After an uneventful ferry ride to Koh Phi Phi Don, Carolyn and I found ourselves waiting to get off the long line to the ferry. Our first task was to find accommodations on the overly expensive island. I had a list of places I would consider staying and Carolyn was basically laid back and ready for any experience although really really hot. This is when we started running the gantlet of old friends, coworkers, and acquaintances from my 7 and a half months on the island. After dumping our heavy dive gear laden bags at my old shop we went and found our new housing. 700 baht (21 dollars) found us a room with a fan and cold water shower in a hallway. After one night of staying there we quickly discovered the window to the hallway had absolutely no airflow and we quickly moved upstairs to an 800 baht room with a view and hot water shower. The 2 windows made the room cool off much faster and there was a breeze coming in from the balcony window that kept us from being suffocated. Did I mention the drunk unruly idiots banging on doors our first night? Did I mention the drain that didn’t drain and left 2 inches of standing water after a 3 minute shower? The move upstairs costs us 3 dollars more per night and probably was worth 50 dollars more in comfort. We stayed the rest of the time on Phi Phi upstairs with the view and airflow with no complaints.
As I mentioned earlier there was a gauntlet of people to talk to on the streets. Dive shop employees from before, friends, massage shop employees that recognized my face, restaurant waiters, etc. all wanted to stop me and ask the same questions over and over. When did you get back? Are you working here again? How long are staying? Where else are you travelling? I expected to know a couple people still here and there but I ended up seeing tons. What was more amazing was that random Thai staff that I never had any interactions with recognized me as well. It felt very nice to be so recognized and remembered. The only drawback of course was it nearly tripled our commute time every time we wanted to walk through town.
We had days of relaxing beach walks, hikes to the viewpoint (to see the sunrise, sometimes jetlag works in your favor), delicious food, and warm water swimming. I showed Carolyn my favorite restaurants, bars, and beaches and we discovered some new ones together. As usual we experienced some characteristically Thai events…
1. Thai kitty cooling:
I took Carolyn to Papaya. As one of the more authentic Thai eateries and most popular as well, it has an interesting feature. Phi Phi can be very hot during March. Much of the time spent on Phi Phi was spent acclimating to the hot and humid environment. The Thai cats at Papaya decided they don’t need to acclimate. Years ago one of them slipped into the beverage fridge for relief and families of cats have been living in the fridge over since. When they get too cold, they meow and paw, and the staff lets them out. When they get too hot they meow and paw and the staff lets them in. The Papaya cats have their servants trained so well!
2. Thai tomcat friendship:
Carolyn loves the cats and doesn’t mind petting each cat that rubs up against her. Carolyn was resisting this urge however because of fear of certain diseases like rabies (thanks Grandma and Auntie J). One meal we were getting some attention from a friendly cat and since it had a collar Carolyn broke her rule for the first time. The cat appreciated the pets and gave his thanks promptly. He turned to walk away and sprayed Carolyn’s entire lower leg. I of course laughed and said, “I told you so”. Now Carolyn only gives attention to small kittens.
3. Use of Thai Paypal:
We decided for a couple of reasons to go to Bangkok. I wanted to see a friend and I need a new camera (mine broke on the first dive of the trip). We also think there will be lots of great cultural sites to see. After finding some cheap flights up to Bangkok, we tried purchasing them online to no avail. The credit card payment would not go through. We called the airline and tried to book over the phone. They made the reservation but would only accept credit card payments if we emailed a picture of our credit card and passport. I told the operator that there was no way I would email my credit card to a random email address. She laid out the alternative. “Just pay cash at 7-11.” I initially balked at that idea thinking I must have heard her wrong but then after receiving the instruction again I was dumbfounded. “You want me to hand over cash to 7-11 and that’s how I will pay for my plane ticket?!” Apparently it’s a common thing for Thais with no credit cards. 7-11 charged us a 1 dollar fee to collect funds on behalf of the airline. We simply gave 7-11 the booking code and told them the price of the plane ticket and I got a text message from the airline shortly afterwards stating my booking confirmation. It must be the equivalent of Paypal just Thai style instead.
Carolyn and I ended up doing 3 days of diving together. For me it was like old times at my favorite Phi Phi divesites. For Carolyn it was all about discovering new fish and discovering her new gear purchased just for this trip. We had a great time together aside from some slight nausea issues that Carolyn quickly resolved by jumping into the water the second the boat stopped.
The absolute highlight of the diving (and one of the highlights of my entire diving career) was on our third day of diving. Because we had already visited the day’s first site of the day the previous days, I decided to take Carolyn to the more advanced side of the island. She had already seen seahorses, stingrays, turtles, black tip reef sharks, moray eels, puffer fish, angel fish, barracuda, shrimps, crabs, etc. etc. etc. and had been a happy diver so far. After 15 minutes of a pretty strong current and lowered visibility conditions we came around to some even stronger currents. I was just about to turn around when I saw a shadow pass over me. I looked up and saw some schools of fish and the silhouette of a boat. Right when I was about look away I realized the boat seemed to have a tail…a shark tail. I was not looking at a boat but rather a whale shark!
A little back story is probably required now. I have been diving for over 13 years now. I have over 900 dives and have never seen a whale shark except in pictures and video. My close friends Ryan and Alexia also have never seen the mysterious amazing creature. We have a running joke that whale sharks don’t really exist and that all previous sightings have been the result of hallucinations, overactive imaginations, camera glitches, and hoaxes. Whale sharks are one of the 3 types of sharks that filter feeds just like whales do (megamouth and basking sharks are the other 2). Whale sharks have been sighted up to 18 meter/60 feet in length. It is the biggest fish in the world. Because of shark finning and other human factors the gentle harmless whale shark is in massive decline. They are so elusive that scientists have no idea about the numbers and behavior of the animals.
So as I looked up at the 4.5 meter/15 foot silhouette it took a moment for my eyes to calibrate enough for me to confirm I was right before squeezing Carolyn’s hand and pointing up. She looked up too and quickly looked back to me for some kind of confirmation of our safety. I started quickly signing ‘Shark!!!’ ‘Shark!!!’ ‘Shark!!!’ to her- which really didn’t make her any happier. In my grand excitement I failed to sign the ‘W’ that would have quickly calmed her down. My fist was pumping. My breathing was accelerated. My eyes were wide. And so were Carolyn’s. She looked up. She looked around quickly. What was she thinking? “How do I get out of the water as soon as possible to get away from the animal that is obviously scaring the living daylights out of my experienced and otherwise calm dive buddy?” Carolyn has misinterpreted my massive excitement for fear. When I realized Carolyn’s eyes were huge with fear I got my wits about me and made time to sign the forgotten ‘W’ which immediately settled her concern. Over the next 35 minutes we swam along with majestic animal as it swam towards and away from the island. It swam straight for us at one point and we held our ground (water) until it turned and passed us by while looking us in the eye. Eventually it swam off into the blue and didn’t return. This was an experience of a lifetime.
We head to Koh Lanta Monday. This is a new island for both of us and supposedly a more laid back and cheap place. Pictures will be posted shortly of Phi Phi on Picasa.
CB and CB.
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