This little beauty is my favourite place in the world… That I’ve been. It’s a small island about 45 minutes away from Koh Phi Phi by long tail boat. The beaches are whiter than white and the only things on the island are a ranger hut and a small fishing community. The tourist boats stop coming after 3pm and for a small fee your allowed to camp (twice we camped over and twice we had the whole Island to ourselves). Watch our Travel Video – Bamboo Island Camping.

3 reasons to camp on Bamboo Island:

• It is a paradise Island with nobody else there.
• The coral reef just off shore is some of the best snorkelling I’ve ever done.
• It’s right under the nose of the tourist trail but still most people opt for camping on MaYa Bay (THE Beach from the movie “The Beach”)

2: Motorcycles on Highway 1, Laos.

Again it’s another one that most tourists in Laos will pass along but almost none will stop. For me the part of the road between Vang Vieng and Luang Probang is just breathtaking, I’ve heard it gets better the further north you go but if you rent a motorbike and ride it yourself you will see just what I’m talking about – doing this made me re-evaluate the way I travel and made me wonder what I had missed while on tourist buses thundering through the heart of a place. Watch our Travel Video – The Long Way Laos.

3 reasons to ride Highway 1:

• The scenery is epic and the road passes through some beautiful villages.
• A night in Phou Khoun will open your eyes to what real Laos village is like before the tourists arrive.
• Cresting the mountain and looking down to Luang Probang sat on the mighty Mekong is something you’ll never forget.

3: Thong Reng Beach, Koh Phangan, Thailand.

And finally, yet another place that is within spitting distance of the backpacker trail. It’s so close to Haad Rin you can almost see the lights but that’s what makes it such a quiet place. Just around the headland no more than 10 minutes by long tail boat this small cove has it all – cheap beach huts, great food and the feeling of being deserted on a paradise island. Thong Reng beach is one of the few places that as I’ve arrived I’ve thought
“I could live there forever.” Watch our Travel Video – Koh Phangan.

3 reasons to find your way to Thong Reng:

• It’s too close not to go and Koh Phangan has so much more than just the party.
• It’s home to a beautiful resort called Treehouse, with huts right on the sand.
• When you get there you will want to throw your passport into the sea and never leave.

Backpacking around Thailand on a budget is a little harder than in the rest of South East Asia, things have moved up in the world and budgets have gone with it.  But, there are still places to save money and often you’ll get a better deal or experience for it… Bangkok is one of those places, a traveller in the know can get a room and a Thai meal for less than 300b – bang on budget!

Below is a hand picked selection of tips, advice, pictures and our posts about budget travel in Thailand – Hopefully to help you stay on budget and inspire you to travel better.

Pictures From Thailand:

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Thailand Posts:                                          Travel Tips:

Slip Sliding down the Khao San Road…………………………………… Make money while you Travel
Bamboo Island Camping…………………………………………………. Off The beaten Track: Thailand
Getting down to Diving on Koh Tao…………………………………..Desktop Wallpaper Download
The Buckets of Haad Rin
The Best Sunset in the World

Thailand Travel Video:

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.”

Emerson

How to get to Bamboo Island:

-Go to the pier on Koh Phi Phi (where all the boats are).
-There’s a small ticket office which has standardised the price on many day trips.
-There will be loads of boat drivers waiting for business.
-Try to bargain for the best deal that suits you.
(We took a boat all day and stopped at Maya bay and hidden lagoons on Phi Phi Ley then
Snorkelling around Phi Phi Don, finally dropped at Bamboo Island (3500b) incl pick up the next day.
-They will bargain but you have to be hard about it because there are so many of them.
-Don’t forget that once on Bamboo Island you have to pay a national park fee of 200b each and a tent fee of 400b for a 2 man tent or 500b for a 4 man.
-The boat driver will help and explain to the park ranger that you want to camp.

What to Take:

-Enough Food - Because Bamboo Island is a National Park paradise you cant bank on being able to have a fire to cook on (we did once) but the rule is generally NO Fires.
-Drink – There is a small hut on the island that stocks beers but they cost a fortune and the rangers sometimes go to bed early so take enough with you.
-Snorkel and Mask – The coral just off the beach at Bamboo Island is some of the best I’ve ever seen! We missed it the first time but when the boat drops you off you will see a roped off section of water IT’S THERE and IT’S BEAUTIFUL!
-Money – There is a small fishing community on the island, the rangers will probably tell you about it and they can if you need it sell you plenty of Squid and fish for a BBQ, offer the ranger a beer and he will cook it up on the Island BBQ.

I can’t stress enough how much more you see when you camp on Bamboo Island, as the sun sets and the tourist boats leave it starts to get almost too beautiful, in the morning there’s no better way to wake up than with a dawn snorkelling session…

First on the Off the Beaten Track list is my favourite place in the world – Bamboo Island just off Koh Phi Phi:
Phi Phi is a place on most peoples list if they’re planning a trip through Thailand and honestly, although Phi Phi has a lot to offer the reality is that the beach isn’t great and there are far too many boats about to enjoy the water (see Nomadic Matt’s post about Koh Phi Phi). But therein lies the key to Phi Phi, the boats are there for a reason and that reason is the stunning national park islands that surround Phi Phi Don. Most people head out on a boat trip to see Maya Bay where the beach was filmed and to do a spot of snorkelling, often these trips are readily available in most travel agents but the key is to go down to the main pier where the ferry brings you in and deal with the longtail boatmen yourself.

Personally I think Maya bay is a must and so is a short trip around some of the stunning hidden bays filled with glowing emerald water but don’t be tempted to stay a night at Maya bay (camping is offered for one night), instead get the boat driver to drop you on Bamboo island, 45 minutes in the other direction to Maya bay it is a small and stunning island fringed with some of the best coral and marine life I have ever laid goggles on. The rangers will throw a tent up for you and there is a small settlement of fishermen who will be only to happy to sell you the catch of the day and help you cook it up. We have been lucky enough to go there and camp twice, both times we were the only people and by 4 pm the tourist day boats had gone and we had the island to ourselves… Once to watch a storm roll in and once to get hammered with the rangers… Good times.

So there you have it, look out for the “Off the beaten track” category and I will keep adding our favourites to it.

Widescreen (1920 x 1200) | Standard (1280 x 1024) 

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

We arrived on Bamboo Island a little after 4 pm, our top notch captain and new friend Mr Nu helped us unload all our stuff from “Hollywood” the longtail boat and get settled in a tent. A park ranger told us there were some fishermen just around the beach and if we were hungry we could buy fish from them and barbecue it, he handed us an urn of hot water and we headed quickly back to the beach to have a MaMa cup on the perfect glowing white sand, looking out across the perfect emerald and blue sea, and off to the vivid blues of the uninterrupted sky… 

I was keen to get a little further around the island before sunset because a short walk from where the tents are set up lies my favourite spot… In the whole entire world!

It’s a small stretch of beach leading around to a small rocky outcrop, fringed by vivid green bushes and trees it’s the perfect place to watch the sunset over the mainland past Moskito Island. I really can’t stress enough just how stunning a place it is, when the light starts to fade the amazingly vivid colours of the sand, sea, sky and trees all seem to get brighter and carry on doing so until the only light is moonlight.

We’ve been to so many stunning places since we were last here and all along the way if anybody has asked me where my favourite place is I’ve always maintained it”s Bamboo Island, Koh Phi Phi. I was a little anxious that maybe it wouldn’t be as good as I remember or something had changed but luckily it hadn’t and going back only compounded it even more… In my eyes its the most beautiful place in the world!

As the sun sank behind a distant storm cloud we went back to our tent to fetch some snorkels and use the last of the light to have a peek at the corals just off the beach, as with everything on Bamboo Island the snorkelling was amazing – huge colourful fish swim by as if they don’t even care and smaller ones pop over to satisfy their curiosity. In the low tide the water around the corals was shallow and often schools of tiny fish would swarm closely around us, we saw huge Eels and giant parrot fish, barracuda and little clown fish (Nemo’s).

As I said our captain Mr Nu had told us if we wanted to buy some fish for a barbecue we should wander around the beach and we would find some small fishermen huts with plenty to sell – so we did and sure enough there they were, unfortunately for Georgie they only had squid but we bought some anyway for Sarah and I and one of the rangers even made a barbeque up and helped us cook it. In our supplies was a large bottle of Sangsom and as you know, no barbecue is complete without a few drinks so we cracked that open and got stuck into it with our chef and another ranger… Turns out one kilo of squid is far too much, but we did our best and by the time the Sangsom was gone we stank of squid and were sufficiently drunk to tackle a night on the groundsheet of the tent.

Being a national park and an impeccably clean on at that Bamboo Island has an abundance of wildlife, the floor is almost alive with all shapes and sizes of friendly little hermit crabs – we fed them and the Islands only cat what squid we couldn’t finish and said goodnight to our new and fairly pissed drinking buddies then turned in for a night under the stars…

After a pretty bad nights sleep we were woken by the sun filling our tent, we decided not to fight it and instead get up to watch the last of the beautiful sunrise on the beach under the huge sky. The soft morning light was just as beautiful as the evening sunset and we sat with a coffee freshly made by our ranger friend in awe until the sun was fully up and getting hot. A morning snorkel or two around the reefs and then it was time to start packing up because Mr Nu was chugging his boat Hollywood slowly towards us…

Twice now we’ve been to Bamboo Island and twice we have been the only ones to camp there, I really can’t understand why it’s not overrun but I suppose if it was it would loose it’s appeal a little. This time we didn’t get to enjoy a huge passing lightning storm but we did have a great night with the rangers and some sangsom also the whole time we were there not another tourist came along, not even on a day trip – that little slice of paradise was all ours again…

]]> http://happytimeblog.co.uk/thailand/koh-phi-phi/120609-bamboo-island-koh-phi-phi-paradise/feed/ 7 http://happytimeblog.co.uk/thailand/koh-phi-phi/110609-exploring-koh-phi-phi-in-a-boat-called-hollywood/ http://happytimeblog.co.uk/thailand/koh-phi-phi/110609-exploring-koh-phi-phi-in-a-boat-called-hollywood/#comments Fri, 12 Jun 2009 22:26:00 +0000 Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk http://happytimeblog.co.uk/2009/06/12/110609-exploring-koh-phi-phi-in-a-boat-called-hollywood/

With the gruelling journey from Koh Phangan to Koh Phi Phi behind us we stepped off the boat to a gorgeous sunny afternoon and made our way through the small alleyways and streets at the centre of Phi Phi Don towards some cheap digs.

Our room was one that wasn’t instantly shabby, we checked it over and gave it the OK but by the time we’d returned from checking in it seemed a lot worse and within five minutes the girls couldn’t bear it any more. We choked the room with bug spray and made it hastily for the lovely little Sunflower beach bar we found the last time we were here to watch the sunset and get some grub.

We ate well and sat and watched the sun drop between the steep and rugged limestone cliffs that Phi Phi is so famous for while enjoying some beers, it felt good to be drinking something other than buckets and what with the days travelling still weighing down on us it wasn’t long before we were all ready for bed… Well tired at least but the girls were NOT keen on our room on little bit!

We are on a whistle stop tour of Phi Phi because Sarah’s time is running short and also our shaggy pal Toby is arriving soon in Bangkok and the plan is that we all meet up and have mucho mucho fun. So because of that the plan was to get out on a longtail boat and explore the surrounding area and forego the Phi Phi party nights because, to be honest, we have been partying for a week solid and the price of a bucket on Phi Phi is too much… So that’s what we did.

We got up good and early to another beautifully clear day, wandered through the stalls and markets into town for some breakfast and then hit the shops for supplies…

We settled on taking Sarah to my personal favourite place in the world… The paradise that is Bamboo Island. I feel fairly satisfied that I’m qualified to call a place paradise and if I am – then Bamboo Island is just that!

With our big bags in storage and just a few bare essentials underarm we took ourselves down to the pier to find us a good longtail boat and Captain… We settled on our days itinerary:

1. Swimming in an emerald lagoon at Phi Phi Lay
2. Check out Maya Bay aka “The Beach”
3. A spot of snorkelling
   
4. Head around Phi Phi Don for more snorkeling
5. Then off to Bamboo Island for a nights camping
6. Pick up the next morning

We haggled for a good price and picked a captain accordingly… Our very sea worthy vessel went by the name of “Hollywood” a newly stained and fresh looking longtail boat and our captain – Mr Nu, a quiet happy sort of chap and super friendly to boot. 

Everything in order we set off to our first destination to swim off the mornings sweat amongst the towering limestone cliffs around Koh Phi Phi lay, blessed with blinding white sand at the bottom the lagoon is almost illuminous green and as clear as glass. Our friendly captain let us jump off the boat while it was still going along so we had a little splish splash for a while in the vivid water before following the cliffs around, past the caves where locals harvest the swallows nests that end up on the dinner table as the delicacy that is birds nest soup, to Maya Bay. Our captain wasn’t keen on taking us to “The Beach” until later on because of high tides and strong winds he wanted to leave it until last but we insisted and said we would swim around the back and walk across the small forested bit to the actual beach… He seemed happy and left us to scramble over the jagged rocks and down a very precarious set of stairs made from branches. Just as last time the trees slowly start to thin and the huge cliffs become more imposing and then just before we are clear of any obstruction there’s a little peek of the white sand and crystal blue water… Coming at that time of day meant we were amongst a handful of other people and although the wind was rushing through the gap in the cliffs and making the water choppy we indulged in yet more splish splashing. Sarah was literally huffing and puffing at the prettiness of it all and regardless of the fact we had been here before we couldn’t help but join in!

Back over the rocks and a short, slightly desperate swim to our boat and then a quick snorkel before setting off for open water and another snorkelling spot we visited before and were blown away by. Mr Nu managed to hook a pretty big Barracuda around the cliffs and was chuffed as could be, he offered it to us for a beach barbecue but I resisted… I thought it was only right he should have it himself.

We chugged gently around Phi Phi Don, the wind had slowed and the waves were almost gone, dreaming about small huts in the hills looking out across the sea and a little longtail boat for ourselves.

We arrived at the spot and wasted no time in jumping in and exploring the beautiful coral and amazing fish around the boat, of course we made sure we brought along our secret weapon… A pack or two of Oreo’s, a couple of them crushed up and thrown in turns the water into an explosion of colourful fish… Literally thousands come from everywhere, from the surface it looks like the water is bubbling and boiling with colour and from below it looks like a giant tornado, the colourful fish all in a frenzy swirling around each other… And anyone with Oreo’s. 

We snorkelled around that spot for a good hour before setting off towards Bamboo Island, I thought it would be funny to keep bombarding the water around Georgie with Oreo’s… She wigged out a little bit and started screaming!.. But the screams gave way to hysterical laughing so I chalked it up as a success and we set sail…