People often make comments to us about our “extended vacation,” since our journey is on the long side of average. But we beg to differ. We don’t see our trip as a vacation. In fact, it’s a lot of work! We spend 5-6 hours every day doing tough physical activity: riding two, fully loaded touring bikes through whatever the weather and terrain put before us. We spend the rest of our time time looking for places to eat, buy groceries, and sleep each night. We have to balance our time between exploring where we are and planning for the days ahead. In a normal week, we might only take one day off of riding just to “rest,” which really means keeping up with bike maintenance, emails, route planning, blog updates and laundry. So we’ve been looking forward to a real “vacation” for a few days on the beaches of southern Thailand.
We left Bangkok in late March, just as the hot season is getting miserably hot in southern Thailand. And the first week was ROUGH. Each day we would wake up at 4 a.m., aiming to be on the road by 5:45 or so. We would ride hard, maybe taking one break, until about 10:30 or 11, when the heat became unbearable. At that point, we would try our best to find somewhere with air conditioning (usually a small coffee shop). We would eat lunch nearby, then sit inside in the A/C for as long as we could justify it with whatever small purchase we made. Then, we’d spend another hour outside in the shade before finally packing up and getting back on the bikes sometime after 3 p.m., when the worst of the heat was done.
Thermometer maxed out after sitting out in the sun: 120 degrees Fahrenheit or 50 degrees Celsuis. Yikes! We think the actual air temp might have been slightly lower… but not sure! All we know is it was HOT.
But finally, that long week of dull cycling paid off, and we found ourselves in range for beautiful Thai island getaways. We took almost 10 days, only two of which we actually cycled, to “vacation” on the beaches of southern Thailand.
First of all, let me say how difficult it was to decide how to use our time. We knew we had a finite amount of beach time: we have flights booked from Singapore to Vancouver at the end of April. It’s not exactly a tight deadline, but we knew we would want to choose our beaches carefully, because we just can’t see them all.
We started with the Gulf of Thailand, and took a series of boats out to Koh Phangan, a beautiful island known for being a backpacker hotspot. We spent two and a half days soaking up the sun, sipping coconuts on the beach and snorkeling.
Enjoying a coconut our last morning on the beach.
First time for everything! While on Koh Phangan, we rented a scooter to get around for the day. It was certainly different… but we appreciated the engine power when creeping up the hills!
From Koh Phangan we took a boat back to the mainland and rode two days across to Thailand’s west coast along the Andaman Sea. This is when the real decision time set in. The Andaman Sea is known the world over for its stunning coastlines and islands. So it’s not as cheap to get around in this part of the country. We had originally planned to visit two islands and a beach on the mainland, but we decided the best use of our resources (time and money) would be to spend the bulk of the time really enjoying one place, instead of being rushed to see several.
Enjoying fruit shakes on the beach while trying (in vain) to reduce our cycling tan lines!
We began to put Phi Phi Island toward the top of our list based on pictures we saw. But as we read reviews about accommodations on the island, we began to feel like we were on a bit of a roller coaster ride–people either loved or hated it. Several people were highly critical of the “nightlife” (read: total party scene) on Phi Phi. Others said the beaches were crowded. Still others went on and on about the stunning beauty of the island. After much consideration, we decided to go for it.
No regrets! Phi Phi was the best island we’ve visited on this journey! Loved it!
Longtail boats are scattered along all the beaches on Phi Phi, waiting to pick up tourists and cruise them around… for a fee, of course!
We even did a half-day tour which included cliff-jumping, a visit to Monkey Beach, snorkeling, and swimming in Maya Bay. It was our vacation splurge, and well worth it!
Dave taking the leap from the cliff.
At close range with the guys on Monkey Beach…
Here’s our final conclusion: travelling to Phi Phi–or anywhere for that matter–is what you make it. Yes, Phi Phi Island is known for its loud bars, cocktail buckets, overpriced foods and tourists galore. We simply did not let that bother us. Instead, we brought our own food and our camping stove and enjoyed quiet evenings cooking dinner on our balcony. When the party got loud late at night, we went to sleep with our headphones in. And by day, we relaxed and read books on the beach. Fantastic!
We took the hike up to the island viewpoint.
Sunset at the viewpoint
Now we’re back on the mainland, heading south. South to Singapore, where we have airline tickets for April 27. We are stoked to be headed back to the good old USA where we plan to do another four or five months of cycling home!
