KOH PHI PHI ISLANDS

From Krabi we took a 2 hour ferry across to Koh Phi Phi Islands which is where we are now. A few people had recommended it to us, and we arrived on the tropical island to pouring rain which was ironic! Koh Phi Phi is a lot more touristy than we had expected. In fact it is the first place we've been where Westerners seem to out number the locals.
It was one of the main places devastated by the big tsunami on the 26th Dec 2004. You can still see some traces of the damage and it is sad to think what it must have been like for the people who were here at the time.
We have been here for 3 days now and we're about 1 month in to our adventure. Unfortunately I (Olivia) must have eaten something dodgy and have come down with the first (and hopefully last) sickness of the trip. It's really, REALLY horrible being sick whilst on holiday :-( I have diarrhea (sorry to be gross), extreme hot and cold flushes, achy joints and limbs and just feel generally unwell and weak. I am writing this while lying in bed to type up later as I'm bored and feeling slightly better than before but still can't do much else. Hett I've been taking your advice and am keeping warm, even if I am warm! I'm wearing a long sleeved merino which covers my 'kidneys' despite the 30 degree heat :-)
So I'll describe our last couple of days. On our first night I was already feeling a little off but thought I'd be ok. We ran in to Tom, Mark and Anna (who we had spent the evening with in Kuala Lumpur a couple of weeks back). We were invited to have drinks in their room and then go to a bar where they had a kickboxing show on. In Thailand they have these things called 'buckets'. They are literally a small bucket that you buy as a set with a small bottle of spirits, a can of soft drink and a bottle of red bull concentrate in it. It also comes with straws and a bag of ice. It was the first time Tama and I had come across them and Anna suggested we try one out. When in Rome/Thailand......... Man it was strong!
The kickboxing was hilarious as the 'proper' Thai fights were obviously staged and choreographed! As well as that anyone from the crowd could volunteer to get in the ring and fight for a free bucket! This was mainly drunk English 'LADS' who got up there and were trying to show off their kickboxing skills - even though didn't have any. It was really lucky that no one got seriously hurt as they got given head gear and gloves but no mouth guards at all. It could have been very easy for someone with a bit of previous experience to give one of the lads a beating had they challenged them. The Canadians tried to egg Tama to get in the ring but for that reason he decided not too. We then went to a bar called Apache for a dance down at the waterfront. Tama and I lasted a little while until the smoke from all the smokers got the best of us and we had to go home.

The next day we went for a wander around to see what there was to do. We planned on going on a sunset cruise that started at 3pm that evening, but by mid-day my sickness had come on so bad that I had to go and lie down in our room for a rest. I woke up an hour or so later still feeling bad, but slightly better. Being determined not to waste the day just because I was sick I got up and went on the trip. It was brilliant! We went past a cave called Viking Cave where swallow birds breed. Thai people go in the cave to get their nests to make 'birds nest soup' sounds yum huh?! We also did some fantastic kayaking and snorkelling. We then had to swim from the boat quite a long way to a beach, crawl through some tunnel like caves whilst being bashed by waves in order to get to our next stop. It was very exciting. Once through we walked through some jungle and came out of it on a beach called Maya Bay. This is where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed - the one where Leonardo De Caprio goes to find the perfect secret beach that only a few people know about. Well as touristy as it now is as a result of the movie, it was indeed a very, very beautiful beach. We swam there for about 45 mins then had the boat trip back (after climbing back through the rocks and kayaking back to the boat). Unfortunately the sunset wasn't all that spectacular as it was quite overcast but we had a great time nonetheless.
That night shortly after we got back at 9pm there was a screening of the movie 'The Beach' at a bar called 007. We thought it would be good to watch it having just been to 'The Beach' that day (even though neither of us really liked the movie much). During the movie I started shivering uncontrollably and felt freezing (even though it was really hot). I was sitting under a fan which can't have been helping but I couldn't move as the place was packed with people watching the movie and we had really good seats too. I was stubborn and sat there throughout the whole movie. I got sicker and sicker from then on and had a dreadful night. I felt completely awful. So this morning I gave in and admitted that I had been stupid doing so much activity knowing I wasn't well and am in bed for the day. I took some pills this morning from our travel doctor kit and it's now 2pm and I feel a little better. Will definitely take it easy for the rest of the day though. Tommorrow we may go to another beach called Long Beach and stay in a nice place over there. It's supposed to be more secluded over there which would be nice. We may get a Thai massage too, although they may need to keep from standing on my calves as they are still sore for walking up and down all those steps! Will keep you posted.
Hope you are all safe and well,

Much love
Livi and Tama xx