, but can't we assume they're dead by now?). The bungalow (yes, bungalow) that we'll be staying at is located in an area that wasn't hit too bad at all. It even has it's own private beach, so I hear. It looks super pretty. According to something I read somewhere, "The Tsunami appears to have had a "cleansing" effect and many beaches look like they did 20 years ago." So The Tsumani did have that going for it. After Phi Phi we're heading back to Bangkok for a few days. I want to check out nearby Ayutthaya (the old capital) because it has some sweet looking ruins. So I'm very excited about this vacation! I added some pictures for all to view. Some are Tsunami damage, some are pretty. I'll let you figure out which is which. If you need help with that, email me.



The picture on the left is Maya Bay on Phi Phi Le (Ko Phi Phi is 2 islands--Phi Phi Don is bigger and has hotels and stuff and Phi Phi Le is smaller and no one lives there and there's no hotels or anything). Maya Bay is where scenes from the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio was filmed. So I'll have to check that out. And hope I don't get attacked/imprisoned by either marijuana growers or freaky island dwellers (that's from the movie and not an actual threat, Mom).

The map is a map of Phi Phi Don. Phi Phi Le is below this. For reference, the area worst hit by The Tsunami was around number 18. Come to think of it, I think the dotted square is containing the hard hit areas. The place where we'll be staying is labeled number 17. So, you can see, it's on a different side of the island. Have I mentioned I'm very excited? And I have over a month to wait...