Goodmorning, afternoon or evening,

Okay so my title may have been slightly over-exaggerated and also not very accurate. I did not feel like a Bond girl BUT I did visit the Phi Phi islands on a speedboat. Phi Phi is known for the most stunning beaches of Thailand.

Where one may feel like a Bond girl when walking from the sea back to her beach towel.

My exact feeling was more like being a salad tossed in the air before even arriving at the beach, due to the harsh waves and speed that the boat was going but it was good fun!

So if any of you travel-junkies visit Phi Phi. Go with a speedboat, way more exciting!

I chose to only do a day tour as I knew Phi Phi would be extremely touristy and all of the resorts are on the “ugly” island of Phi Phi so having to constantly get a boat to visit the other island seemed like a unnecessary pain in the butt. Plus the fact that the hotels were way too expensive for what they were worth made my decision ever so easy =).

Anyhow we started at Phi Phi Don island where the Monkey Beach is found. It was a tiny beach with lots of cliff faces where all the monkeys sat and climbed about. Proper monkey style obvs.

We got up close to them but stayed on the boat as these guys are known to be vicious.

Kinda glad that we weren’t allowed on the island as I did not fancy and couple of vaccines in my butt if I did get bitten which to be honest would of course happen to me. Sod’s law follows me around.

After Monkey Beach we had lunch to then go off to Phi Phi Ley, this is the pretty island of Phi Phi. So basically where I was hoping to feel my Bond girl moment.

We first visited Viking Cave. Pretty impressive to see but again we could only view from the boat.

After experiencing our inner vikings we travelled down to Pileh Lagoon to have a swim and snorkel. The water was a delight and the fish were as colourful as a rainbow.

After that we went to Maya Beach where the famous movie: The Beach was filmed.

Great title for a film by the way.

The government has closed the beach off now due to the amount of tourists that came everyday were ruining it, so i’m actually glad we only got to see it from a distance.

When we approached the beach I was at the front of the boat on my own and was slowly taking pictures. Now the tour-guide, bless him, said I should sit on the front and lay like the model I am and pose. Now I have no idea why he would think I resembled a model even in the slightest – we all know about my little legs – but it did make for a laugh. He kept telling me how to pose in front of my own camera. Which was somewhat awkward haha.

Writing this down makes it sound way creepier than it actually was guys. It was seriously hilarious and he made the other people (mainly couples) do the same. Pose in different ways and look dramatically at their camera’s.

So I guess we all finally got our Bond Girl moment.  I didn’t technically feel like a Bond Girl but hey, it was still a moment right?!

*this photo was not at Maya beach. I shall spare you that photo as it did not look as flattering as I hoped it would ha*

After Maya Beach we headed off to Kai island, otherwise known as chicken island. I’m sorry to disappoint but this island doesn’t get it’s name because there are any chickens roaming around but because the island resembles a chicken, this is if you have a good imagination. Personally I didn’t see the resemblance but hey, what do I know?!

We stayed there to swim and snorkel for another hour.

I decided against snorkelling and luckily I didn’t need a snorkel either as the fish swam right up to us with their colours all on show.

After getting my tan on a bit we headed back to Phuket.

As it was Valentines day (and mostly cos it was our last night we were both in Phuket) I had a “romantic” dinner date with Hannah Banana.

I had a cheeky margarita pizza, gotta love the classics, and then went back to pack my backpack again.

In the morning it was time to get the local bus that took me to Khao Sok National Park, again.

Last time I came here for only one night and only had one day to enjoy Khao Sok.

Most of you know already how much of a nature freak I am so one day was not enough for me, I can be a greedy little creature.

Also I had a weeks time before I needed to be in Bangkok so I decided to make a detour on my way there. 

Arriving at the resort I had the warmest welcome. Everyone now knows me as Gigi here and are all so helpful and friendly.

My first day I had a canoe ride down the river which was so relaxing as well as mesmerising.

We stopped at a little cliff and had tea that was boiled in a bamboo shoot and our cups were made of bamboo too.

After our canoe tour, I got dinner and then redressed and smothered myself in bug spray before exploring the jungle at night time.

I pretty much had a vip tour as it was only me and the tour-guide. He was brilliant and also very funny. We walked along the big path and saw so many animals.

We saw two types of snakes, a dusty monkey (the name is dusty, I ain’t judging him/her and calling her dirty guys), we saw many – unfortunately – spiders, scorpions, frogs and the coffee pooping cat; also officially known as the Civet cat.

Once we had walked for an hour my tour-guide asked if I would like to walk back via the small jungle trek.

This meant walking right through the jungle, no paths, just you and the tree’s and all the icky spiders in between. Yaaay.

I wanted to go but on one condition, that my tour-guide would walk in front (duh) but also made sure no spiders were there.

Now you must be thinking; what an idiot. *inserting eye roll emoji.

Well yes I know my nightmare animals were watching my every move, from laying on the floor to dangling in my face from their webs. Not so much fun so if we could at least avoid them as much as we could, I was a happy bunny.

It all went well until I nearly crashed face first into a Golden Orb Spider which my tour-guide didn’t see… After some inner prep talking I finally walked (more like ran), underneath the web and carried on with the trail.

After that little surprise my tour-guide, bless him, made sure I saw hardly any spiders and pretending that there was nothing there.

Did I believe him? Nope, but I went along with it anyways.

Our small off road trek actually lasted an hour, this meant an hour of hunched up shoulders, tensed neck, eyes strained and my hands balled into fists ready to smash anything that scared me in the face.

It was good fun and the tour-guide really showed me a lot of cools species and told me all about them. Learning something everyday.

The next day we went back to the lake of Khao Sok and sailed around. I will never forget how magical this dam is. How the cliffs climb out of the water, the tree’s covering them like a blanket, the water serene and inviting like a siren.

We reached a certain place where we could do a small trek through the jungle. Saw again spiders, yaay.. and scorpions.

Of course monkeys blessed us by gracefully walking past us.

We made it through to then take a bamboo raft to cross a small part of the lake to then visit a cave.

The cave was filled with crystals, epic Stalactites and also the walls had (if you have a good imagination) rock formations that looked like Buddha or elephants.

The cave was cool and refreshing to be in. Pitch black but with our headlights we saw enough sparkle and maybe most importantly to watch out for our heads.

After the cave we went to one of the many fishing huts to have lunch and then a cheeky swim. The water was, just like last time I visited, heavenly.

Unfortunately after our swim it was time to head back. One last night at the gorgeous Khao Sok before heading back to the hustle and bustle of Bangkok.

I had three nights in Bangkok before getting some history crammed in at Kanchanaburi, my next stop.

Shall keep you posed on my digging into the past next time!

Lot’s of love,

G.