Vacation Diaries - Part III: A Bouncy Boat Ride And Swimming with the Fishes

“I’m moving, I’m coming, 

can you hear what I hear, 

it’s calling to you my dear, 

out of reach, take me to your beach

I can hear it calling out to you

I am coming, not drowning

swimming closer to you”

Somehow had this All Saints song on repeat in my head ever since the plan to vacation in Thailand was hatched. Like a ear worm, the song lodged itself firmly in my head and couldn’t get it out off my head, even if I wanted to (not that I wanted to).

And to get here you had take a very bouncy speedboat ride across the emerald sea. The boat bounced so much, as it sped across the sea that if a woman was pregnant, she would delivered her baby there itself (as put by our awesome guide Annisia). So bouncing we went trough the sea, with the wind in our face and the sun beating down on us, with the occasional spray of sea water.

The islands were beautiful and crowded. Everywhere you could see people of various nationalities and races and gender, as much as you could see water (ok I am a bit over exaggerating here). That said the view was something to marvel at (yes and the bikini clad ladies and men’s with washboard abs, even the Indian women couldn’t resist and don some beach attire).

The Flora and fauna of the island was remarkable, as was the the crystal clear sea. But at the same time you could also see sign of the preparedness after the country felt the wrath of the tsunami thirteen years ago.

Then you had the fishes, the corals and the sharks, not the great white ones, not that I wanted to see one. Snorkling in the sea can be rather disorienting at first, but once you get used to it can be real beautiful experience. Actually panicked when I first saw the depth that I was in (assumed we would be swimming in shallow water) after all I am distress swimmer (as my buddy Viv puts it), neither a crocodile or a chicken swimmer, as Annisia tried to describe it to us. Life under the sea is truly beautiful, as Sebastian the crab put it, the school of fishes, the corrals, the bloody legs of people you kept bumping into. Even tried to touch a fishy but it swam away fro me and I was too afraid to swim after it, even though I had my life vest on. 

So once you get used to breathing with the snorkelling gear everything is just a piece of cake (which unfortunately seemed to take me ages). Seeing the fishes and the legs of people is an experience (not that I wanted to see the legs of people).

So in the end phi phi island was one beautiful destination. A tad bit overcrowded, (who littered the place, but not as much as we Indians do). But on a whole an experience of breathtaking beauty. 

A short note, you got go with our guide Annisia and Unseen Andaman Island tour, she was the major reason those bumpy, bouncy and long boat rides weren’t so boring  and in fact was so hilarious.