May 25, 202408:37
Hear
Who better than Hollywood to sell us golden carrots? That was the story of the movie The beachreleased in 2000 with Leonardo Dicaprio as the protagonist, filmed in a bay on the island Phi Phi Leh, Thailand. Beyond its natural beauty, the film proposed this island as the paradise to which a select few arrived, leaving their lives behind and with the intention of building a new society from scratch.
After the film, this small 300-meter bay, with flowing turquoise water, framed by two green and symmetrical rocks, which for centuries was an unknown place, began to attract tourists. By 2015, ships were lining up to anchor on its coast and disembark multitudes; In 2017, most of the corals had died and in 2018, the five thousand tourists who arrived daily could not even sit on the sand. And that was how Maya Bay It went from being described in travel guides as “paradise” to “unbearable, dirty and noisy place.”
Finally, against pressure from tour operators, The Thai government closed the beach in 2018. Three and a half years and a pandemic later, the beach It reopened on January 1, 2022, but with conditions: the boats no longer anchor on its coast, but on a floating dock on the other side of the island. No more than 300 daily visitors are accepted They must walk fifteen minutes along a wooden platform to cross the island and reach the mythical beach, where it is not possible to stay for more than an hour and bathing is prohibited. Whoever goes into the sea deeper than the knee will receive a whistle and a challenge. The grateful ecosystem is already showing signs of recovery.
And although this beach is of special beauty and remains a must-see excursion, it is not the only one. The Phi Phi Islands belong to the Hat Noppharat Thara Mu Ko Phi Phi National Park and cover an area of 388 km². There are four islands: Phi Phi Don, the largest and only inhabited, with good hotels and services; Phi Phi Leh where Maya Bay isand the smallest Koh Paiknown as Bamboo Island and Koh Yunk or Mosquito Island.
Most of the massive tours that visit the islands come from Krabi and Phuket. Large ships with more than fifty passengers called speed boats It takes almost two hours to arrive and another two to return. Staying in Phi Phi Don, on the other hand, is the best option to explore them thoroughly, do more than one walk and reach the points of interest before these great tours arrive. Another advantage is that it is easy to agree on an itinerary and price with one of the many ships. long tail who rest on the beaches. Are wooden boats typical of Southeast Asia, narrow, almost river-like, driven by an engine adapted from a car, and with colorful necklaces on the bow, carrying no more than six people.
And so, after having breakfast, just walk to the beach to board the long tail and jump into the unreal blue of the Andaman Sea and find many more paradises than Maya Bay.
On the main island, hotels and resorts are scattered along the entire coastline, but there is a small center around Ai Ton Sai Pier. In addition to a dozen small travel agencies selling boat trips, fishing excursions and deep diving, there is a surprising number of businesses dedicated to cannabis, which is legal in Thailand, although it is believed that not for much longer. Almost like the bars in Amsterdam, the plantita is offered according to varieties and origin.
Just walk two blocks from the pier along the main street to reach a beach that takes your breath away, it is the Loh Dalum, the largest and most popular on the island, with sand parties that last until morning. Another highly recommended one is Larga beach, with little bars and a couple of restaurants, which can be reached after half an hour of walking or taking a boat taxi.
On the way to the mother of all beaches, Maya Bay, there are several stops to make in Phi Phi Leh, such as the Viking Cave. It is not a beach, but a steep cliff with deep caverns where it meets the water. You can also see bamboo scaffolding climbing the rock: they are the way locals climb the cliff in search of swallow nests, a fundamental ingredient in swallow’s nest soup, a specialty of Chinese cuisine.
Another unmissable stop will be in Monkey Beach, where a hundred macaque monkeys live in their own paradise despite harassment from tourists who insist on taking selfies, at the risk of being attacked. The instruction is to get off the boat without backpacks, bags, or anything that could suggest that you are carrying food.
Snorkeling lovers will have their moment of celebration when the long tail Anchor in a natural pool and an incredible underwater garden offers itself as a landscape in silence. And finally, the final trophy, Maya Bay, shown with as few people as possible near sunset, when the big ships are long gone. A gift from nature, tsunami posters route They remind us that it can also get angry.
Apart from Phi Phi, the Andaman Sea has much more to offer. Phuket is the largest island with an international airport, beaches, the Old Town, its own cuisine and nightlife. The Muay Thai martial art is very strong in Phuket and lovers of this form of fighting can not only attend fights but also visit the large Tiger training gym. and also encourage yourself to train. Tiger accepts all levels and categories, including women and children.
At the antipodes of kicks, is the chance to take a Thai cooking class with chef Nooror Steppe at Blue Elephant. The class begins with a trip to the market to buy galangal, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, sweet basil and a variety of chili peppers, and ends with a lunch where everyone will taste the dishes prepared under Steppe’s guidance.
He thai cuisine stamp are their curry pastes combined with chilies, herbs and coconut milk. While the chef tasted her dishes and added more chili, the rest of us did the opposite. And we learned very useful words for traveling around Thailand: mai pet (not spicy).
Blue Elephant is in the heart of the Old City, where its colonial history can be seen in the dozen Portuguese houses and mansions from the 19th century. To the south is the Wat Chalong Buddhist temple. There are several buildings that surround the 60-meter-high Great Pagoda. It is decorated with paintings depicting the story of Buddha’s life as well as containing statues of Buddha. There is also an exhibition hall with some of the most notable monks in the country’s history portrayed in wax figures.
Devotion to Buddha reaches its splendor in The Great Buddha of Phuket, a 45-meter-high statue, made of white marble. It is at the top of Mount Nakkerd, between Chalong and Kata Beach, and whoever resists climbing the stairs in the intense Thai heat will be rewarded with priceless views of Chalong Bay and a 360-degree panoramic view of the entire island.
The heat is a constant in Phuket and walks through the interior of the island make us think why we are not on one of its beaches, such as Mai Khao which is in the north of the island. Its ten kilometer coastline makes it the longest in Phuket. Or the busy Patong Beach, which at night is the only place for nightlife, with parties on the sand.
A good place to end the day is at Cape Promthep, at the south west end of the island, where there is a viewpoint at the top of a hill. Despite the crowds, there is always a place on the wall to sit, feet dangling, and watch that spectacle, always the same, always different, of the sun going out into the sea.
On the way up the hill we had seen saddled elephants ready to take the tourists for a ride. For some, it is animal exploitation that should not be supported; for others, the continuity of an ancient Thai tradition. In the absence of European horses, the Thais have always ridden elephants.
And if Phuket is the largest island, Koh Lipe is the smallest and most charming. Already close to the border with Malaysia, it is part of the Tarutao National Marine Park and some compare it to the Maldives due to the extreme transparency of its waters. It is barely two kilometers wide by two and a half kilometers long. The arrival point will be an improvised pier on Pattaya beach, the longest, where there are restaurants, some hotels and the immigration office for those arriving or going to Malaysia. Pattaya is also where the Walking Street that crosses the island and where the massage parlors, souvenirs, restaurants and bars with live music are repeated.
The profile of this island remains calm. Its visitors prefer to enjoy it during the day and explore its beaches such as Sunrise to see the sunrise and Sunset to see the sunset or discover small coves along barely marked paths in the jungle. Here It is also possible to see luminescent plankton, small bright bluish particles that shine on the sand at night.
