Chinese New Year Part 2 -- Koh Phi Phi Island

The second half of our Chinese New Year holiday brought us by boat to Koh Phi Phi Island in Thailand.  I was expecting serenity and long, lazy days on the beach.  I was rather surprised to find the biggest frat party on earth!  I'm not much of a researcher when it comes to travel, and I'm sure if I'd have read any number of travel websites on Koh Phi Phi Island, I would have quickly learned what to expect...fire limbo and a plethora of 20-somethings on a would-be paradise drinking and fraternizing themselves silly.  

Here's what I saw my first night out...

But, I will admit the blazing kerosine-soaked jumprope didn't stop me from getting out on the dance floor and shaking my money maker!  These bars were right on the beach, the tide was all the way in and the water skirted the edges of where people dance and drank.  It was quite the scene.  

During the days, we'd mostly sit by the pool, which was 10 feet from the beach, and mostly be lazy.  It was difficult to say no to a pool like this...

One afternoon we took a tour on a long-tail boat.  These boats are traditional Thai fishing boats, here's some lined up along the beach...

These boats are quite beautiful with their colorful scarves, which I was told serve to keep the ghosts away.  On our tour, we stopped at a number of places, mostly on different islands very close to Koh Phi Phi.  We had lots of company as boat tours seem to be the thing to do!

This is a photo of a cave community--for lack of a better term!  There are people who actually live there!  No beaches, no nothing but the water, sheer rock walls, and hoards of tourist taking pictures of your home daily at 2:15 PM sharp!

We'd swim and snorkel in most of the bays we ducked into.  The coral wasn't much to look at, but the fish were amazingly brightly colored, varied and plentiful!  One of the beaches we stopped at was where the movie "The Beach", with Leonardo DiCaprio, was filmed.  I guess Koh Phi Phi didn't have much happening there until that movie was shot on one of the smaller islands nearby.  After the movie hit cinemas, the area hasn't been the same since.  

I couldn't get over how beautiful the water was!  I'm not sure "turquoise" does its color justice.   

One of the stops on our tour was called "Monkey Beach".  When the boats pulled in, monkey came out of nowhere, scaling the walls, climbing on top of one another and hanging onto whatever shrubbery and rock flake they could find.  Most people, myself included, had hopped in the water to get a better look.  Someone had brought a bunch on bananas and one had fallen into the water.  It was just floating there so I grabbed it and threw it up to one of the hundred monkeys hanging out, and...HE CAUGHT IT!!  Yes, the monkey caught the banana and started munching on it! 

Late in our trip, I discovered that people rock climbed on the island.  I couldn't pass up the opportunity to go rock climbing in Thailand.  So, I signed up for a guided half-day and away I went the next afternoon.  Here's the wall that I was on.  
  

 

If you look closely, you can see me!  Shawn was on the beach and saw me pop out above the tree line.  He snapped a much appreciated photo.  Thanks, Shawn!

The view from up there was quite incredible.

Here are a few more photos to peruse...

Now, Granny, I know you're the ONLY ONE who looks at my blog, and even if someone else managed to stumble upon this, there's NO WAY they'd be reading all my writing.  I know you have read every word though :).  Love you and miss you!!!

Chinese New Year on Phuket Island in Thailand!

After our day in Seoul, we hopped on another airplane to meet our friends, Matt & Keith, on Phuket Island in Thailand! 

We stayed in Karon Beach at a beautiful hotel...

We all rented scooters one day and drove a bit around the island.  I was surprised at how BIG Phuket was!  

We did a lap around the island and on our way to see the Big Budda, we ran into "Nicole Kidman"!

This little bugger was two years old.  We paid $3 and got to feed her a basket of bananas.  Once the bananas were gone, she tried to eat my cell phone!  I LOVED HER!  She was so sweet and playful.  You can see our scooters in the background...when we were mounting up to leave, she started running towards us (that part was sort of scary) and her trainer yelled something at her and called her back.  I think she wanted to hop on the back of my scooter and come along for a ride!

Once we got up to the top, the Big Buddha was waiting! And MY, was Buddha BIG!!

It was a holy place, so I had to borrow a skirt from the bucket of skirts at the entrance.  My legs were just too bare I guess!

A view of Phuket from the top...

 

Down from the mountaintop, Shawn and Matt ate bugs!  They offered to share, but um....no.  

They're eating mealworms, crunchy and salty.  They nearly went back for a bag of fried crickets, but once Shawn found mealworm skin stuck between his teeth, he was pretty much done!Taxis in Phuket are unique, to say the LEAST!  When they zip from the curb, DISCO LIGHTS flash on and the latest in HIP HOP bumps from the 20 speakers crammed into every nook and cranny.

I referred to this little gem as the "Happiness Bus"!  I think I ordered a Blue Hawaii :)

Thanks Matt, Keith and Shawn for heaps of fun!

And next to come...Koh Phi Phi Island!

Kicking off the Chinese New Year Holiday...

Our trip to Thailand began with a one day adventure in Seoul.  Our flight to Thailand included a layover in Seoul, South Korea, from 2:00AM to 8:00PM so we thought we would make the most of it and explore the city for a day.  Here's what we saw...

Downtown Seoul was a bustling place.  We set out in the morning and found this network of  alleyways and shops.  We even managed to find a Krispy Kream Donut shop! I ran towards the "hot" light and wolfed down two before I knew what had happened!

This is a traditional Korea treat.  After you purchase the crispy dough ball, they put it in a bag and smack it with that wooden hammer to make bite sized pieces.

From downtown, we saw this famous tower, we spent the later part of
the afternoon hiking to the top.

We got some great views of the city!

These trees are laden with locks and variety of random colorful trinkets.
After some research, we learned that couples come and add a lock to the tree
to symbolize their everlasting love.  Kinda cute!

We both agreed that Seoul was a pretty fabulous place!  The people were friendly, the food was good and there seemed to be plenty of fun things to do.

And now...

drum roll please...

THAILAND!

It's been awhile and we have a lot of catching up to do!  January has come and gone--I have some adventures to share with you AND I am one year older! 

How did I celebrate my birthday you might ask?  Well, let me show you...  
Shawn arrived just in time for the celebration.

Houhai Lake, completely frozen over and prepped for some classic Chinese winter fun!

Chair skating...It's a two-seater sled and you push yourself around with metal pokers...not super safe and would NEVER fly in the States :)

My chair skating companions from front to back:
Shawn, me, Keith, Matt, Lauren :)

Next Up, the GREAT WALL OF CHINA in the Winter! 

The last time Shawn was here we saw the Great Wall of China in the hot summer heat and dodged other tourists as we clambered around.  This time however, the Wall offered a much more serene getaway.  

The Great Wall of China in the Summertime

VS...

Great Wall of China in the Wintertime 

Although the photos of the Great Wall in the summer are nicer to look at, I really loved our winter visit.  We hit the AQI (Air Quality Index) perfectly--January was a horrid air month in Beijing with little wind to send the smog elsewhere.  The night before our scheduled Wall adventure, the winds picked up and cleared the valley out and we had a lovely day on our 2.5 hour hike!  The Wall was basically emptied of tourists and we walked, climbed, and then walked and climbed some more.  

The best part of our visit was the luge on the way down!  

These Mongolians were waiting for us at the bottom.  I had to check and make sure we came down on the correct side of the wall!  Okay, not really :)

Up next...February break in Seoul and THAILAND!