After hearing so many good things about the Perhentians we were so excited to get there. The beaches were white sand and the sea was as clear as a bath! There were two main beaches on opposite sides of the island which were just a 10 minute walk apart, and other hidden beaches you could walk to or get to via taxi boat which were really pretty! There is no transport on the island at all other than boats and only about 3 shops, it's not built up at all which was a nice change!
We checked into Serenity huts and were shocked to find out we only had one plug (including for our fan!) and electricity from 7pm -10am! Nightmare!! This seemed to be the case for most places on the island. Of course we had no hot water either... well that's just a given! It's when I saw a rat scurry through our bathroom and heard its consistent scratching all night that I realised quite how bad the accomodation was...
There's no actual bars or clubs on the island, instead they put out lots of little tables on the sand with candles and there's alcohol stalls on the beach where you can buy bottles of silly cheap rum and arrak. It was such a nice atmosphere and much less magaluf esque than other places we'd been.
We spent the days chilling on the beach and the boiling heat apart from one day when we went on a snorkelling trip. We saw so many colourful fish, sting rays and a giant turtle. I even chased a shark through the water!!
After night three, after finding that some wrapped up biscuits at the end of my bed had been nibbled at by a rat, I reached breaking point and we checked out! It's only then that we heard from almost everyone how dodgy serenity are and the people that own it. So we got away lightly I'd say!
We found a much nicer place for only £1 more a night each which felt like paradise! When we checked in we met two Canadian girls and spent the rest of our nights together.
On my last day with Annie and Phoebe, we had my fake birthday and they even got me a banana came made!
That evening it was coincidentally celebraions for Malaysian Independence Day, so there was a massive bonfire and fireworks and the beach was literally full with people. It was the perfect last night!
The Canadians taught us a drinking game where you fill a plastic bat with beer and down it whilst everyone counts (of course I took the longest) then have to spin around for that amount of time before running to and from a base then batting the beer can. It was so much fun and every time almost ended with someone falling into the sea!
I loved the Perhentians, it had such a chilled vibe and was literally paradise! I had a sad goodbye to Phoebe and Annie as they went on to Australia whilst Tristan and I journeyed the shorter distance to the Thai islands.
After 3 coach journies and a ferry Tristan finally arrived in Phi Phi! On our first night there was the heaviest rainfall I've ever seen and within an hour parts of the island were like this!....
We checked into Jungle Garden and for £6 a night even enjoyed the luxury of a pool! I thought Phi Phi was the best of both worlds. It wasn't very built up with no transport other than bicycles, but there were lots of little holiday shops and plenty of places to eat. There was a really nice beach and also great nightlife.
On my (real)birthday, I opened my cards and token presents that some of my family and Tristan had got me, then spent the morning on the beach whilst Tristan was on a rock climbing trip.
Then in the afternoon we went on a trip on a long boat which was so much fun. There were really nice people on the trip with us which made it even better!
Our first stop was monkey island and I finally got over my fear!
We also went cliff jumping and I braved a 12m jump which seemed so high when I was up there!
The next stop was Maya Bay where they filmed the film 'The Beach'. It was so lush, just a shame there were so many tourists (like me) wandering around. To save money the boat didn't drop us right at the bay so we had to clamber over sharp reef rocks and through little caves to get there. On our way back the water was unexpectedly rough which gave us quite an experience!! When you see that the guides are concerned, you know it's not a good sign...
We then went snorkelling and I was given some bread to feed the fish, they literally came swarming it was amazing and some had quite a bite!
On the way back, we watched an incredible sunset then when It was dark we jumped into the water with snorkels and played around with then plankton. It was magical like sparkles in the water.
In the evening we met up with some of the people from our trip and decided to go all out getting our faces painted!
It was a really good birthday and one I won't forget!
The next day Tristan and I went to Phuket where Sid was meeting me and the following day Tristan journeyed on to Bangkok whilst Sid and I went back to Phi Phi.
It was so nice to be back together! Rather than staying in Phi Phi we went to supposedly paradise island Koh Lanta but unfortunately the weather wasn't on our side!
The following day we came back to Phi Phi and went out in the evening, we went to a bar where anyone could get up and fight in the ring...and boy did people go for it!
On our final day (Sid's birthday) all of his friends came to Phi Phi and we had a day playing challenges on the beach. Knowing how competitive boys are, I was kind enough to purposefully come last in most of the challenges to make them feel good...
In the evening we doned neon outfits and had far too many buckets...
It was such a good night and after only a few hours sleep I had to wake up at 8 to get the ferry back to Phuket to start my long journey to.... Spain!!
Ciao x
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