Si's Year Out! (Plus Europe! Plus Morocco!): Paradise.....

Had trouble adding some of the pictures to the last post but I've finally uploaded them all - enjoy!

So, myself and Andre waved Matt off on the boat to Krabi (where he'd get a flight to Bangkok then home). Now it was time to get over the other, quieter, side of Phi Phi Island. Unfortunately, this involved a 3km trek through the jungle over the highest point of the island, in 35 degree heat, with backpacks.... We were almost dead when we finally made it to the other side but it was definitely worth it!

We had trekked to Hat Ranti, a beach on the East side of the island. There was a small community of about 20 locals, a 'restaurant' (which was just a hut but served the nicest food) and about 50 little bamboo bungalows right on the beach. It's low season in Thailand at the moment so the place was mostly deserted. We got a bungalow right on the beach for 250 baht (about 4 pounds) a night each. Hat Ranti is such a relaxed place and there is amazing coral reefs right on the beach. For the first 3 days we just chilled out....our days mainly consisted of snorkeling, playing board games, reading and playing football with the locals (if we were feeling energetic). It really is the most beautiful, relaxing place I've been to on my travels....

After re-charging the batteries we got to one of the main reasons we had come to the island - rock climbing! The cliffs in this area of Thailand are great for climbing and attract people from all over the world. So the next day we walked over to the main part of the island and rented all the gear for two people and headed for the cliffs! I've done a fair bit of rock climbing but Andre has done loads so he had the honor of lead-climbing the first route. We climbed 3 routes in total. The climbs were hard but the views over the bay from the top were amazing! It was so much fun but the next day we were dead! We chilled out in Hat Ranti for another day before leaving by boat for Krabi....