Koh Phi Phi - Thailand

From Cambodia we took a bus (of course! it is the most used transport on our travels!!)to Bangkok. After spending a few days there and saying goodbye to our friend Caro (she was going home after travelling around Asia for 6 months) we made our way to Koh Phi Phi.


Koh Pi Pi was one of the most devastated places by the Tsunami in December 2004. You can still see that some areas of the island are still under reconstrucion. You can even see the signs for the route of evacuation. However, the island has fastly recovered its flow of tourism as the aquatic environment was not damaged.


Kho Pi Pi , located on the South West of Thailand, is comprised by two islands: Koh Phi Phi Don and Koh Phi Phi Leh. The first one is where the village (Ton Sai) is. It is where the vast majority of the travellers stay. It is a small island where there are no cars... there are just hundreds of tourists walking around and locals riding their bikes and shouting ....Pi Pi!!!!!!!!! Bycicles with horns haven't been invented here yet! :-)

Here you can find all that a tourist might need: pubs, restaurants, ATMs, hotels, shops, Spas, travel agencies, etc.. but the thing you find the most are tatoo or scuba diving centres!!! Amazing... out of every 3 shops one is a tatoo or a scuba diving centre! In Thailand you can choose to get a tatoo by the usual machine (as at home) or by bamboo. This last one is an old technique very popular here.It seems to be more superficial and therefore, less painful.

Koh Phi Phi beaches have clear water... turquoise colour... and white sand. The ones further from town are wilder and nicer. The ones that surround the town are full of restaurant and boats to take you to the islands around.

If you walk a bit to the west you find Long Beach... this is a quiter beach where the water is as blue as a swimming pool!! here is where you notice that you really are in Thailand!







Near Koh Phi Phi you can find Bamboo Island. This little island is fantastic for scuba diving or snorkeling and it has a natural park to visit. We spent hours there just walking around and enjoying the landscape.... yeah a small island but charming.. you can spend there hours just walking and breathing the peacefullness that this little place by the sea gives you.








We also went to visit the Monkey beach.... literally!!! It is a small beach where you can just reach by boat and where a tribe of monkeys live. They are so funny! They lie down on the sand, swim, and just rest in the shade... just like us!!! and when the tourists arrive... .let's go for them!!! they try to steal your bag,jump on you... they even scratch dreadlocks !!! hahahaha






The other island. Koh Phi Phi Leh is a natural park without any tourist development. This is where you can find the Viking cave and the Maya Bay.
The water in this area is soooo tourquoise!!! it seems as if you were swimming in a swimming pool!!! you can see the bottom without wearing a mask!





The beach of the Maya bay is where the film "The Beach" was done and it is amazing!!! In order to get there you need to go through a little cave in the water (the boat can't go over it) and then you have to walk through a little jungle.. and when you get there.... ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh The beach itself is very small but the crystal clear water and the two rocky outcrops that surround makes it special.





And after all the swimming... of course... we had time for a couple of beers!! Chang beer.. the local one:-)




Here you have more pictures of our time in Koh Phi Phi:


http://www.flickr.com/photos/29210326@N07/?saved=1

See you soon!

Koh Tao- Thailand

After saying goodbye to the West of Thailand we crossed the country to the East side... first we took a boat, then a bus and then a night boat until we arrived to Koh Tao, also known as the Turtle Island.



We arrived there very early in the morning.... at 4 am, so early that we had to sleep in the front steps of a travel agency hahahha
The taxi didn't pick us up until 7am in the morning...



... the taxi brought us to the South of the island, that's the area that we chosed for accommodation as it is nice and not so crowded.

Koh Tao is a small island if you compare with other ones in Thailand. However, it is perfect! Nice beaches, small coves to discover, forest, sea, great sunsets, big palms and lots and lots of scuba diving!!



Scuba diving is the reason why the most of the backpackers come here... accommodation and food in the island is quite cheap and getting the scuba diving licence (PADI or SSI) is quite reasonable. If you compare it with prices at home is actually quite cheap (however Vietnam is the cheapest place to do so in Asia).



Koh Tao is an island of 21 square metres of beaches full of young atmosphere. The most popular beach is called Sai Ree and it is full of pubs and restaurants along the seashore with hammocks and chillout music... the party starts around sunset time and lasts until the morning.



We were lucky and we found a bungalow very close to one of the quite beaches in the area of Saam Jao Beach... along hte Taa To bay.



On our first day at the island we decided to go for a walk... we were the only ones walking there! Everyone got a motorbike!! now we understand why!! Huge slopes!!



Sustainable tourism in a island with thousand of steep slopes is not human! hahahaha



Therefore, the first thing that we did the following day was to rent a moped... our pinky friend... hahaha she brought us for ride around all the island and helped us to discover amazing beaches and stones that looked like art work in the middle of the sea!



We went all over the island...the day wasn't very sunny but at least it didn't rain!! Ueeeeeeeeeeeeeee This started to look like Ireland :-)

We tried Pad Thai for dinner (typical Thai food) ... it was yummy!! and finally... after 4 months of travelling... our first massage!!!! Thai massage of course... those women streched us as ever!!



We were going home walking along the beach when suddenly we saw Ernesto!! hahahha A guy that we met in Siem Reap... that great night.... and he was there...funny! such a coincidence!



Then, of course, plans always change and you can now imagine how we ended up.. .with him and a group of friends from Madrid dancing all night and!!! of course the buckets helped :-)



Ernesto... give us the scarf back!!! You thief!! hahaha
The party that night didn't stop the fact that we had to go diving the next day. Ueeeeeeeeeeeeeeee



Our last immerssion on the sea was in Vietnam... two months ago... e... but guys.. the weather was terribe and visibility was bad. We didn't see many sea life but the feeling of being at the bottom of the sea is anyway great!

After every immerssion you notice every immerssion is different and so it is every school .... so here you have an advice: if you wanna do scuba diving choose a small school, with family atmosphere... forget those "diving factories" that they only want to get money... so many people goes to dive at the same time! just one instructor for all... it is not the same!

But that's not all what we did in this little island.... we also did something that will remain in our memories and bodies forever... a symbol of friendship and balance... the Three Maries and an "E"... more than ink in our bodies is a feeling of love and personal development that we have been carrying on our backpacks during our trip and now... on our bodies!

An old technique was used... bamboo...

one did it on her foot...




the other one on her waist



Rasta Tattoo!!!He is a legend!! hahahah



Tattoo and Violadores del verso....an special combination that it could just happen in Koh Tao... now is your turn girls... always together.. .always growing up... always dreaming!!



Now we leave to Koh Phangan ... to the Full Moon Party...




Cheers!!
Vane and Eva from Kho Tao

Siem Reap: Pure energy!

When you do a trip like that... at some stage you feel far from home.... but it is nice to see how you always find some people along the way that make you feel like at home.. like a family! Travellers from other countries, each of them with their different dreams.. but all with the same interests... it is brilliant!

When this special chemistry explotes... all is pure energy!! and this is what happened to us in Siem REap! We ended up with an Australian girl, some Argentinian guys, a catalan girl, a guy from Madrid, another from Colombia, some Scottish and some more that made us feel like at home!!! Such a good atmosphere , nice people and music... difficult to resist !!!

From Siem Reap we can say that it is a city fully adapted to traveller's needs... maybe too much if you think about other regions in the same country...
Siem Reap is a little paradise for tourists... restaurants, shops, massages, pubs.... a combination of everything that a tourist might need....

We stayed in a nice place, nice food, nice beer.... and some uncontrolled madness after our 10 days in the retreat... we went from one extreme to the other!!! From spending 11 hours a day meditating to dancing and drinking all night with the great music of Lechu and Luis ( thank you boludos!). These 2 Argentinian guys are going through their own Ithaca and they use the music as a thread.... a dream that it is similar to our own one:-).


So if you wanna follow another travelling adventure just check their link... a romantic and great reading that we'll keep you going
This is their link:

Musica sin fronteras

http://musicasinfronteras.wordpress.com/


We have a great memory of Siem REap and all the people that we met there... those who we have shared that moment of our trip with.... thank you all and good luck!!!

Carpe diem guys!!!



Check more photos of Angkor Wat and Siem Reap in the following link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29210326@N07/

Cheers!!