The Day I Won The Lottery

Let's step into the way back machine and set it for 1999, September. I moved to Bellingham, Washington and needed a place to live. I found a house that had six bedrooms and only 5 guys living in it, so I moved in. Erek and B.J. have become my best friends over the last ten years. Paco was an Mexican illegal, fish processor and part-time DJ. Roman was from the Czech Republic and worked construction. Ian is still around Bellingham last I heard working for whatever phone company owns that call centre on Bakerview. Wow, what a fun trip in the way back machine...ahhh...ten years have passed. Let's step back into the future.

I was headed to Koh Phi Phil for my vacation during our term break. I went to the Low Cost Carrier Terminal (LCCT)and met my friends June and Adrian there. We waited and then they called the flight for Krabi, Thailand. June and Adrian boarded but I don't like lines so I just waited for the queue to diminish. As the last few people went out the gate onto the tarmac (not a jetway boarding) I got up and started out. I handed in my boarding pass and walked towards the plane and the tall, metal boarding steps. Suddenly, I heard "Travis, Travis!"

I turned around to see a white guy standing next to me saying my name and holding his hand out for me to shake it. He had a huge grin on his face and obviously knew who I was. I, on the other hand, drew a blank. I searched the recesses of my mind for who this guy could be as I pumped his hand and thought, "He obviously knows who I am." Then, the penny dropped. "ROMAN" I exclaimed. It seems that Roman had moved back to the Czech Republic, become a police man, then he and some friends decided to travel Malaysia and Thailand. Lo and behold, he saw me at the airport. I gave him my number and told him to call me and we caught up as best we could before I had to get onboard my flight. He never did call me and is back home now. As I took my seat, I thought, "I bet the odds of me running into him like that are lower than most odds when you play the lottery. You know, it's kind of like I just won the lottery."

Koh Phi Phi: A Gorgeous Tourist Trap

Let’s face it: Westerners love Thailand. Hordes of them flock to Thailand from Europe to escape the brutal winters but also North Americans can be found as well. The culture is rich, the beer is cheap, the sex is plentiful and the scenery spectacular. Nowhere have I found an intersection of these ideas as evident as on Koh Phi Phi.

Evidently, in the early 1990’s Phi Phi was a sleepy little island an hour and a half by ferry from Phuket or Krabi. Then Alex Garland wrote a book called “The Beach” which was made into a movie in 1999 starring Leonardo Dicaprio. Suddenly the island became a mecca on the backpacker’s trail. Then it was devastated by the tsunami and has been rebuilt and is thriving once again. It teems with visitors from all over the world during the high season from early December to end of April.

Phi Phi is gorgeous. You can see the draw for the Northern Europeans suffering through six months of winter to step on a flight and spend two weeks basking in the sun and surf of Phi Phi. It is dumb bell shaped, with the western side being sheer cliffs that draw rock climbers from around the world to attempt routes up the various faces. The ‘handle’ of the dumb bell is a sandy beach with a bay to the north and one to the south. Sandwiched on this sand bar is a labyrinth of streets, shops, guest houses, restaurants, bars, massage parlours and tattoo shops. The sunsets looking to the northwest from Loh Dalum Bay are spectacular.

One of the sunsets on Loh Dalum Bay

“The Beach” is the now popular name for Maya Beach, on Lay Phi Phi, a separate island accessible by a 15-20 minute boat ride. Maya Bay is spectacular for several reasons. It is hemmed in by cliffs on nearly every side and these cliffs contrast with the turquoise-tinged water in dramatic fashion. It is also spectacular for the mobs that turn up there every day. Scores of boats ferry hundreds of people to the beach and bob just offshore waiting to take them back to Koh Phi Phi. One large vessel was spilling out snorkelers as if it were a plant spewing spores. In the end 200 or so of its offspring littered the water surrounding the boat. Maya Bay, albeit beautiful, becomes choked boats and people.

A view of Maya Beach and the waters of Maya Bay.

Tattoos seemed to be the fashion of choice and peeked out at you from under shorts and straps or covered entire backs. The shops were open air and as you walked past you could watch creations being inked into existence. Thai writing was a popular choice amongst the ‘farang’, which is Thai for foreigner.

Backpackers like their alcohol and it was abundant on Phi Phi. Bars lined the beach of Loh Dalum Bay and the revelers were spoiled for choice. Many of the bars put on ‘fire shows’. This is where young Thai males twirl batons or nunchuk like implements that are doused in kerosene and set ablaze. Some of the fire artists were amazing. Others were not and others looked to be no older than 12 or 13. Later, flaming limbo, flaming jump rope and a game of “jump through the ring of fire” were played using volunteers from the crowd.

A fire twirler in front of Apache Beach Bar

A bucket is the cheap way to get drunk on Phi Phi. Most shops sell a kit that is a bucket, a can of Coke, a small bottle of Red Bull and then some kind of whisky. You buy one, empty the contents into the bucket and consume via a straw. Now go jump through a ring of flames for sure fire (pun intended) fun.

As you walked to the west side, the beach was really nice with no crowds and a good breeze. In the warren of streets in the small town it was sweltering.

There are some Thais on Phi Phi. They drive the boats, staff the guest houses, are clerks at the small trinket or sundries shops but in general it feels like they are the foreigners. Phi Phi is done by Westerners for Westerners.

The good thing about Phi Phi is there is plenty to keep you busy for a week or two. Work on your tan. Dive a couple of days. Learn to rock climb. Trek up to the viewpoint. Eat and drink any kind of food you desire. Take a Thai cooking class.

In the end Phi Phi is an island paradise that insulates you from Thailand. British or American breakfast followed by a lie on the beach with a book and a bucket in the evening give no chance to see the poverty stricken rural areas with its dusty streets or the throngs and jams of Bangkok or the AIDS/HIV and sex worker issues that plague the country. Not only it is an escape from the brutal winters of Europe but it is also an escape from the Thailand as well.

Long tail boats decorated in Thai fashion.

Koh Phi Phi: The Dives

The sheer walls of Lay Phi Phi make for dramatic scenery. Phi Phi is surrounded by awe inspiring vistas and tranquil seas.

This last week I spent most of 5 days on Koh Phi Phi. This is a very famous island on the west coast of Thailand, accessible by ferries from Krabi and Phuket. To be honest, I knew little about Phi Phi prior to my visit so I went in with unsure expectations, just knowing its reputation as an island paradise.

First let me start with the diving. We did 8 dives in Phi Phi. The marine park that surrounds Phi Phi has 6 islands total: Koh Phi Phi, Lay Phi Phi, Bida Nok, Bida Nai, Bamboo Island and Mosquito Island. The first day there was an option for a trip to the south, to Hin Dang and Hin Muang, two submerged sea mounts or pinnacles about 2 hours by speed boat. Our two dives there were good but not spectacular. One member and a DM from our group did glimpse a whale shark swimming past. This is the draw of Hin Dang and Hin Muang. A few years ago they were sites where whale sharks and manta rays were frequently spotted. The frequency has dropped off but it is still a popular site. It is in the middle of nowhere and still there were two liveaboards and our speedboat there the day we dove.

The second day we convinced our dive shop, Blue View Divers, to do 3 dives instead of their usual 2 dive trip. Our first dive was on the west side of Lay Phi Phi. It turned out to be a great dive with a couple of turtles and my best every viewing of a leopard shark. The leopard shark swam as close as two meters to me. Our surface interval was at Maya Bay on Lay Phi Phi, which I will tell you more about later.

Our second dive was Bida Nok. A nice dive with the usual suspects, the highlight being a huge school of baitfish that were flitting here and there in unison along a 10 meter wall in the middle of the dive.

Our third dive was the Viking Cave Artificial Reef. The reef is large concrete cubes, stacked on one another. The cubes are just the frames so you can swim through the center of them. The dive was fairly average.

The last day we were given the opportunity to charter a yacht for just 10USD extra and do three dives. The first dive was King Cruiser, a huge ferry that sank in 1997. The visibility was poor but the wreck of the King Cruiser is the largest one I have dove to date.

Next stop was Shark Point, which failed to live up to its name. Instead it is a reef teeming with soft coral and anemones. We saw several lion fish and morays on the dive.

The last dive of the trip was back on the west side of Lay Phi Phi and a very sad dive to end our trip. The highlight was a reef octopus hiding in a hole near the end of the dive.

I really enjoyed the yacht. It was nice to just relax and lay on the deck while doing surface intervals. So peaceful. I just wanted them to stop the music and kill the engine most of the time so we could just hear the waves and other ocean sounds. Alas, they did not. The downside was that we did long surface swims each dive, the last one being about 200 meters. I would’ve liked to be dropped closer to the dive sites. I definitely would do the boat, the Dragonheart, again but I don’t think I would pay what they will eventually price it at. We had a special trial rate.

Phi Phi is not a diving destination. The dives were all good dives but nothing spectacular. If you dive Krabi, Phuket or Phi Phi you will be diving pretty much the same sites from each place.

It solidified in my mind that I don’t enjoy diving with most Western dive operators in Asia. They only offered two boat dives a day and never mentioned a night dive. Most dive operators I have dove with in Malaysia offer three boat dives. The dive masters were nice but a bit demanding. One required that we do buddy checks on every dive even though we had the same buddy and same equipment on each dive. Releases don’t wander around your equipment between dives. Also, when the signal to take a safety stop was given, you had to immediately start your safety stop. You couldn’t finish looking at something and start it a minute or two later. It had to be NOW!

I have found the dive operators in Malaysia more flexible, albeit sometimes too lax on rule following, but generally I prefer the Asian style.

Phi Phi is a place where the dives are another activity that is added to the overall list of things to do on the island rather than a specific reason to visit.

Our yacht, the Dragonheart.