To get from one popular place to another was one of our major ways to get along in Thailand at the beginning. Anyways it’s hard not to end up in a touristically fully developed city in Thailand in times when bloggers turn insider tips swiftly and often involuntarily into tourist attractions and travelling is so ridiculously cheap that anyone can afford a package holiday at least once a year now. And as utter southeast-Asia novices we thought that we should at least see the islands with our own eyes that were supposed to infect us with the travel bug decorating the windows of the travel agencies at home. Still on Kho Tao we turned our plans over in our minds where to go next, because from now on everything was possible and set our minds on a combination of a ferry and bus trip that was supposed to take us to Phuket. Just because both of us had heard from it, but none had a clear mental image of it.
To spare us another night paying for an accommodation we decided to book a night ferry, meaning we had to check out at 11 am and pass the day until 9 pm along with our altogether forty kilogram, -yeah, I know experienced backpackers would laugh at us for this much weight, but we are perfectly fine with it-, backpacks. To the Thai`s astonishment we really like to leave the car behind and walk even when fully loaded with our luggage and so we walked to the pier and along Sairee beach and once we sat on the beach, once in a bar. Waiting is not bad at all if you are waiting for something that delights you. The night ferry was heavenly, we had our own bed in a huge dorm room and nobody disturbed the peaceful night by making unnecessary noises or light and so we were able to get some rest on the six hour journey. In Surat Thani we arrived in the middle of nowhere, obviously so far off from anything that even the driver who was supposed to give us a ride, took us on a round trip to nowhere just to drop us off where he had initially picked us up and redirect us into another bus. Enjoying picture-postcard views from the bus windows we advanced from Surat Thani to Phuket.
On the internet Kevin had looked up a part of the island which was advertised as not to packed with tourists, but turned out to be flooded by foreign visitors. So at least we didn’t stand out, but were overwhelmed by offers for the cheapest food and accommodations and the best food in town. The feud of the tourism sector in the low season was fought at our expenses and getting on our nerves. As always when we are slightly irritated by something we decided to get us some beer for the next two nights, even though beer and alcoholic beverages in general are far too pricey for our travel budget. And so we ended up sitting at Kata Beach at nighttime which was tightly packed by people roasting in the sun side by side in daytime, and enjoyed bread, cheese and the view on the sea almost on our own if it wouldn’t have been for the stray dogs which were subtly begging for participation in our nocturnal feast.
Naively we expected Kho Phi Phi on our further journey to be a more peaceful island paradise and were thwarted on our arrival at the pier by a BurgerKing store and party-people community welcoming us. On the few places were nature could be observed undisturbed, we were fascinated by the beauty of wild forests, sandy beaches and bountiful fishes, just like on Phuket. On our second day on Phi Phi we treated ourselves to a canoe ride to monkey beach and to snorkel around the island and were as keen as mustard seeing the colourful corals and fishes. But we were not too sad about leaving this island just as well the next day. Certainly, we were the only ones to blame for disappointing our own expectations. For package holiday-maker and beyond the rainy season these islands must be incredibly beautiful, but we had not left Germany to be surrounded by our equals all at once again. And so we set off for Krabi which was a very wise decision which soon became evident.