Phi Phi Islands

This morning we were up at 5 in preparation for our Phi Phi Island adventure. It was a long day, but beautiful. Do I dare say a bit cold? It had to be only 90 today. No sun. Yesterday we left from Chalong Pier to go fishing and then snorkeling at Racha Yai in the Indian Ocean. Today, we left from Rassada Harbor to go to Phi Phi Islands for more snorkeling.  It is pronounced "Pee Pee" Islands and yes, that also makes us laugh. They are located in the East Indian Ocean between Phuket and the western Strait of Malacca. I think I wrote that correctly.

This is our view while waiting for our ride this morning in front of our apartment,

 looking to the left and then to the right.

More pretties on our grounds.

Asleep on the van to the boat.

Monsoon Season

He is wiped out from yesterday's fishing trip, still.

Okay, so the Phi Phi Islands are basically a bunch of limestone cliffs sticking up;

 however, the combination of the limestone cliffs and emerald water

 with white sand is simply amazing--

if only it would have been sunny today for our photos. 

We went to Phi Phi Leh Island/Maya Bay which houses Viking Cave.

 We also went to Loh Samah Bay and Phileh Cove. 

We swam and snorkeled at Coral Bay. 

Of course it's pretty amazing to snorkel in the Adaman Sea, 

but I really enjoyed our crew yesterday when we snorkeled at Racha Yai. 

I'm sure the lack of sunshine also affected the beauty today. 

Okay, so this is Viking Cave. In this cave is a thriving bird's nest soup industry.

Can you believe that? Edible bird's nests that are prepared and eaten by humans. 

They are particularly prized in Chinese culture 

due to their rarity and supposedly exquisite flavor. 

We did NOT eat any. 

They are among the most expensive animal products consumed by humans, 

with an average nest selling for $2,500 per kilogram for end-consumers in Asia.

 The nests have been used in Chinese cooking for over 400 years, most often as bird's nest soup. 

(I found out most of this on the internet).

Isaiah after snorkeling. He told me to put this photo on here and call it Batman. 

So, consider it done, silly kid. 

After snorkeling, we got fed! We all ate. That's a first.

The best part of this was that the big "lazy Susan" in the middle of the table turned,

 so we didn't have to pass anything. 

After lunch we had some free time. Dax and Isaiah are up ahead of me somewhere.

Isaiah loves the nasty cats that are everywhere. 

I kid you not, we went into one store that couldn't be more than a 6 foot by 6 foot area. 

I think we counted maybe 20 cats in there, just hanging out on the counters, 

mixed in with the stuff for sale.

 I love cats, but ewwwwww.

Look closely in the photo below on the right. 

That is NOT a baby.

This photo totally captures the weather all day. 

Rough waters.

Didn't slow us down though!

Isaiah slept a lot today and seemed puny when we got "home"--he threw up, too. 

Not sure if he's just wiped out or what, but he had no fever. 

He went to bed tonight before 8.

 Hope he feels better tomorrow. 

We have something planned for the morning, but are free to relax in the afternoon.