The Beach is real!!!

We did it. After very little preparation but a lot of anticipation we did go and see the beach from the movie "The Beach." It was totally cool. Here is the story.

We woke up not too early which means we went out the night before, which means we all felt crappy and had headaches. We really weren't even sure how our little day trip was going to work but we had to have faith. After cramming in a fast and soon stomach upsetting breakfast we went to the tour agency to wait for our pickup. We were a little worried at first because it was raining all morning and we didn't want our one opportunity ruined. However, some lady in a sarong suddenly showed up and thus began our journey to Ko Phi Phi Lay. (pronouced pee pee haha)

We all assembled in some back alley behind a tatoo parlor so already I could tell that this "adventure" we had signed up for would be in no way organized or legitamate. After being yelled at by all sorts of people and hearing, "hello! you come here," we got into our boat and were off. I really wasn't that impressed by our group. While the other boat was filled with all young and goodlooking girls, ours was a hodgepodge of randos from who knows where. The first place our captain took us was a pretty cool snorkle spot. We did that for a while and then the boat broke down and we got monsoon rained on. Us three guys were pretty hopeful but there was one old fat bastard that was not pleased. Now I have lived in France and while there I met a lot of great, nice and interesting people. But if I ever meet this French dude again I really will push him into the ocean. Not only did he keep complaining and yelling at this nice thai guy but he didn't even speak a word of english so nothing was getting done except the fact that the captain thought everyone was mad. I thought of offering my translation talents but then I figured I would have to do that the whole damn day and I was not interested in that. Plus this nasty dude was flashing his rock collection sitting spread eagle at the top of the boat in a speedo. Screw that man and whatever man invented the speedo.

So other highlights were a couple of amazing snorkle stops and some of the most fantastic views I have ever seen. Also we stopped at "monkey beach" and got to feed bananas to monkeys. I laughed my ass off and have decided that for me monkeys are the funniest animal in the world. I mean just one raised eyebrow from a little monkey and I was rolling. I think I want to buy one or maybe I will just sneak one over in my suitcase.

For how cheap the trip was we really did do a lot of things but the whole time we were wondering when we would actually see the beach. That was when our captian brought us to the super choppy cove and pointed to a little hole in the rocks and said "you go dere. I wait one howa." We are talking big waves crashing into a tiny cave about the size of a door and this guy wants us to swin through it. We thought he was joking but when he kept smiling and repeating, "you go dere. I wait one howa," we figured he must be serious and we jumped in. It was probably one of the most dangerous things I have ever done but so worth it. When we made it through the hole and after a short walk through sandy ground and palmtrees we found it. Bigger, better, and more beautiful than we could ever imagine. It is called Maya Bay to the technical but to us it was "holy shit dude, right there is where Leo stabbed that shark." The best part was that since the weather had been a bit rough that day we were the only ones on the beach. Pure paridice! We took just one picture with the last shot on our underwater camera so hopefully it worked. It was too awesome.

So that was yesterday and it was really great. I started planning for this trip six months ago with the sole drive to go and see that beach. And now that I saw it I realize that the beach was totally worth seeing but also that this whole trip was worth taking. We have a couple days left before I go to Taipei and I am going to enjoy this time left here. I love Thailand and I believe everyone should go.