The Beach

Phi Phi Don 075
Originally uploaded by susiebarber

The Beach was first a book and then a movie about a group of westerners who lived together on an uninhabited island in Thailand. It’s a bit like Lord of the Flies. Anyway, the movie was filmed on the beach at Maya Bay on Phi Phi Don island. It’s an exceptionally beautiful place. Since the movie, it became extremely popular among foreigners. Tourists used to hide in the jungle until the boats left to spend an illegal night on the beach and relive the essence of the movie, so the government turned the island into a national park and started regulating its use. There’s now a park ranger who is the sole inhabitant of the island. Very recently, one tour company out of Phi Phi Lay (little Cancun) got permission to take tourists camping there at overnight. In return, the company picks up litter on the beach every morning. Well last night, I went on the trip and spent the night on the island. No electricity, no contact with the outside world, and no one else but our party.

It rained a bit yesterday, so our group was very small. Besides myself, there were two Irishmen on holiday in Thailand for 5 weeks and two young British guys who just graduated from the University of Manchester and are spending 3 months in Asia before joining the real world. We also had 4 Thai “guides” who set up camp, cooked our food, transported us, etc.

When we arrived, we explored the island while the Thai got things ready for us. We meandered until the last longtail left with the last tourist. When the sun started setting, the camp was set up (they have a fairly large tent just off the beach behind some plants as well as a cooking area) and citronella torches were lighting the way. Beer was plentiful and dinner was soon ready. We had rice, Thai chicken, and sauteed veggies while we sat around in the tent talking. Soon after dinner, we were served buckets. They are mini buckets with hard alchoholic beverages that are sold back on Kho Phi Phi. We each were given some kind of strong stuff (probably Thai whiskey) and coke. Music was playing and we basically gabbed, hung out and had a good time. There was a lot of discussion about South Park, The Simpsons, Monty Python and Team America (I really have to check that one out). One of my new British friends played guitar for a while and it was really great fun. I have to say, it was pretty fun talking with English speakers at last and realizing how different we Americans speak.

Later he and the Irish guys went down to the beach while the rest of us fell asleep. Later, one of the Thais turned the music back on and I just couldn’t sleep with AC/DC blasting, so I eventually headed to the beach as well. I caught up with the guys (who had purchased additional buckets) and the views were just phenomenal. The stars were out bigger than you generally see in California and definitely bigger than you see in Europe. They were so bright that you could see the outline of the cliffs around the bay. Looking out the mouth of the bay, you could see lightening way off on the horizon. Occasionally it was bright enough to light up Maya Bay and there was some phosphorescence washing up on shore. Personally, I saw 4 shooting stars and was just in awe of my surroundings. I can’t tell you how amazing it was to be sitting there seeing all of this after I’ve seen pictures of this place for years. If only I had a camera that could capture the sky last night. Anyway, a decision was made to sleep on the beach, so the guys went back and grabbed sleeping bags and pillows. We slept right there on the sand.

A couple of hours later, I woke up and realized that the stars were now covered by clouds. This was not a good sign. I said something about rain, but no one responded and I went right back to sleep. Later, I woke to a very strong gust of wind. Looking up, I saw a huge black cloud coming and this sailor knows that we’re in for a squall and a hell of a lot of rain. I got everyone to wake up and we grabbed our stuff and left for the tent as quick as we could. Sure enough, within a minute or so of reaching the tent, we had a torrential downpour. The rain continued past dawn but we managed to stay dry.

I slept very well until something scrambled by my head and bumped me. We knew that there were monkeys on the island that sometimes get aggressive, but we also had some rat sightings earlier (the one I saw was huge. I just knew it was a rat. I sat up and stayed sitting for about half an hour until dawn. That son of a bitch was not touching my hair again! My alarm clock was set so that we could get up and watch the sunrise, but we scrubbed that idea due to rain. Anyway, we all meandered around that morning, swimming, exploring and eating until it was time to leave. By the way, you know it’s time to leave when the longtails start arriving – the place just isn’t the same.

During the day, Maya Bay is overrun by tourists and boats, but we just had the whole place to ourselves. It incredibly beautiful and we all had such a good time. When we got back to Phi Phi Lay, I very hastily boarded the ferry to Krabi after realizing that I’d have to wait around until 3:30 for my pre-paid ferry to Ao Nong. Sorry that I it all happened so fast that I didn’t get to say goodbye to the guys. I hope you found a room for the night.

I’m now at Reilay Bay and very knackered. But I have to say, camping at Maya Bay was absolutely brilliant! I will never forget it.