Day 16: Ko Phi Phi

I woke up at 4:30 to catch my 7:30 flight from Don Muang airport to Krabi.

Upon arriving in Krabi, I took a shuttle bus to what (I think) was some sort of tour company/restaurant, where I bought a ferry ticket to Ko Phi Phi for 400 baht.

   

I had guessed before arriving that the cheapest way to get a ferry ticket was directly from the ticket booth at the pier, but after arriving at the pier with my ticket - and seeing no ticket office, only more tour companies - I began to think that the only way to get a ferry from Krabi to any of the nearby islands is through a third-party. I had been quoted 400 baht by multiple tour companies (and found on WikiTravel that this is the usual price this time of the year), but it still seems bizarre to me that there's no apparent public transportation option. I digress.

Upon arriving in Ko Phi Phi I refilled the data on my SIM card (I had been helplessly without 3G all day) and tracked down Antonio, whom I had initially met at the hostel in Bangkok. 

Antonio and I on Ko Phi Phi

We had lunch and a quick swim before the final ferry of the day departed at 15:30 from Ko Phi Phi to Krabi, where I had booked accommodation for the night. I bought another ticket (this time for 350 baht, from yet another tour company) and waited at the pier for the boarding call. And waited. And waited ... When is the boat to Krabi arriving? I asked the man with the megaphone. I'd seen the man earlier shouting at arriving tourists to pay a 20 baht "environmental fee". Krabi? Krabi boat already left! Shit. He said I could ride with his friends to Krabi on their fishing trolley boat that was leaving at 20:00 that night. I said thanks, but I think I'll spend the night here instead.

Not the worst place to be stranded for a day

I booked the dorm room that Antonio had been at for the past 4 nights. Antonio had wanted to come to Ko Phi Phi for beautiful beaches and scenery and a relaxed atmosphere - and had booked the cheapest hostel he could find. The scenery around Ko Phi Phi is undoubtedly beautiful, but the island is split into two halves: one for luxury resorts, the other for extravagant partying. We were distinctly in the party region. In a party hostel. And I had the closest bed in the place to the speakers blasting bass-leaded music down onto the nightly beach parties.

Antonio and I spent the evening observing the numerous fire dancing shows all the beach party hostels seemed to be putting on and walking around the town for people watching purposes.

Antonio had eaten something that disagreed strongly with his stomach a few days earlier and was still on a diet of non-alcoholic liquids and light snacks. We ended up back in the dorm room relatively early at 0:30 the next morning. Antonio measured the sound level from within the dorm room at 70dB, but I fell asleep fairly quickly after sleeping only 4 hours the night before.