side tripping...

after tonsai, we took a few side trips to koh phi phi and koh lanta. koh phi phi wasn't very interesting to either of us but we stayed there overnight to take advantage of the snorkeling there. we took a longboat in the morning to phi phi ley (the smaller of the phi phi islands) and snorkeled at the infamous "the beach" beach (from the film about the secluded beautiful stretch of beach -- you know the movie; the one with the guy from titanic.. . :) ). we saw some really beautiful fishes, coral and a moray eel! we also tried to go looking for sharks, but due to poor visibility in the water (it was a bit choppy that day), we didn't get to see any.

at night, we checked out the nightlife and found it was a bit reminiscent of a fraternity party. :-/ one highlight was the bar where they give a free bucket (see: picture below) to anyone who will "muay thai" fight in the ring. i use the word "muay thai" in quotes since it was more like drunken bouts.




after phi phi, we spent a few days on koh lanta. this was a nice big island with a long stretch of beach for relaxing and reading (oh, we have read SO many books!). we also went elephant trekking which was a tad kitschy but fun. we got to feed him bananas and pineapples whole!





as the holidays approached, we found that we wanted to spend them where we felt the most comfortable so back to tonsai we headed. :)