Thailand Vacation Recap pt. 2
We then took a ferry to our next hotel on Phi Phi Don Island. From our ferry we had to take a longtail boat to our hotel - there are no roads on this island. The welcome drinks we received upon arrival said it all - made with real local fruits that made our taste buds do cartwheels. We could snorkel at the beach at the hotel. It was the best snorkeling I have ever experienced (until the next day topped it). I saw Scar in his natural environment. I told him I liked his work in Finding Nemo and thanked him for letting me visit his home.
I was very excited to take Keegan out for his first real snorkeling experience. He is a bit of a science nerd actually. He loves to read books about animals, especially sharks, so I thought he would really be fascinated by all that we would see. He had been perfecting his skills in the pool for the previous 4 days and he was getting quite good. Now that he had the skills to prevent a perpetual flow of saltwater into his lungs we ventured out into the wild blue sea. We had to swim about 80 meters away from shore to get to the coral, which was no problem for Keegan. The problem happened about 30 meters away from shore when we saw what I thought at first was a pink garbage bag floating in the water. Keegan noticed it before I did and heard him scream “JELLYFISH!” through his snorkel. Before I could even confirm that it was a jellyfish Keegan had turned around and was sprinting back to shore, still screaming (you might think “sprinting” is a poor word choice considering we were swimming and not running, but the pace with which he swam was kind of like how you see it on the cartoons when arms and feet are spinning like a propeller and the cartoon character is literally out of the water with only his propeller like limbs touching the water).
When I caught up with him I tried to explain that it was no problem, we would just swim around the jellyfish and not touch it. I tried to use the fatherly “its more afraid of us than we are of it.” This, of course, is completely not true. First off, I don’t even think jellyfish have eyes. They have no idea we are even there. They just float cluelessly through the water expanding and contracting and mindlessly taking in some sort of particles which it calls food. Second, there is no way in a jellyfish’s underdeveloped nervous system that it has the capability of experiencing fear in the same way that my son just experienced it. There was no convincing Keegan and when we got back to shore he said something about not wanting to “electric-ed” and I realized that he was getting his marine biology knowledge from Finding Nemo.
The next day we rented a longtail boat to take us to some nearby islands. Our driver’s name was Aud. He was a pimple faced boy who perfectly depicted the globalization of our world. His Che Guevara t-shirt and his Real Madrid shorts were tastefully accessorized with a cross necklace. His English was extremely broken. On the way back to the hotel I asked him how old he was, to which he replied, “fitteen.”
We went to Maya Bay, filming location for the Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach. While we were there we did some more snorkeling which was unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. We brought an underwater camera and tried to take some pics. If the camera worked right there should be pictures which have 300+ fish in one frame. Keegan, still not completely recovered from his first snorkeling experience, would only stick his head in the water with goggles on while holding onto the ladder of the boat. We also made a stop at Monkey Bay and watched the monkeys while they curiously watched us. Monkeys are scary when they are not behind the glass. Also, I almost lost my life at the hands (or rather beak, wings, and talons) of a wild goose once so I am a bit skittish of wild animals in their homes.
Since the back end of our itinerary was somewhat open ended we wanted to stay on Phi Phi Lei for another night but unfortunately our hotel was all booked, so we headed to Krabi. Krabi is just fine as a consolation destination. The limestone cliffs in Krabi make not only for scenic beauty but also for great rock climbing. The unfortunate thing is that for the one full day we spent in Krabi I was only feeling at 60% health-wise so I missed out on what would have been some world class climbing. My apologies to all of my climbing friends for letting this opportunity slip through my fingers.
Our 15 year old boat driver
The infinity pool at our Phi Phi Island hotel
Keegan getting ready to brave the waters around Phi Phi Lei Island
Phi Phi Lei Island
I was very excited to take Keegan out for his first real snorkeling experience. He is a bit of a science nerd actually. He loves to read books about animals, especially sharks, so I thought he would really be fascinated by all that we would see. He had been perfecting his skills in the pool for the previous 4 days and he was getting quite good. Now that he had the skills to prevent a perpetual flow of saltwater into his lungs we ventured out into the wild blue sea. We had to swim about 80 meters away from shore to get to the coral, which was no problem for Keegan. The problem happened about 30 meters away from shore when we saw what I thought at first was a pink garbage bag floating in the water. Keegan noticed it before I did and heard him scream “JELLYFISH!” through his snorkel. Before I could even confirm that it was a jellyfish Keegan had turned around and was sprinting back to shore, still screaming (you might think “sprinting” is a poor word choice considering we were swimming and not running, but the pace with which he swam was kind of like how you see it on the cartoons when arms and feet are spinning like a propeller and the cartoon character is literally out of the water with only his propeller like limbs touching the water).
When I caught up with him I tried to explain that it was no problem, we would just swim around the jellyfish and not touch it. I tried to use the fatherly “its more afraid of us than we are of it.” This, of course, is completely not true. First off, I don’t even think jellyfish have eyes. They have no idea we are even there. They just float cluelessly through the water expanding and contracting and mindlessly taking in some sort of particles which it calls food. Second, there is no way in a jellyfish’s underdeveloped nervous system that it has the capability of experiencing fear in the same way that my son just experienced it. There was no convincing Keegan and when we got back to shore he said something about not wanting to “electric-ed” and I realized that he was getting his marine biology knowledge from Finding Nemo.
The next day we rented a longtail boat to take us to some nearby islands. Our driver’s name was Aud. He was a pimple faced boy who perfectly depicted the globalization of our world. His Che Guevara t-shirt and his Real Madrid shorts were tastefully accessorized with a cross necklace. His English was extremely broken. On the way back to the hotel I asked him how old he was, to which he replied, “fitteen.”
We went to Maya Bay, filming location for the Leonardo DiCaprio movie The Beach. While we were there we did some more snorkeling which was unlike anything I have ever experienced in my life. We brought an underwater camera and tried to take some pics. If the camera worked right there should be pictures which have 300+ fish in one frame. Keegan, still not completely recovered from his first snorkeling experience, would only stick his head in the water with goggles on while holding onto the ladder of the boat. We also made a stop at Monkey Bay and watched the monkeys while they curiously watched us. Monkeys are scary when they are not behind the glass. Also, I almost lost my life at the hands (or rather beak, wings, and talons) of a wild goose once so I am a bit skittish of wild animals in their homes.
Since the back end of our itinerary was somewhat open ended we wanted to stay on Phi Phi Lei for another night but unfortunately our hotel was all booked, so we headed to Krabi. Krabi is just fine as a consolation destination. The limestone cliffs in Krabi make not only for scenic beauty but also for great rock climbing. The unfortunate thing is that for the one full day we spent in Krabi I was only feeling at 60% health-wise so I missed out on what would have been some world class climbing. My apologies to all of my climbing friends for letting this opportunity slip through my fingers.
Our 15 year old boat driver
The infinity pool at our Phi Phi Island hotel
Keegan getting ready to brave the waters around Phi Phi Lei Island
Phi Phi Lei Island
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