Eterno Dia PhotographyFrom Sea to Stars: A Weekend In The City of Angels
Posted on May 10, 2020
Back in September, we spent a whirlwind three days in California. Shawn turned 40 and as part of his gift I got him tickets to a double bill concert of Ben Folds and Cake, two of his favorite artists, playing at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. I wanted him to have a very special memory of his 40th year, so I booked the Los Angeles part of be bands’ tour. We took a long weekend and flew down to Southern California, a favorite destination of mine, despite the smog, traffic and general discord happening in America at the time.
Our concert didn’t start until the evening on our first full day, so we had the morning and afternoon free. As a landlocked Canadian, my priority was to get to a beach and Santa Monica seemed like a good option, if a bit touristy. I’d never been there but of course I knew of the iconic pier and carnival located there. We headed out from Glendale with our rented Kia Soul and her trusty GPS with WiFi. With traffic, it took about an hour to drive and we found parking just off the pacific coast highway. The famous Santa Monica pier was fairly far off in the distance from our parking spot, but we found bathrooms and water stations right away, which was great. As we made our way to the pier, we admired the cute beach houses and pretty landscaping and watched the bikers and joggers passing us by. The pier was busy; we’d passed some kind of street festival up on Ocean Avenue on our way down to the beach, so lots of people were filtering down over the pedestrian bridge. The day was so smoggy that for a while it was hard to tell if it was just overcast, but the smog did keep the heat down a bit and there was a nice ocean breeze to keep us comfortable.
At the start of the pier, there’s a small aquarium that we didn’t go into just due to time constraints. It’s dedicated to education about the bay and how to conserve and protect it. I sort of wish I’d stopped in, as it was a very reasonable entrance fee as well, so if you have time, stop to check it out. We made our way along the pier, looking at potential spots for lunch, checked out the amusement park and some of the souvenir shops.
A smoggy morning at Santa Monica Pier
There were lots of musicians and painters busking along the pier and a number of people were fishing off the side. Below us, beach goers splashed in the waves. We found some historical markers, artifacts and information about the pier and Route 66, which I was unaware we were on, at the far end of the pier. We found a cute, three-story restaurant with a rooftop patio for lunch and people watched and just took in being by the ocean. After lunch, we headed over the pedestrian bridge up to Ocean Avenue to check out what the festival was and have a quick look around. We checked out some of the cool architecture along the ave and made our way back to the car once we’d had our fill.
With time on our side, I was itching to check out the Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles and Hollywood, where my husband had never been before. We headed from Santa Monica to Hollywood. We parked and just started walking Hollywood Blvd down the Walk of Fame. 
We passed all of the hundreds of tour operators, the Hollywood Church of Scientology, Madame Tussauds Wax Museum, and we investigated the stars on the sidewalks. We kept our sightseeing efficient as we got to the TCL Chinese theatre to look at all the hand and footprints of celebrities. If we’d had more time, we could have entertained ourselves for the entire day. There are private tours, group tours and self directed tours, if you enjoy ogling celebrities homes. I’m not sure how many of the tour groups are legit though, and a lot of the information we saw advertised was for celebrities that were big 20 years ago – maybe more fun for mom and dad than the kids….
After a whirlwind tour of Hollywood, we saved enough time to make it to Griffith Observatory. I hadn’t really done any research on it- I only knew that it had great views, and a telescope, which unfortunately I wouldn’t be able to look through, as we had the concert to go to that evening. We drove back to LA and navigated our route to the observatory. Parking was a bit nightmarish; the only parking left was parallel parking up along the winding, desert hillsides headed up to the observatory. It is metered pay parking for $10/hr. We decided two hours was about all the time we had to look before heading back to Glendale to get ready for the concert.
We hurried hiked from the car up to the observatory. It looked a hundred miles away but was probably about a kilometre from where we parked, which I definitely felt, hiking uphill in the afternoon California heat. The smog from the morning was dissipating, so it was starting to get warm (keep your sunscreen handy and bring some bottled water).
We explored Griffith Observatory (admission is free!), which was quite remarkable with numerous space exhibits, huge planetary displays, and of course a theatre named in Leonard Nimoy’s honor. We could have spent hours learning about the Tesla Coil, tides, moon phases, seasons, spectroscopy and looking through the camera obscura that peers over the city, but we only had time for a brief walk through.
We headed outside to the garden and outdoor area to take in some stunning landscapes of the city before leaving to head to the concert. This is a place I could have spent a full day (and evening) at. There is so much to learn here; they have star parties, theatre presentations and educational events and the outdoor views are stunning. I can only imagine they’re also stunning at night. Griffith Observatory is a must see when in LA and I was sad to have not had enough time to take it all in.
The Greek Theatre. I’d seen it in movies and I knew it had been designed in the style of an ancient Greek theatre. This was one of the most magical nights. The sun began to set as we got to our seats but the air was still pleasant and warm. As it got darker and the opening band was playing, I was actually pretty overcome with how gorgeous the venue was; crickets were chirping, the forest and hills around us were lit beautifully. Off in the distance where the moon was rising, the city lights were twinkling in the dusk and planes were landing and taking off at the distant airport. The whole atmosphere was just beautiful and I had a few moments of being taken aback at how perfect everything was in that moment. The bands were phenomenal and only added to how great the experience was. At the end of the concert, we did have to walk a ways down from the venue to find a taxi (I know, I know, but we don’t UBER) to get back to our little motel in Glendale…
Ben Folds at The Greek Theatre
On our final morning, we went for breakfast at Foxy’s in Glendale, which had a lot of greasy breakfasts to choose from (so much cheese) but a super gorgeous little patio. After breakfast we walked across the street to find The Americana at Brand, a shopping complex we’d heard was nearby, but hadn’t seen yet. We walked down a little alleyway, and a bit like walking through Diagon Alley in Harry Potter, we emerged in a gorgeous shopping plaza with stunning garden areas, cobblestone streets and adorable boutique shops. Only a few coffee places were open this early, but there were gardeners and maintenance workers cleaning the streets, stringing up lights and busying themselves with tasks. It was so quiet, peaceful and fresh.
Breakfast at Foxy’s
We’d scheduled in just enough time to head to Playa del Rey on the way to the airport before flying home. We parked and found a little lagoon, and then made our way to the beach. While we were headed through the burning sand to get to the ocean, I head distinct “borking”. I looked towards a rough concrete pier in the water where the “bork” had come from and watched a sea lion dive under the water! I was thrilled, as was my husband. He’d read that sea lions could often be spotted here, which I didn’t know. He didn’t tell me in advance, as he was afraid I’d be disappointed if I didn’t see one, so he was happy that I’d been surprised by the treat of seeing a sea lion in the wild. We continued to hear them bark as we made our way to a cute cafe, Playa Provisions, for lunch. We had a nice, healthy meal here before finally having to make our way to the airport and head home.
Three days wasn’t nearly enough time to spend in Cali, but we certainly did make the most of our time. At the time, we couldn’t have foreseen the coming pandemic events and this was our last trip, at least internationally for the time being. Even though LA is crowded and has issues with homelessness, poverty and pollution, there’s just something about it that I love. We made great memories in the City of Angels for Shawn’s milestone birthday and California will always have my heart. TTFN. ‘Til we meet again.
– L
Farewell To Paradise: Phi Phi To Phuket
Posted on November 17, 2019
Our first week in Thailand was coming to an end with this being our last day on the stunningly beautiful island of Phi Phi as well as the final day of our tour group before heading out on our own to continue our adventures. We got up early to spend every possible moment enjoying the island. While the town was still quiet, we checked out of the hotel, left our bags at the front desk to be gathered with the rest of the tour group and explored some of the more residential area of Phi Phi off of the main tourist streets.
Looking hot and tired. At this point I’m in denial about how sick I am. That soup though…
We walked through some of the shops that were open that catered more to the locals with food staples and services. We watched as workers from small hostels and B&Bs hung laundry and work in their yards. The morning was peaceful and quiet. We got an early lunch at a small restaurant with a stunning view. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for our first Thai massage. It was expensive, by Thai standards, but it the open air rooms right next to the beach were irresistible. For those that have never had a Thai massage, they are remarkably affordable and they are work- for your massage therapist- and you. There’s a lot of stretching, slapping, tapping and bending, in ways that sometimes you think you may not bend. Either way, I loved the experience and when we were done we headed back to the hotel to spend our remaining time on Koh Phi Phi at the beach.
Even an overpriced Thai massage is still a deal. Especially at the beach.
I’m a beachcomber; I’m fascinated by everything from the ocean and I love to find bits of old coral and interesting shells washed up and imagine what they might have been in life. I was was collecting some souvenir pieces when a hermit crab who’d been well hidden in his shell, objected to me moving him and gave me a bit of a scare when he poked his legs out. I inspected some of the other shells I’d collected, only to discover that a lot of them were in fact, occupied homes. I stood for a moment and scanned the area of the beach where I’d been collecting and suddenly noticed shells moving around all over the place. There were tiny hermit crabs EVERYWHERE. 
I lived my best life for an hour or so, collecting shells, followed hermit crabs, swimming in the sea and sunbathing until it was time to meet the group to catch the ferry and head back to Phuket. The same process of getting ourselves back onto the long-tail boats from two days earlier repeated itself and our luggage made it safely to the pier. 
The ferry ride back to Phuket was calm and peaceful and I spent it out on the sun deck getting last minute advice from our guide for the next two weeks of travel, soaking up some vitamin D in the sun, enjoying the salty sea air and the last moments of being on the ocean.
We arrived back into Phuket at about 5:00 pm. Two vans took us back to the hotel we’d originally started the tour at a week earlier. It felt like a lifetime ago and also like a blink of an eye all at once. We said our farewell to the group and then Shawn and I boarded another van (arranged for us by our amazing tour leader the day before) to take us to our next destination, a hotel stay in the Karon area of Phuket for one night, before heading north to Bangkok. We were relieved to be finished with the group, as I’d found the difference in our ages to be challenging, but Shawn and I were both starting to get anxious about having to go it alone now with no more tour guide to protect or advise us. As daunting as it felt, I knew we’d done enough research that we’d somehow manage. Shawn and I are great partners in many things in life, including travel. Even though we’d already had a week of incredible sights, food and culture shock, it somehow felt like our adventure was only just beginning. For now, we had one more day to enjoy the beach.
We checked into a beautiful and surprisingly affordable Centara Karon Resort and found supper at a charming little restaurant just down the road. First thing in the morning, we had a gourmet breakfast (and found bacon for the first time since arriving in Thailand) and headed to see Karon beach, a short walk from our hotel.
Very, popular but not the cleanest, Karon beach is definitely overcrowded and not the ideal place to stay if you’re looking for paradise, however, it’s a bit more family oriented and you won’t find the frenetic party vibe here that you get in the Patong district of Phuket.
Spirit house on Karon beach
For lunch, we decided on Angus O’Tool’s Irish Pub near the hotel, as I could only stomach something a bit more familiar to my usual cuisine. At this point, I was feeling pretty ill (and if I’m honest, I’d been sick since day four). I was scarfing down anti-diarrhea and anti-nausea meds like candy. I had antibiotics with me, but I wasn’t sure if this was a bug or bacteria, or just my IBS flaring up from a change in diet and routine. In hindsight, taking the antibiotics would have made the next two weeks easier, but you live and you learn… I’d been very open to trying new foods and was loving all the Thai cuisine, but maybe hadn’t been cautious enough. Either way, at that point I was feeling pretty gross and Irish food in form of a plate of fries seemed the most palatable. After lunch we headed to the airport and waited for the next journey to begin. We were leaving the beautiful beaches and heading into the city…. the city songs and movies have been written about. BANGKOK.
Bangkok Bound
As always, thanks for taking the time to read about my travels. Feel free to comment, ask questions and share. Until next time, stay tuned for the next part of the adventure. Safe and happy travels!
-L
Staycation Alberta: Siffleur Falls and the story about how I never made it there twice
Posted on August 31, 2019
I’m not much of a hiker, but I’m working on my irrational fear of bears and I always try to do things that scare me in order to deal with and conquer my fears. I’ve come a long way in the past few years with a successful 17 km round trip to both tea houses at Lake Louise three years ago and a successful hike to the gorgeous Grassi Lakes in Canmore last year.
About six years ago was one of my first attempts at a hike in bear country since my fear started. My husband and I and our pug Lexi, were on a camping trip at David Thompson Resort and Shawn wanted to try a hike. We’d heard about the popular Siffleur Falls hike nearby and it sounded doable. Back then, I didn’t carry bear spray and I was an ill prepared hiker.
I did okay for the first 20 or so minutes. We crossed the suspension bridge that crosses the Saskatchewan River. I began to get anxious when we got to the boardwalk area, which seemed like the perfect meadow area for bears to be at home in. My anxiety peaked when we reached a narrow closed in section of the trail where I couldn’t tell if my fear was overtaking me or if the feeling I was having of feeling “watched” was paranoia or was my instincts- it’s sometimes said if you feel like you’re being watched, you could be being stalked by a predator- and they have mountain lions here too. Even though I thought I could hear the waterfall ahead, my fear became too much with the trail being not densely populated and with my appetizer of a dog, I forced our little family to turn around. Even though I was alive, I was really disappointed in myself for letting my fear run wild.
The Saskatchewan River and suspension bridge
Fast forward to this June. I had the chance to redeem myself. We were camping nearby again and I decided I’d be amenable to give it another go. Better prepared with rain gear, bear spray, a few snacks and confidence from recent successful hikes where I didn’t get eaten or lost forever, we trekked out. I made it over the bridge, through the meadow and boardwalk and actually made it to the Siffleur River Bridge (that last time I’d mistakenly thought was the waterfall nearby). I carried in bravely even thought the trail was again, not very busy and began to close in with thick brush. We followed the trail and passed warning signs that we were now in back country. In quiet, densely forested areas, I requested that Shawn tell me very LOUD STORIES as we headed further back into the mountains. We came to a bit of a fork with 2 trails with a trail head marker that was not longer there. After some discussion we decided to take the trail that looked more “used”.
Crossing the Saskatchewan River
Suspension bridge at the Saskatchewan River
This took us up a steep trail and I realized we’d been walking for a while and was surprised to hear the sound of rushing water getting quieter, which I thought was odd, since we were hiking to falls. There were few markers and the obvious paths were getting less clear. My Garmin activity tracker told me we’d been hiking for well over 4km at this point so we checked the rudimentary map we’d gotten from the campground. It was then that we noticed the map (unlike the others we’d gotten for other nearby hikes) was listed in “hours” and not kilometers or miles. We didn’t have any idea how long we’d been hiking for, but guessed about 45 mins to an hour. The location of our falls was listed at 2.5 hours, which would make this at very least, a 5 hour return trip. Even though I’d prepared better, I hadn’t brought extra clothes or enough food to spend a night (worst case scenario in the mountains). There were very few other hikers and no cell service in case something happened. We hadn’t let anyone know we were on a hike, as we hadn’t expected this one was so long. We hadn’t set out particularly early and if we ate our snack on the way, we would have had nothing else for an emergency situation. Since we had no idea how much longer the hike would take (at this point we were starting to wonder if we were still on the correct path) and since we still weren’t prepared for a potential night in the back country, we decided to turn back.
Boardwalk along the first part of the Siffleur Falls hike
Getting into backcountry
Leaf miner damage on some of the leaves
Wild Orchids! Beautiful!
Round leaf orchid
I was again, very disappointed in myself, but at least this time I didn’t turn back because I let irrational fears get the best of me. Maybe I was over cautious about the potential things that could go wrong, but I also didn’t want to be a statistic and need rescuing from a mountain park. In my frustration about still not making it to the damn falls, I have to keep in mind that we didn’t have great information from the map or the trail information at the trail head and I can use that as a lesson for the next time. When we returned and checked to see if we’d missed something obvious, we noticed that someone had written 4.4 km by hand on the map. Obviously, that’s not the kind of information one can necessarily trust either; who wrote it? How did they track it?
A beauty day for a hike
Crossing the Siffleur River bridge
Siffleur River
Siffleur River
Hiking back after turning around
Star-flowered False Solomon Seal
Red Paintbrush. One of my favorite alpine wildflowers
So Siffleur falls wins again. At the end of the day, we’d had a nice hike, the views were stunning, we found gorgeous flowers and I’m happy that I made it farther than last time. Maybe the third time will be a charm, with an early start, a full pack and a big can of bear spray.
Have you made it to Siffleur Falls? How was your hiking experience? Have you ever encountered misinformation about a trail? Thanks again for stopping by to read. Feel free to comment or ask questions! Until next time, safe and happy travels!
-L
Staycation Alberta: Camping at DTR
Posted on August 5, 2019
I interrupt my Thailand ranting to bring you and episode of Staycation Alberta. We’re now in prime camping season in Alberta, and it’s a short season. My husband and I almost never vacation at the same spot twice; we feel that there is too much of this giant globe to explore to settle down at one vacation spot. Our one exception to this rule is David Thompson Resort. We have camped here in various forms for years as a couple and individually with our families when we were kids. DTR, as it’s affectionately known, is found on the David Thompson Highway heading west from Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House. Along the way you’ll come across the hauntingly beautiful Abraham Lake. It’s a turquoise color not unlike the seas around Antigua, but Abraham Lake has a weird ghostlyness to it. The area is generally still and quiet and visually is unique from the rest of the Rocky Mountains. This area is less popular than the Rocky Mountain national parks but is only about a 40 minute drive to Saskatchewan Crossing where you can enter Banff National Park and head north to Lake Louise or Jasper, or south to Banff, Canmore or Kananaskis.
Driving in on the David Thompson Highway
A lunch stop at Goldeye Lake
A lunch stop at Goldeye Lake
A lunch stop at Goldeye Lake
Previously, we’ve tented here (slept in the van- this is bear country), rented a trailer with an RV company and this time we rented one of the resort’s trailers. DTR has options for tenting, trailers and they also rent a selection of pre-set up trailers if you don’t have your own or don’t have the ability to tow a rental. There is a small selection of cabins to rent as well. DTR does group camping, has a small amphitheater and even a wedding venue. There are basic washroom facilities with pay showers and even a communal kitchen wash station, which is handy when your Coleman stove bites the bullet and you have no way to make hot water…
Our rented trailer
View from the campsite
Shawn mugging for the camera
There is a quaint motel with laundry facilities, a restaurant, convenience store with all the extra camping things you may have forgotten, and gas station. There are two parks for the kids to play in and a mini golf course. During peak season on Friday and Saturday nights, they have a rustic bar in the camping area to gather with friends (or make new ones) and they serve a cowboy breakfast (for a fee) in the mornings on weekends. Being in the middle of the wilderness, internet is still iffy, but they have free gust WiFi at the hotel lobby, so it’s a good way to really disconnect for a bit. DTR also allows dogs, just not in their trailers.
Shawn re-living his childhood in the giant rocket
If you’re not one for sitting around the fire the entire trip, there are lots of nearby activities. There are some really cool hikes down to the lake from the camp site, but lots of really great other hikes a short drive away as well. Usually the staff are fairly knowledgeable about hikes and activities in the area. The hikes in this area are much quieter than the crowded national park trails, so you may have a lot to yourself (bring your bear spray). There’s a helicopter base just down the road where you can book a trip to see the mountains like never before, there’s a trail riding company across the highway and an interpretive fire trail with information about the controlled burn done in 2009 where you can hike through the burn area. If you’ve got a vehicle that can handle a bit of off-roading, there are lots of cool places off the highway and along the lake to explore.
Taking a late evening hike to Abraham lake on the summer equinox. Plenty of daylight left.
Abraham Lake
A cairn down by the lake
Gorgeous golden hour
This next set of photos is from our trip last year, when we took Lex with us (and stayed in the van). We did some exploring around Abraham Lake and its shores:
I was delighted to find out this year that DTR even has hummingbirds as regular visitors to the area during the summer. I spent a few mornings stalking them on the restaurant patio:
If you’re looking for a place to camp that’s nestled in the mountains, quiet and away from the city, but still has amenities, this is the place you should check out the summer.
Have you been to David Thompson resort before? What are your favorite Alberta mountain camping getaways? As always, feel free to comment or ask questions. Thanks for stopping by and until next time, safe and happy travels!
-L
Phi Phi: Monkeys, A Famous Island and a Blue Lagoon
Posted on June 30, 2019
The continuing saga of our epic adventure found us on our second day on the stunning island of Phi Phi and our seventh day in Thailand. This day began with my husband asking if I’d heard the monkeys in the night. I hadn’t, even with the windows open in our hillside cabin, I’d slept like a rock, and I’m glad I hadn’t heard them. Confession: I’m not a monkey fan.
View from our balcony
Some are cute, but I’d seen videos of the ones in South East Asia that rip open backpacks, strip off car parts and even attack people to get their food. Monkeys are smart (probably smarter than me), primal and can even have rabies. They make me uncomfortable. I was certainly weary about meeting any of these locals. Our tour guide had warned us that there were monkeys in the area and urged us not to leave food out on our balconies over night. When I went out onto our balcony that morning to check if the swim suits I’d laid over the rail the night before were dry, I froze; there was a monkey on the rooftop of the adjacent building, staring at me. Motion caught my peripheral vision and I noticed one in the grass down to the right and another on the roof with the first. They noticed me but didn’t seem to be closing in. I hissed for Shawn, who came out to see what I was upset about. We watched for a few moments and when we realized there was no immediate danger of being accosted by a monkey, I grabbed my phone for a few photos.
Monkey across from our room in the morning.
After we’d all seen enough of each other and the monkeys vanished into the forest, we went for breakfast at the hotel and then killed a bit of time shopping, finding lunch and exploring in town before heading back to the hotel for a late afternoon excursion.
More stairs. At least I’m staying in shape.
Morning view from the hotel.
Breakfast view. Perfection.
A beautiful quiet morning. While all the partiers sleep, we explore the residential parts of Phi Phi.
Orange Bougainvillea.
Thai spirit tree. It’s believed that spirits reside in old trees. Offerings are often placed at the base and ribbons adorned on them.
Spirit tree
sign outside a dive shop
Morning shopping in Phi Phi
Our tour guide had helped the group arrange a snorkeling tour for the group. Two wooden boats came to the beach of the resort and we loaded up. First stop: the ominously named “Monkey Beach”. Super…. A short boat ride to the other peninsula on the opposite side of Phi Phi Don and we arrived on the shores of monkey beach and it was exactly as the name described. Monkeys. Everywhere. Macaque monkeys are the type you’ll find here; grey-ish brown, adults about two feet tall and 15 or so pounds.
Arriving at ominously named “Monkey beach”.
Well, here are the monkeys…
Ok, I admit it, the babies are kinda cute.
Monkey beach was a bit of a conflict for me. It’s a tourist attraction to be sure. The monkeys are quite used to people and are generally laid back, but unfortunately there have been documented incidents, including monkey bites. These can be exceptionally serious, as monkeys can have rabies, not to mention any other manner of infection from a bite in a place with foreign water and bacteria. I would say that a large number of tourists we saw during our short visit didn’t show proper respect for what is WILDlife. Some people were kicking water at the monkeys and teasing them with food. This is an excellent way to get attacked and potentially seriously injured. Not to mention, it’s cruel. While very cool (and somewhat terrifying personally) to see this many wild monkeys, I stayed very aware of where they were and made no effort to touch them. I took pictures at a distance, didn’t engage with them and I didn’t bring food for them. One larger male gave my husband’s swim trunks a thorough search and at one point attempted to remove them entirely, just to be sure there was no food. I think tourists should really be taught and reminded that the monkeys are wild and need to be treated with respect. I would caution everyone interested in coming here to be careful, not to bring food or tease them, and at worst, be prepared for a bite. It does happen.
Monkey bite first aid instructions in the boat.
We stayed on monkey island for about 10 minutes, which was more than enough for me. Our next stop was the island of Koh Phi Phi Le. You may have heard of this island when it was made famous as the film location for the 2000 movie, “The Beach” starring Leonardo DiCaprio. A large portion of the movie was filmed on Phi Phi Le. To make a long story short, the producers made a lot of changes to the island (to make it even more paradis-ey) which was never properly reclaimed afterwards, as promised. Then during the tsunami and the last typhoon, the island and its coral took a serious hit. On top of that, tourism to the tiny island exploded after the film causing huge damage to it’s main beach in Maya bay, so in 2017, the Thai government shut it down to give it a chance to recover. The good news is that is seems to be helping; white tipped reef sharks have been seen returning to the bay and some accounts say the coral is showing signs of recovery.
Mysterious Phi Phi Le in the background.
Phi Phi Le. I’m still thinking Jurassic Park.
Just wow!
Fortress-like. Land of the lost anyone?
We arrived at Koh Phi Phi Le and began to circumnavigate around it. There are few places you’re actually allowed to set foot on the island. We jetted around the island for some time, taking in the beauty of the island’s craggy limestone cliffs.
Daunting and spectacular
Sama Bay
Sama Bay
Sama Bay
Maya Bay from the movie “The Beach”.
We weren’t allowed to step foot on the Maya Bay beach, the famous beach from the movie, and there was a constant coast guard presence there to ensure no one did, but we were allowed to snorkel adjacent to it. Our tour guide assured us that the snorkeling here was amazing. I was ready. Or so I thought….
Sergeant majors everywhere. They might nibble lightly. Feels a bit like a tiny electric shock. I settled down when I realized I wasn’t being stung by jellies.
To make another long story short, my underwater camera battery failed me on this trip. It was working fine during the first part of the snorkel, which was in deep water but I couldn’t see much anyway. When the battery died, I was upset, but to that point there hadn’t been much to see, and what we’d seen on our dive a few days earlier was so much better, so I decided to try to not freak out and let this ruin the trip. This was nothing I hadn’t seen before, I told myself…. It was a moment later that suddenly the water started to become shallow as we got closer to shore and THE MOST GORGEOUS FISH I’D EVER SEEN began to appear; parrotfish, wrasses, angelfish, pipefish and coral in every spectrum and colour of the rainbow. I moaned into my snorkel mask, holding back tears for what had just become the most amazing snorkeling I’d ever experienced in my life. It was like swimming in a display aquarium. I could here the crackling noise of the parrotfish munching on the coral and watched the fish chase each other and even swim right up to investigate me. I made a choice in that moment, that even though I was devastated about not being able to document it, that I would do my best to ENJOY that precious moment. We reached the shore and I was trying not to be envious of the people in the tour who’s Go Pros had worked beautifully. We took a group photo on the stunning small private beach and then hopped back in the water to return to the boat and I tried to savor every amazing moment. I don’t know if I’ll ever truly be OK with the fact that I didn’t capture the moment, but it was truly the one of the most incredible experiences of my life.
Shawn having a snorkel at Maya Bay
One of the few SPECTACULAR fish I did capture before my battery failed. Bluelined or Striped surgeonfish.
A painting in our room that accurately represents what I saw snorkeling in Maya Bay.
Once back on the boat, experiencing a mix of emotions ranging from the exhilaration of the snorkel to the devastation of the battery failure, we carried on to continue our circumnavigation around Phi Phi Le. In the late afternoon heat, a thunderstorm had come up and all of the nearby tour boats tried to outrun it and make it back to the main island. The captains of our two boats decided it would be safer to try to shelter and pulled into a crevasse into the side of Phi Phi Le that led to a hidden lagoon surrounded by giant limestone cliffs.
An approaching thunderstorm that we won’t be able to outrun.
Thunderstorm. We need to find shelter.
Besides one other small speed boat that also found shelter in the lagoon, called Pileh Lagoon, we had the place to ourselves. We huddled under the tarp roof and the boat crew fed us fruit and drinks while we waited for the rain and wind to pass. When the weather settled and the sun same out again, the boat crew encouraged us to enjoy some time swimming in the lagoon. The group had begun to lose its zest after the chill from the storm.
giant cliffs rising above us in Pileh Lagoon
Waiting for the thunderstorm to pass. Don’t touch any metal on the boat…
Pileh Lagoon is gorgeous.
I was starting to worry this would be a repeat of the excursion a few days earlier when our snorkeling trip got cut short. Either way, by this point, I had to pee and I was not going to hold it. On a previous vacation, I’d had a similar problem on a boat with no bathroom and held it way too long. I was in absolute misery by the time we got to a bathroom and it had really zapped my enjoyment of the trip, so I didn’t want to remember this day in the same way. To hell with it; I announced that I was going to go in the water and everyone on the boat looked at me like I was crazy. I was done trying to impress the others on the tour and decided to just tell them; I was going in to have a pee and requested them to kindly not watch. I’ll spare you the details, but the lagoon was amazing! The water was perfect, the towering cliffs surrounding us were majestic and it felt like a paradise. A few in the group inquired how the water was and I told them it was amazing and encouraged them to join me. Before long, nearly 20 of us were floating and playing in the water. We joked and told stories and compared our buoyancy rates and the directions we floated individually in the water. We played in the lagoon for about an hour before boarding to finish our trip.
The group swimming in the lagoon once the storm passed.
Thai long-tail boat
Boats are also adorned with ribbons to honor spirits and give protection.
Long-tail boats from the lagoon
Stunning
Did I say Jurassic Park?
After we were finished floating in Pileh Lagoon and on our way back to Phi Phi Don, we stopped near Viking cave to see where Thailand’s popular, but controversial and unproven medical aid “bird nest” is obtained by local workers (more about this in an future blog article). We watched a beautiful sunset and headed back to the hotel.
Viking Cave. Off limits to tourists, it’s one of the places where the birds nest for “Birds Nest Soup” is obtained.
Viking Cave
That night, we had our farewell dinner for the tour group and just as we were getting ready to head into town afterwards for some shopping or a bar, the rain began. The storm that rolled though earlier had been the precursor to what would be a long night of thunderstorms and absolutely torrential rain. We sat in the restaurant’s beach bar and contemplated rain gear and the long walk to town, but it was actually really nice to sit in the bar in the hot, humid evening and just watch the thunderstorm and the silhouette of Phi Phi’s mountains each time the lightning flashed. It had been an absolutely incredible day on the stunning island of Phi Phi. I was sad to have to leave tomorrow at the tour’s end as I felt we hadn’t had enough time to see Thailand’s stunning beaches, but there was still much of the country to explore and many more adventures to come. Little did I know that we’d only just scratched the surface of this place.
Hove you been to gorgeous Phi Phi? How did you enjoy it compared to the others areas? Too busy? Too rustic? Just right? Feel free to comment or ask any questions. As always, stay tuned for more updates, thanks for stopping by and until next time, safe and happy travels!
-L
Eterno Dia Photography 