Kho Phi Phi bound!

Do you know where the most beautiful beach in the world is?  I do!

Kho Phi Phi! 

We had to travel from Muak Lek to Bangkok to get to the overnight bus to Kho Phi Phi.
Some roads were "passable" that weren't on our other trips back and forth.

It was amazing to me, the water that the vans were willing to drive through.

The kids were thrilled when they realized that they were front row, top deck.
Of course, my ER nurse background had my "WARNING" signals going off
full time with the combination of the large glass window and hard pavement
under a moving bus.  All I could envision was one hard stepping of the brakes
and out they go!  Eeeks!

It was a mostly sleepless night for all of us.  It took me back to the days of having little babies in the house.  We boarded the bus at 8pm and were to arrive in Krabbi at 8am.   Unfortunately, we ended up sitting right underneath the tv, which you would think wouldn't be an issue since it is all in Thai.  Turns out you can infer a whole lot even when you don't speak the language!  Who would have thought that on our return trip to Bangkok, we'd be longing to trade back to this ride where the soap opera showed a girl who appeared to enjoy playing the victim role terrified of the man she was stuck staying in a hotel room with for the night and the asian-western that had lots of shoot 'em up action resulting in the death of someone's mother!  The kids were terrified and happily hid their heads under blankets.

The driver stopped at least every hour for a 10 minute long cigarette break and at 2am we stopped for 30 minutes at a humungous truck stop/travel center.  The squat pots there had a stack of textbook pages nailed to the wall that you could use if you didn't bring your own toilet paper.  Every time you felt like you could finally fall asleep (which isn't easy for the taller people of European descent on a bus made for a country of people who are about Abby's size), you would be woken up by one disturbance or another.  At 0430, you were ALMOST relieved when the radio and lights were turned on and the "stewards" came around ripping your pillows from under your head and your blankets from off of you.  It meant the torture was finally over!  Oh, and did I mention that the driver LOVED to honk the horn at cars, bikes, dogs, etc and really needed to see a doctor.  Of course at this point, my sympathy is lacking.  If he didn't stop for so many ciggy breaks, he wouldn't have the pneumonia that causes him to cough and expectorate ALL.  NIGHT.  LONG....

We arrived in Krabi an hour ahead of schedule and caught a Song Tau from the bus terminal to the ferry station.  Once we were on the ferry, it all began to feel worth the trip...

Can't you just feel your cares melting away?

This is the main port in Kho Phi Phi.  It certainly is beautiful here, but is more touristy and has more of the night life that some (ahem...younger) people would be looking for.  We stayed on a different part of the island, just around the corner of these trees that was completely separated from this section.  It was so quiet and peaceful and just wonderful.

Abby bought this hat while on a shopping excursion in Bangkok.  It completely fits her eccentric, hippy personality.  It folds up into a small curve that can be pulled out halfway to be a fan or all the way around to make a hat.

Ah... Home, Sweet, Home!
This is MY kind of roughing it!
You know, the kind where they don't fold your towels into fancy shapes.  ;)

The room was just beautiful.  It was large and spacious.  The ornate woodwork looked so exotic with the Thai silk on the beds.  Have I mentioned that I would be completely content occupying ONLY this space for the rest of my life?

The sink in the bathroom was made out of a hollowed out tree trunk.
The shower was so large that all 5 of us could shower at once, if we'd
so desired!  (In case you're wondering if I desire, click HERE.)
The funny thing was that the whole room was decked out
to the nines, Thai style except for one small detail.  The hand towel in the
bathroom was one of those with the button to keep it in place and was peach
in color, with a little country style teddy bear embroidered on it.  You know,
the kind you would find in any old ladies bathroom.  It looked quite out of place!

When I buy this great little room, I am going to knock down the bungalow to the right.  Then my view of the beach will be completely unobstructed.  If I'd known that almost all of the infrastructure on Kho Phi Phi had been destroyed in the tsunami of 2004, I'd probably not slept as well here!  But while it crossed my mind, I thought more of Phuket as being hit by the tsumani.  I was able to sleep that dark, quiet, deep sleep that only comes when you know that there are no lizards in your room!

My room even comes with a coconut tree!

Those little Beavens never stop reading, even in paradise!
We quickly put those books down, changed into swimsuits and
spent our morning playing on the beach.

After playing on the beach and having some lunch, we crashed.  All of us.  Even those who, despite living in the land of siestas insist that they are incapable of napping, slept SOOOO soundly.

When we woke from our naps, we played at the beach just a little bit longer, but decided to get out of the water when a big thunderstorm rolled through.  Of course, living in Yuma has given us a new appreciation for the beauty of rain and storms.

As with most of the buildings, they are just poles and ceilings, so we were still part of the rainstorm at the restaurant.  The waiter had a coworker hold an umbrella over his head and the food as he stepped from the main part of the restaurant to the sitting area.

The sweet smile of contentment

Jeremy and I decided to indulge in a nice warm cup of espresso with dinner.
It was a fancy place (can't you tell by the lack of clothing?), so Jeremy drank his real nice and fancy too!