Swimming with Sharks

So we left Phuket on the boat bound for Phi Phi Island, and it did indeed only take 2 hours, I was amazed at the Thai honesty.... we have come across some right liars!

Phi Phi Island is as close to Paradise as I think you can ever get, after disembarking the boat we were hounded by touts to get us into the best beach bungalows, so we settled for Harmony House at 600B a night...... well it turned out to be the biggest flea pit i have ever stayed in!! It was gross, Em saw a cockroach scurry under the bed and we wouldn't walk bare foot anywhere!! So Harmony House turned in to Hell House.

Oh and I haven't mentioned the swelling..... after getting sunburnt I had an allergic reaction to the Deet - it must have the strongest chemicals ever, not only does it repel mozzies it repels humans!! So, I managed to get some on my face and it swelled up so bad I seriously looked like I had been in 10 rounds with Mike Tyson - I covered up in sunnies and a hat for around 3 days and took loads of anti-histamines, the swelling has finally gone down today.... 5 days later!!

So after we checked out of the flea pit we found the most beautiful beach bungalow ever - it cost a little more but after the last place we didn't mind a bit of luxury.

We spent the next couple of days swimming and sunbathing, we even rented some fins, mask and snorkels to do some snorkelling - it's the first time I had ever done it, and it was fab! We saw lots of little reef fish and the odd small jellyfish. Em even managed to get bitten by one of the little ones called Sgt Majors - we asked at the dive centre and the reason they nip at you is because their job in the sea is to clean up - if you stay still near them they nip you!!

Today we took a boat trip around Phi Phi Island, it cost us 600B for the whole day, which is around 4GBP - it included lunch and access to sea canoes and all the gear for more snorkelling. We visited the beaches of Phi Phi Lea which is uninhabited - the sand was as soft as silk - it was amazing. The coral was great, saw loads more little fish.

The last place we stopped on the boat was at Shark Point.... why you might think - well to swim with sharks of course!! So we all dove in all geared up and followed the Thai guide then he yelled us all over as he could see a shark - so we all swam over and there it was!! A beautiful black tip reef shark - amazing!!!! They are 100% harmless in case you were wondering!!

Forgot to mention the Thai Boxing - we were going to see some in Bangkok but I am glad we waited, as there is a reggae bar on Phi Phi Island which has a boxing ring inside!! There is free boxing every night, so we went to watch a match - it was very violent, then who should appear in front of us - Pritchard and Dainton from Dirty Sanchez!!! They were there to film a show on the next night of them trying Thai Boxing - we were sitting at the table right in front of them!! So we came back the next night and watched them film the show - it was really cool - if any of you watch the show then look out for us!!

Finally, I am uploading some of my photos onto my photobucket website, here is the link:

http://photobucket.com/albums/e237/jacqui_froggett/

Bye for now people - keep the emails coming!!

xx