Tranquility vs. Bugs

Oh Ko Phi Phi, things started a bit rough here. Since we knew that we would be here for 2 weeks, we thought we would be smart and book a place in the cheapest hotel we could find so that we could hunt for a good deal and book 10 days in something nicer. What we didn't realize at the time though was that if you go too cheap, problems ensue.

The next morning we woke up with bites, well I didn't but Laura did. All over her body, probably at least 200 of them. Somehow I was immune and didn't have a single bite. It took us a few hours but then we concluded that it had to be bed bugs. We asked to be changed rooms, but the problem persisted. However at this point we really didn't know if it was that all their beds were infected, or if we were now graced with the presence of traveling bedbugs who were hitchhiking with us...

When we went to a doctor to look for help we got directed to a pharmacist. She seemed very aware of the problem, obviously we were not the only ones to have come through her door, with a big smile she said "just burn everything". Obviously this was out of the question, but to her it was the most natural suggestion [and the only solution she had].

We researched it on the web, and it turns out the buggers don't like heat and cold. So we washed everything, quarantined everything but our skin outside of the new hotel-room and then slowly let items into the room with us only after they had been sterilized somehow. To deal with our big-bags [which no one would wash for us], we decided to bake them in the sun for several days.

Once this trauma had passed, I am happy to say it didn't resurface. We took the issue very seriously, and I am glad that we did because it could have been a much longer problem than it finally was.

With calmness regained we took in what Ko Phi Phi is.

This is an island that cries out at you. There is just so much trash and pollution going on. Parts of it are full of giant bucket-swinging tourists who get wasted on infinite boos, get midnight tattoos they cant remember asking for, coated from head to toe in black-light paint, and forget to bring their trash [bottles, condoms, food plates, plastic stuff, even needles] away with them. The mornings are a train wreck, and the view? Stunning, well, it would be if it wasn't for the humans.

Fortunately there are many other beaches, and many more remote than the ones in the city. Many of these are incredibly beautiful, this truly is one of the more beautiful islands I have been on [though for the record nothing still tops an Atoll when it comes to lagoons and beaches].

As you can see in all of these stunning pictures of ko phi phi.

Ko Phi Phi has so many beaches to visit it really can take you at least a 10 day to even just see them all. From sand-only islands to cliff-ridden ones. Places where crab eating, human biting monkeys climb, beaches hidden around secret bays, and places only accessible at certain tides.

And below the water is as much a delight to see as above. With purple and deep blue being a dominant color, contrasted primarily by the numerous and totally un-shy zebra yellow fish.

Because of all the traveling we had already done, neither one of us was deeply in the mood for continual movement anymore, instead we made a little nest for ourselves with a good routine. On many days we woke up, had our breakfast in one of two favorite places [yummy: pineapple fried rice with lime and iced-coffee!], and then I proceeded on most days to the beach to write by the waves for a few hours.

And then, after two weeks we had had enough of Phi Phi, the rain came again and we were ready for movement. At that time, Laura's friend Christina arrived, and we once again put on our packs and took up the road...