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
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
The Breathtaking Beauty of Phi Phi
Posted on June 25, 2019
The last stop on our “Island Hopper” group tour to finish off our first week in Thailand would be Phi Phi Island. Phi Phi, pronounced “pee-pee”, (yes, have a giggle) is part of a small chain of islands just south of and administratively belonging to Krabi province. Koh Phi Phi Don (the main inhabited island) and Koh Phi Phi Lee are the most well known. You may have heard of Phi Phi only because it made the news when in 2004 a deadly tsunami hit the island and took as many as 4000 lives, though the exact number to this day is unclear. I didn’t remember this information and when we arrived into the bay at Phi Phi Don, and I was enamored. Koh Phi Phi’s beauty is simply unparalleled; stunning craggy, limestone cliffs, covered in emerald green jungle and surrounded by sparkling turquoise waters. This place is exactly what you imagine when you think of paradise.
Ferry ride from Krabi mainland to Koh Phi Phi
I love being on the ocean and watching the sea
First glimpses of Koh Phi Phi Lee
Main Pier in Phi Phi
The crowded “main street” upon arrival in Phi Phi
After a two hour voyage from Ao Nang in Krabi province across the deep indigo waters of the Andaman sea, on a big, modern ferry, we disembarked onto a very large and exceptionally crowded pier. We waited with the group under the blazing sun awaiting our tour guide to confirm passage to our hotel. We were given 30 minutes to explore Phi Phi Don’s main port while our baggage was transferred and boats were readied. The main pier was completely overwhelming. There was a giant McDonald’s next to a 7-Eleven at the main entrance and the crowds were reminiscent of being at an outdoor music festival. There were so many people, mostly backpackers, searching for lunch, getting tattoos, bartering for souvenirs, booking tours, and just hanging out. My relaxed vibe gained in Krabi was suddenly depleting and I didn’t want a repeat of the overwhelmed feeling I had in Phuket. We waited in a long lineup to get water and beer in the 7-Eleven (the tour guide warned us that things would be pricier in Phi Phi due to it’s remote location and suggested the liquor might be cheaper to buy here than at the hotel) and headed back to the pier. We were all a bit shocked, suddenly recalling that we’d been told Phi Phi has no cars, as we saw our luggage all piled into two traditional Thai wooden long tail boats. Our group was then ushered into two more boats to get to our hotel. A short boat ride down the coast, we arrived at our hotel to check in – on the beach. This was a first for me. The boat crew literally unloaded our luggage onto the hotel beach. We took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and held our camera bags above our heads as we disembarked the boat and waded to shore to collect our luggage.
The long tail boats waiting to take ferry passengers to their hotels.
Our “taxi” to the hotel
definitely a first
Check-in is literally beside the beach…
After checking into a unique hotel built up into the hillside, we went to the beach-side hotel restaurant for lunch and took in the stunning views of the bay and adjacent Koh Phi Phi Lee. The sand was soft and white, the beach was fairly clean and quiet and the water was still and shallow. After lunch, we joined the group for an afternoon swim at one of the hotels three stunning private beaches. We floated in the warm, shallow bay, had some drinks from the beach snack shack and watched an entertaining resident dog play fetch with some backpackers. On the way back to the room to clean up to go for dinner I had a bit of time to get some sunset photos from our view of the bay. I also discovered the MASSIVE millipedes that hang around here. I’m not sure if they’re harmless, but they’re slow. I’d rather hang out with one of these guys than the giant Asian wasps I’d heard about while doing bug research before the trip. Just be sure to have your phone’s flashlight handy for your nighttime walk back to your room, if you don’t want to step on a sausage sized centipede….
the long climb up and down from the beach to our room and back
the breathtaking views from the lookout at the hotel
Lunch view
paradise
This pad thai tho….
Private beach after lunch
This beach tho…
“Girl on Swing”
Headed back to the room to get ready for dinner, the bay below is gorgeous at sunset
Sunset is stunning.
For dinner, we met up with the group again and headed up at a rooftop bar in town. The walk to the main tourist area from the hotel was about 15 minutes. The evening was busy with lots of shops and restaurants to chose from, but not as bad as I’d feared from the pier earlier in the day. There was a definite party vibe in the area, and it was more crowded that Krabi, but still had a more relaxed, island vibe that Phuket. The lack of cars and traffic keeps the noise down and the general feeling less frenetic. The majority of the tour group planned to go to the “beach party” that night after dinner. Shawn and I decided to at least check it out just to say we’d been but we’d heard enough stories about the spiked drinks, druggings and just plain insane partying that we knew that wasn’t the kind of fun we were seeking. After walking along the beach and checking out the beginnings of what would be a long, debaucherous night for some, we left and strolled through town to see what there was to see.
We eventually found ourselves at a bar hosting Muay Thai boxing. They had tourists volunteer to spar with each other for one round and then actual Muay Thai professionals would have a match in between. They protected the volunteer tourists well with padded head wear and safety gear and the minute it became apparent that a fight was ill matched, they’d call it and reward both the participants with a medal and a beer; it was all in good fun. Shawn was so excited about the Muay Thai, he put his hand up while they were calling for volunteers. For a moment I considered putting my wifely foot down, but we had three travel health insurance plans (two employer provided and a third required as part of the tour package), Phi Phi has a small hospital, and this was Shawn’s epic vacation too- if he wanted to walk around with a black eye or a busted nose, who was I to stop him? Luckily for me (and probably for him) with him being a bit smaller than most the the other guys there that night, the bar didn’t have anyone in his weight class to match him up with. As consolation, one of the boxers posed for photos with him. We enjoyed the matches, some cold Thai beer to ease the heat of the night and had a great time with tourists from New York who we shared our table with.
took me a minute to figure out the red bowl is to scoop water into the toilet to flush…
Shawn posing for photos after being declined a Muay Thai fight
After a few more drinks and exploring, we walked back to our hotel along the gorgeous moonlight sand, climbed way up to our hotel room atop the hill, avoiding stepping on giant millipedes as we walked, and had a great sleep with the islands resident monkeys calling out to each other in the night. Little did I know, we’d meet the monkeys in the morning.
Have you been to the stunning island of Phi Phi? What did you think of it? Plans to travel to Thailand and wondering where to visit? Feel free to ask questions or comment! Thanks as always for coming by and stay tuned for more Thailand rambles. Until next time, safe and happy travels!
-L
Winter Blues: Experience The Teal, Azure, Turquoise and Indigo of Antigua
Posted on February 4, 2018
View from the water at the Jolly Beach Resort
When I think about Antigua, I think of the color blue. The shallow water surrounding the island is a florescent turquoise like nothing else I’ve ever seen before. It’s so blue that even the seagull’s bellies look turquoise from underneath as they soar over the water. The teal of the slightly deeper waters where we saw starfish below the surface and swam with stingrays was everything you’ve imagined seeing in a travel brochure to paradise.
Jolly Beach Resort
The deep, choppy, indigo waters on the Atlantic side of the island are mysterious and exhilarating. I was recently chatting with a co-worker and fellow travel enthusiast about a trip to Antigua we took a few years back. While bragging, I went to show her some of the photos I have online and realized that I’ve hardly posted any photos of my trip, which is a real injustice to Antigua and all of you. So its time for me to tell you why you need to go here and experience the rainbow of blues you’ll find in Antigua.
Seagulls at the beach
Sunset at the Shirley Heights lookout point party
Husband and I were looking for something a bit more special when we booked this one. We’d been to Mexico a few times. Cuba and Jamaica were beautiful representations of the Caribbean, but for this trip, we wanted something a bit more unique; a bit less popular. We had it narrowed down to Barbados and Antigua. Antigua came up for a few reasons. It’s not that hard to get to. Lots of smaller, less popular destinations have poor connections and require lots of additional transfers to get to. Antigua has direct flights from Toronto at just over 4.5 hours long. While Antigua is tropical, its in a weird zone in the West Indies that makes it a bit less humid and more dry than a lot of other islands in the Caribbean. It opens up travel dates a bit more with less of a rainy season. For that reason, its also a bit different geographically and definitely has a dry season where things look desert-like and brown. Antigua boasts a slogan of “365 beaches; one for each day of the year”. That combined with a glass of wine and searching photos of the sunsets and husband and I had our minds made up.
Looking west: Endless sky
The mysterious indigo of the Atlantic side of the island
Antigua did not disappoint and I’m ashamed I have not shared more photos of this truly special island. The Caribbean has a certain charm that is unlike anywhere else. It really is a thing; time moves slower, interactions are more friendly, life seems to be lived more fully and authentically. Here, in Antigua, it was still something more than that; the people were so warm and relaxed, the geography was so interesting, the wildlife was abundant and beautiful, and the ocean and beaches; simply stunning.
Swimming with stingrays
We went in June, which is during Antigua’s low tourist season. That only meant that tours ran on a less frequent schedule, were smaller and more intimate and the resort was slightly less busy. Antigua isn’t bustling though no matter when you go, not the same way as Cancun, Puerto Vallarta or Havana. It’s less touristy and more simple. Some very picky people might say it’s a bit run down in spots, but that’s the true Caribbean; chipped paint from the salty, humid air, and a more relaxed way of living.
Exploring caves on Barbuda
We were worried upon booking Antigua that we wouldn’t have enough to do during our week there. We love the beach but we also love to explore when we’re visiting a new place. Antigua is one of two very small islands in the nation of Antigua and Barbuda. I wrote about Barbuda (the smaller of the two islands) previously due to the direct hit the island took by hurricane Irma during the summer storm season of 2017. You can find that article here. Barbuda has a population of about 2000 people and will likely take years to rebuild after the damage caused by Irma. Besides the hurricane, Barbuda previously made news because the late Princess Diana used to vacation here with Harry and Will. Antigua, the bigger of the two, is also a tiny island. With an area of only 281 kilometers and a population of 80,000, it’s just quaint. However, Antigua has so much to do; it’s steeped in history.
As a former British colony, there is history galore, both good and bad, from a political view. Shirley Heights, an old British military lookout is where the tall sailing ships of the late 1700s and early 1800s used to dock. You can actually picture them floating there in the harbor in your mind’s eye. The capital of St. Johns is a livelier place than a lot of the other spots on the island and is where the cruise ships dock. There is just so much to do here: shopping, snorkeling at one of the countless reefs, relaxing on one of the numerous white sand beaches, swimming with sting rays, speedboat tours of the island, and these are only just a handful of the adventure you can find here. Tours that we went on all included lots of information about the history of the islands.
SCUBA diving
The food is as fresh as you can get; seafood, fruit, root vegetables, and there are so many places to eat, the trouble is deciding were to go. Antigua is a paradise, a natural wonder and one of the most special places you might ever visit. The wildlife is stunning: just the sheer variety of birds alone is remarkable, but then when you get in the ocean, there is still more to see; stingrays, fish, jellyfish, nurse sharks, and turtles. This is a wildlife paradise.
snorkeling near Nelson’s Dockyard
The Pillars of Hercules
I’ll break down my Antigua trip into a few different blog posts over the next few weeks as it wouldn’t be fair to anyone to just do one post. There is just so much beauty on these two little islands. Please check back to see more. If you have questions or comments, feel free to get in touch. If you are considering curing your winter blues with a trip south this winter, I highly recommend Antigua and Barbuda to you.
Jumby Bay
An secluded beach on Barbuda
Paradise
Eterno Dia Photography 