Koh Phi Phi or Phi Phi Island is one of my favorite places in Thailand. Arriving on Phi Phi Island by boat was one of those moments where you immediately think, “wow, this place actually looks like the photos.” As we got closer, the water turned an unreal shade of blue-green and huge cliffs seemed to rise straight out of the ocean. The harbor area was busy with ferries and longtail boats coming and going, but it still somehow felt tropical and relaxed. Stepping off the boat, you instantly notice there are no cars, just narrow streets, beach restaurants, and people walking everywhere in flip-flops. It definitely gives you that feeling that you’ve arrived somewhere special, even if it is a bit touristy.
To get there you need to fly into Phuket. Generally I like to stay there for a day or two on either end because there are some good live music spots along Bangla Street in Patong Beach. It is a mix of raunchy bar girl bars and other diversions, but there a lot of places which have some great cover bands. At the end of the night we ended up at the Lion Bar. See this post to check out Bangla Street and to watch a cool Thai version of Zombie, by The Cranberries.
One of the craziest places to go is this Reggae/Muay Thai bar. There are Thai boxing exhibitions, but the weirdest thing is that anyone can put on boxing mitts and get up and fight. There we some really impressive westerners that fought. But, even that this is a bar, as you can imagine, some drunk folks who thing they can fight also take the stage. This was the case with a Russian guy who put up an absolutely hilarious performance. Actually, as I am writing this a good deal afterwards, the video got more likes than any I have posted to YouTube.