ngwe saung

our original myanmar "itinerary"

had us spending our last couple days

visiting yet another city full of payas, monks, and monuments.

near the end of our time in inle lake we were feeling a bit templed out.

each paya is stunning and magnificent,

but after weeks of visiting city after city full of them,

we were longing for an endless white sandy beach 

more then another golden paya.

we asked the friendly owners of friendly inn how to get to ngapali beach,

myanmars most stunning plot of waterfront on the shores of the bay of bengal. 

they were regretful that at this particular time of year there was no way of getting there,

and even if we did get there nothing would be open.

the owners didnt even give us enough time to have our hopes smashed

before instantly suggesting we visit the town of ngwe saung.

he said that is where his family loves to vacation and we would be going at the end of the rainy season,

when beds were cheap and rain was sparse. 

we immediately booked yet another amazing day of myanmar travel!

i'll spare you the details.

in short, it took us 24 hours,

a mixture of sketchy taxi rides,

overnight buses, 

a day bus which got a flat tire and spent the remainder of the journey

trying to catch up for lost time by weaving through traffic at about 100 mph,

and finally a three hour ride on the back of a scooter,

an hour of that through a monsoon...

but yet again, we found it hard to complain

once we got to our destination.

a small beachfront resort

where we got to stay in a duplex bungalow (for $35 a night),

falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves directly outside our door

and waking to sunny days full of walks on the beach and endless hours to read.

not a bad place to end an epic adventure...

-e

looking towards the beach from our little private porch

again...

we lost two of our cribbage pieces but found out small sea shells work just as well...

right outside the front door

sunset through our little canopy roof over the porch

sunset 

more stunning sunsets

taking a walk along the only road in town

animals rule the road here.

sunset cruise

our last evening on ko phi phi

steven and i decided to splurge and

board a sunset cruise around the two 

islands of phi phi

(the trip cost 30USD total).

the boat sailed off at 1:30

and took us to monkey beach

where we got to feed and "play" with

some pretty aggressive monkeys.

the boat then took us to loh samah bay 

where we went snorkeling and kayaking.

after that we were taken to maya bay

where the movie the beach

was filmed.

it was much different then we had been told,

in a very good way.

the tide was out which made it much lass idyllic

but that also meant there was tons of sea life to investigate in the little tide pools.

after that the boat went to pileh bay

where there is a huge coral garden.

we went snorkeling again,

this time for about an hour and a half.

we saw so much incredible sea life

and for the first time i wasn't scared

so i really got to enjoy it.

finally the boat sailed slowly through the waters between

phi phi leh and phi phi don while we ate dinner

and watched the sun slip down below the horizon...

-e

sailing out to ko phi phi leh

there are adventure packages where you spend the night on maya bay. in one of these great tents :)

"the beach" with some tourists in the way...

us at maya bay. trying to spot leonardo de caprio

sea life in the low tide

steven and i can't get over how incredible the rock walls are here. i think we'll be back someday

dinner

always watermelon for dessert 

capturing the sunset on an iPad

paradise

we landing in ko phi phi four days ago.

we booked a hotel room for two nights

but we haven't left yet.

since we both felt under the weather

our first two days

we decided we needed

to stay longer.

the main reason being

because our focus for this

part of thailand was climbing

and snorkeling,

neither of which we've been able to do yet

due to sickness.

so for now we're here

until we feel like leaving. 

which is never...

the first two days  it was pouring rain

but now the sun comes out every

morning and stays until evening.

the food is wonderful and cheap,

the people are welcoming,

and the beaches are plenty.

tomorrow we head out on a day trip

full of deep water soloing,

snorkeling at maya bay,

and playing with monkeys on the beach...

-e

goodbye rainy phuket

a rainy and rocky ferry ride over

welcome to rainy phi phi

there are cats EVERYWHERE are this island.

there are usually a couple of these friends hanging around during dinner

it's a party beach so there are lights everywhere

the cats eat the food offerings

cats love sun bathing on the beach too

had to

enjoying some fresh pineapple shake on the beach