Finally the Beach!!

Tuesday 14Nov2006
This day we wake up and wander into Patong Beach area in search of breakfast. There are many German and Scandanavian guesthouses along 'the strip' which I would prefer to not stay at... anyways we find this cute little place and had a wonferful Scandanavian breakfast-with actual potatoes-Yummy!! At least the food is good in Patong!! We head back to wait for the driver to take us to the ferry dock- we are really excited! The day has started of pretty well- a good breakfast and now the beaches!! Yeah!! The ferry boat ride is about 2 hours to the island and Shawn and I opt to sit on top to see everything. It is quite windy but beautiful and serene. As soon as wel left the dock you could see the crystal blue waters emerge. We are headed to Koh Phi Phi. Once we get to the island it is a cluster@#%& getting our bags as they made one huge pile of them getting on and no orderly fashion of getting them off. I see Shawns bag being picked up to be moved away and get in there and retrieve it and then see mine and do the same--we were ready to get onto the island. I had tried booking a room for us at the Andaman Beach Resort- I knew this place was decent as I had stayed there last time I was on this island and it is right on the beach. I had never received a confirmation e-mail but we went anyways. We were just going to hike it down to the end iof the beach where the resrt is located but we didn't have to, as soon as we got off the dock a guy was holding a sign for the place. I went up there and they took our bags and put them on a cart and then asked me if I saw my name on the list- no I didn't- he asked if I had a reservation- I tried 4 times I exclaim!- he said that he has a room maybe, but no a/c and 2 beds- fine with us--no problem. That is awesome that at least they have a room available- as we walked we saw 5 different places hanging 'full' signs up- we got lucky! When we got to the resort they had already booked that room and we ended up getting a room that is attached to about 5 other places and only a fan but 1 bed-- fine with us-- you can see how our luck has been changing since the last week in Chiang Mai!! It is beautiful out... but the pool is closed for cleaning and no one seems to know when it will reopen --we head to see the sun setting on the beach-- beautiful- we have made it to paradise!! We go back to the room and fall asleep..when we finally get up0 we try to eat at a few restaurants but it is too late so we opt for the pancake stand. This is a very Thai beach thing...they have these little stands that are probably open 22 hours of the day and they serve mainly 3 things- pancakes, shakes, and sandwiches. We eat a pancake, which is like a crepe that has a banana in it and sweetened condensed milk on top-- yummy!! For dessert we get a pineapple offf this old lady pushing this huge fruit cart-- they serve 1/4 of the pineapple on a stick for easy eating---yummy!! We head back to the resort to read and call it a day.