We spent New Years day lounging at the Holiday Inn's pool and by the day's end I thought I may have gotten a mild case of heat stroke. By the time Amina, Josh, Yemina and I finished dinner, I had a mild fever and generally didn't feel very well.
The next day my fever was still there and I thought I could just wait it out. Amina and I were parting ways with Yemina and Josh, who would be staying in Krabi, while we were going to some of the Andaman Sea's idyllic islands.
Our first stop was Koh Phi Phi whose claim to fame stems from its appearance in Leonardo Dicaprio's 1999 film "The Beach".
Although it was badly damaged in 2004's deadly tsunami, it still retains most of its original, unparalleled beauty. This beauty combined with worldwide exposure from the film has led Koh Phi Phi to become one of the Andaman coast's biggest party islands.
Unfortunately, like anyone who parties excessively, eventually it starts to catch up to them. Koh Phi Phi is a small island, but it now houses innumerable guesthouses, hotels, restaurants and bars; along with thousands of people, making it feel rather congested and overrun.
Amina and I managed to find a private room at Harmony House despite accommodations being absolutely impossible to find online.
We dropped off our stuff and checked out the nearest beach, Ao Lo Dalam. While pretty crowded, the beach was still quite nice and not too dirty. The water, however, seemed to have some sort of shit-like sediment in it that made it less than inviting. Wait, this will be a common theme.
(Photo Credit: Amina Qureshi)
The next day we hung out at the beach during the day and checked out a hilarious bar that gives free buckets to westerners who fight each other in a Muay Thai ring. Most of the participants are drunk Brits or Australians, and it seemed that some guys actually knew what they were doing and ended up injuring their opponents to the delight of those watching in the crowd. Hey, at least the loser still gets a bucket! (Even if they're already 2 for 1!)
The next day I had signed up to go diving with Hippo Divers (http://www.hippodivers-phiphi.com) and would do two dives around Koh Phi Phi Leh, home to the bay that Leo made famous.
In fact, during the day's diving we stopped there for lunch. There were so many tourist boats on the small strip of sand that I struggled to even see it until one of the dive masters pointed it out to me.
Koh Phi Phi Leh is known for its leopard and reef sharks, but of course they didn't show up during my dives! At least I saw three big turtles on my second dive.
The fever that I had when I arrived on Koh Phi Phi had never really subsided. In fact, on my dive trip (luckily not when I was actually diving), my stomach also started acting up. By the next day I was pretty much confined to the room and more specifically the ensuite bathroom.
At a certain point I realized that this wasn't just food poisoning and I went to go see a doctor. He said I either had an intestinal infection or malaria. For once I was hoping for an intestinal infection!
I had to go see him a few days later because it wasn't improving and my fever was still quite high, but fortunately the antibiotics started to kick in after 3 days.
During all this, Amina was being an absolute saint: getting me food, keeping me hydrated and being more attentive than I deserved.
(Photo Credit: Amina Qureshi)
Despite my explosive bowels, we still managed to meet up with Remi and Elena who were staying on Hat Yao beach and see them off before they headed back to Bangkok for their flight home.
We had only initially intended on staying on Koh Phi Phi for three nights, but ended up staying six because of my incapacitated state.
On our final day, I finally had enough strength and sphincter control to go to Koh Phi Phi's gorgeous viewpoint.
It had been my goal since our arrival on the island and it was well worth it.
Although the climb was rather short, it was still quite strenuous.
Once on top we were treated to a stunning view of Koh Phi Phi Don and its two bays; tree-covered hills and jagged karst peaks.
A nice finale to my shitty week on Koh poo poo, and we couldn't have been happier to get the hell out of there!
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