Trip to Phi Phi island

When Eva and Maria came to visit in the beginning of November we had some great nights out in Bangkok, followed by a trip to Southern Thailand. Here are the pics:


The GoldenMount Temple Fair

is a one week temple fair in Bangkok wich takes place at the Golden Mount at Wat Saket. During the opening ceremony a red cloth is paraded and taken to the top of the hill where it was wrapped around the chedi. Annually the worship fair is held around the full moon in November.

We climbed the stairs up the 63 meter high Golden Mount ringing bells along the way.

 Enjoying great views from the top.

The visiting folk offers flowers and money to the goods to receive blessings for the following year.

Chains of money for good luck.

 But the best part: the delicious food!

The Emerald Buddha and the Grand Palace

Of course, we also had to do some touristy stuff, most important of all visit Wat Phra Kaew.  The temple houses one of Thailands most precious Buddha images - the Emerald Buddha - which is carved from a large solid piece of green jadite. Depending on the season - summer, rainy or cool - the Buddha is dressed by the King, an important ritual in the Buddhist calendar.

The warriors protecting the temple...

A mini - replica of Angkor Wat in Cambodia.

On the same grounds is also one of Bangkoks other landmarks, the dazzling Grand Palace. It used to be the home of the Thai Kings but is now only used for coronation ceremonies, other happenings and as the seat of some ministries.

Shopping in Chinatown

Three girls in a shopping rush for shoes, unluckily they were only available wholesale without the possibility of trying them on. Didn´t matter we bought them anyways and ended up with some shitty shoes that fell apart the next day...

good fun anyways!








Trip to Krabi and on to Ko Phi Phi

A 12-hour overnight bus ride from Bangkok took us to Krabi from where we had to take a boat to Ko Phi Phi Don. A former island paradise in the Andaman Sea now overrun by beach craving tourists...of course, as we all seek the perfect beauty.
1000 people died and the tourism infrastructure of the island group was destroyed by the 2004 Tsunami, but since then hopes for a more ecological tourism approach have not been realized.

Our 700 Baht per night Bungalow - quite expansive for fan service in Thailand. (17,50€)

Beachin...

on the ultimate stretches of sand.

We opted for a one day boat trip around the islands and started with Ko Mai Pai which blessed us with the pretties scenery ever visited. ENJOY!!!

We went on to Monkey Island...

where the cheeky little devils stole from the hordes of tourists :)

 This last corner took us to Ko Phi Phi Leh...

the famously known Maya Bay. Here the 2000 film "The Beach" was filmed, resulting in the arrival of tons of visitors searching for paradise but bringing environmental instability. 

Nights on Phi Phi Don get pretty wild and consist of bucket-drinking before heading to the beach parties...

By chance I ran into Annie and Sarah from my Erasmus times in Spain.