Miguel's Bachelor Party - Day 10 - Phi Phi Island

As to not tire from the same beach, we changed up the pace and took an hour boat ride to the island of Phi Phi. This small, compact island is surrounded by gorgeous beaches, warm and colorful waters. The clarity of the water is amazing and from a few miles out, the evidence of why tourists flock to this island cannot be contested.

As you walk into the intricate walkways, you quickly notice something missing. The sound of cars, motorcycles, and public transit are non-existent. It does not exist on this island. The police are the only ones with mopeds. The center of Phi Phi is jam-packed with stores inviting each tourist to take scuba lessons, boat rides to the neighboring islands, and sport fishing tours. While those that choose to take advantage of the picturesque conditions for water activities, others can take a lackadaisical approach to spending time on one of two major beaches.

The walkways are crowded with a mix of tourists and locals treating everyday like it is Sunday. The locals who may be in more of a rush use bicycles to get around, but this requires notifying all persons that they need to weave through the foot traffic. They do this so effectively with a simple, "bep-bep." There is no need to even buy a bell. If anything the noise distracts from the sound of the ocean echoing off the storefront walls. It's clear some of the locals are sick of dealing with the tourists on these narrow walkways, because we have seen a few incidents of a biker knocking shoulders with walkers and not saying anything as they continue on.

Miguel quickly lined up a long tail boat tour of some of the more famous spots off the island like Monkey Beach and coves where you can swim and snorkel surrounded by vertical rock and emerald colored water. These are the points in your life that you take notice, time has momentarily stopped. The serenity is only disrupted by another long tail boat hauling in tourist-trash that interrupts your calm to bring back memories of a collegiate time. Does it sound like I am reflecting a real moment while I was there? Not at all.

Monkey Beach is a show. There is no reason to put it any other way. People stand lined up on the beach beguiled by the shallow domestication of these monkeys that calmly take fruit out of your hand. Their human like movement almost begs the question whether or not they will say, "Why, thank you." Instead, they quickly remind you how savage they really are, when they start fighting for dominance amongst each other or with a flip of a switch they scowl at you and advance upon you.

Miguel's desire to eventually own a monkey got the better of his curiosity. His temptation lead him to tap a monkey on the back of the neck while it was turned away to devour the tasty morsel of fruit. Little to Miguel's surprise, yet still requiring defensive moves, the monkey turned around with death in its eyes. The monkey quickly dropped his piece of fruit with eyes ablaze and the only purpose in life was to scowl at Miguel and chase after him on its hind legs while it held out its hands as if it was going to grab him for a swift Muay-Thai kick to the gut. Miguel escaped narrowly and provided us great moments of laughter for the rest of the trip.

Our day was coming to a close and it was time to see what Phi Phi had to offer at night. Needless to say, it did not disappoint. The main area of the island caters to the bars and restaurants in "downtown" Phi Phi. There really is no downtown, but it gives you a frame of reference. The other side has a concentrated amount of beachfront bars and restaurants lined up with fire shows and temporary dance floors. As the fire shows close out the earlier part of the night, the dance floors become crowded with the young world travelers escaping from reality for at least a little while.

We successfully survived our first night on the island. As a gauge of what survival means, we went home after all stores and restaurants were closed, after the bars tired of us travelers, but before the roosters had a chance to welcome the day. That's a nice compromise.

Full Album of Phi Phi Island