Today is Ko Phi Phi day, with a 7:45 pick-up. I do a quick grab and go as K waits in the front for the minivan. I see L at the breakfast; she is waiting for X to come back from the bathroom. As I rush to the lobby with a breakfast sandwich for me and a French toast for K in hand, K runs by me to get L and X because the pick-up arrived. When I get to the lobby though, B who is also there waiting says the guy left. Eek.
After some time, the hotel receptionist manages to contact our travel agent who calls the guy and tells us to wait for him to come back. Guy comes back and we get tot he dock ok. Phew!
It's about 25-ish people per speedboat and if you decide to, you have to rent fins there on the doc because they're not otherwise available on the boat. At last minute, I decide to get fins just in case. After boarding the boat, our guide hands us each a snorkeling headset, which he tells us to be careful not to lose.
We speed out to our 1st stop... Kai Island (some places incorrectly spell it 'Khai Island'). Some people just lie on the beach but most go in the water. I try on the fins in the water but they don't work too well, so I just end up wearing my water shoes. The water bottom is very rocky with assorted coral and rocks. We love our underwater camera case!!
At one point, K and I both enter a spot with tons of medium-sized fish that every once in a while runs into me (with a stinging sensation), so I quickly leave the area.
Stop 2... Maya Island... where we have to choose either to stay on/near the beach or to snorkel. The boat drops the people out on the beach first for those who chose that option and then goes away a bit from the beach. The guide says it's 2-3 meters deep.
Beilie and Ling get into the water first but come back shortly, saying it's really tiring. After hearing that, K puts on a life jacket, too... I was going to wear one anyways to be safe (after all, I did miss passing the TIM orientation swim test). Yay for life jacket keeping me afloat so I can entirely focus on admiring the sea life!
Only after getting back on the boat at the end of snorkeling part 2, Xiao tells us we could have taken a watermelon piece with us to attract the fish (crew had chopped up watermelon). Oh well.
Buffet lunch on Phi Phi Don.
Snorkeling part 3... on Monkey Island. The finest sand grains I have ever felt... life jackets because it gets deep very fast. After snorkeling awhile, it starts to drizzle, quickly turning into full rain, and then a downpour.
We still snorkeled in the rain, but once it began pouring, people quickly made their way back to shore and their boats.
The boat speeded back to dock, 45 minutes or so away. Our seats were originally in the front of the boat, which offered no cover, so everyone crowded in the back. The back had a semi-cover, which was certainly better than the front. But it still didn't do much for shielding people from the wet and cold as rain poured through the cover's voids. Everyone, already wet, continued to get more drenched.
I stayed slightly warm with my towel wrapped around me. Interesting experience indeed!
10pm-ish. K and I have dinner at the same location as the first night but a different restaurant stand. On the way to dinner, we notice two middle-aged Caucasian males walking with two young clubby-dressed Thai women. Funky.
I order a noodle soup for dinner... not spicy and yummy. K orders two dishes, one of which is a Crab Fried Rice, 40B, only half the cost of his other dish and has a whole lot of crab meat. Yummy!
At dinner, the table next to ours also has two middle-aged Caucasian guys sitting with two "nicely" dressed young Thai women. Again, funky. Maybe funkier because it's "late" dinner. Then, looking at the other tables, I notice almost every row of tables has at least one table with a middle-aged Caucasian dude with some Thai woman. Hmm... maybe I'm just making something out of nothing.
Pick up a drink at 7-Eleven (lychee) and our laundry, which smells nice but the stains on my light jacket are still there. I thought they would do a better job than me washing it by hand myself, but I guess not. Oh well.
Back at hotel. After some talk (and K losing his temper), the front desk manager gives us a 1000B discount off our Christmas dinner for the cockroaches we encountered. He says he can't give us a room discount because we booked through an intermediary and not directly with the hotel... and we already fully paid so he can't refund any money. It's a take it or leave it offer, saying we're lucky to get anything. He cited another guest who found a rat (!) in their room, and just made a comment, not a complaint like us and didn't ask for nor get any discount. Sheesh.
I accept the offer. I could say 'no' based on principle, but principle in this one doesn't really have any practical benefit is the way I see it.
Sleep. 1am.
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