Hello all from the gorgeous Thai island of Phi Phi.

So, we got up really early yesterday (Thursday) morning and went to the reception of our hostel. We had some breakfast while we waited for our boat to the island. A guy turned up in a tiny pick-up truck with seats in the back to take us to the port. Us and 5 others (it was a bit cramped!).

The boat ride over here was really lovely. You dump your bag below decks and then it's every man for himself to find a spot on the boat to sit. We ended up right on the bow! (legs dangling over the side and everything). It was truly amazing. Scenery, little fishing boats, sea breeze - just perfect. It had been really overcast in Krabi, but as we made our way over to the island the sun broke through. We both got a little bit burnt, but hey ho!

When we landed at Phi Phi, it was quite mad. The jetty was totally full of guys trying to sell you accomodation. Thankfully we had booked ours before we went, so we found the guy for our hostel (Phi Phi Ingphu) and he loaded our stuff into a trolley and we followed him up the hill. It is a long way up. We are out of the touristy bit, which is nice, and it's only a 10 minute walk to get back to it. Our room is up the most rediculous flight of stairs, probably about 100 steps, each one uneven and between 8 and 12 inches tall. By the time you reach the top you are out of breath and more than a little worried about cardiac arrest!!!

It is so worth it though. All of the guide books recommend going to the island's 'viewpoint'. A point at the middle of the island in the hills where you get an amazing view of all the beaches at once etc. Well that is how it looks from our balcony, and we are staying here for a week - bliss!

Our room is very basic, but for 20 pounds a night in this place it's actually quite nice. It's a bungalow on stilts set into the side of the hilll.

For the first day here we did very little, wondered around doing a little bit of exploring etc. In the afternoon there was about an hour of heavy rain (we stayed in the pool - very pleasant), the beaches are beautiful. Today, we had a lie-in, a bit of breakfast and started planning the rest of our week. Tomorrow we are probably going to do a swimming, snorkelling, cliff-diving tour of the islands (ending at sunset), and then possibly a three day open water dive course. woohoo!

Right, back to the beach now, our books won't read themselves.

Love you all


Jane and Simon

xxx