I was going to be celebrating my birthday on Koh Phi Phi, it is a beautiful island split into a national park and a more touristic side. The main beach is minutes away from where we were staying, it is a small cove where the tide can devour the entire beach or retreat almost out of the cove and exposing lots of hermit crabs and mudskippers. Our previous nights out in Phi Phi had been great; we had drank whisky on the beach while watching fire dancers balancing precariously on a tight rope. We had gone night swimming in the cove and sunk into a posh resort swimming pool, hiding under submerged bar stools only to be betrayed by a security guards flashlight. We had all been sharing rooms 3 in a bed to keep prices down and I would wake up early and go for a swim in the cove, in the mornings the tide was way out so you could explore the whole beach, as you walk in the crystal clear water fish dart past you and fist sized crabs scuttle for shelter and bury themselves in the sand a few feet away, there are even monkeys. On the eve of my birthday we went kayaking to some coral and cliff caves that were so tight you had to bend over backwards as you paddled through. Peering into the water there where swarms of tiny jellyfish that gave you equally tiny stings when you touched them, splashing about with the oars we witnessed sun delve beneath the ocean. Later we were all sat on the beach a few meters away from all the bars and the music drinking whisky, when it came to midnight everyone poured drink over me. That night involved dancing on wobbly stages, pizzas and whiskey buckets and concluded with a journey to hilltop bungalows in search of a snake, but what we encountered was a strange Finish lad rambling on about bears and small lions.
So after a little sleep I woke up fairly early got down to the almost empty cove and had a bit of a wade around, the skies were overcast and the water seemed murkier than past days. By midday I had met up with the others and they brought me birthday breakfast, looking around our table everyone seemed to be suffering from last night’s antics, it seemed like today would be a recovery and I didn’t blame them. Birthdays always have a bit too much pressure about them so I was ready for a chilled out day by the beach, this didn't happen. We rounded everyone up and got on a boat cruise that absolutely rocked. We had brought so much Chang Beer from the 7elevens that my arms ached by the time we were onboard. Whilst we boarded the big boat speakers were playing “hey soul sister” and this was the moment that everything picked up, the hangover from last night had disappeared from peoples faces, as did the clouds that gave way to a fathomless blue canopy, so we blew up party balloons and we danced.The rest of the passengers, all around our age, looked bewildered and were maybe hoping for a more relaxed affair but we soon got some of them joining in as pretty early on Captain Art brought out an acoustic guitar and a mic so we all sang ‘Wonderwall’ and ‘Don’t Look Back in Anger’. We got our ipods onto the speaker system and everyone was moving to ‘I’m on a Boat’ it was such a hit it got played again, immediately afterwards.
We arrived at Monkey Beach a few Changs lighter and dived off the boat, a small longtail took us to the shore where Edith was ready to give bananas to the monkey perched on a branch, he rapidly peeled it opened, discarding the skin whilst consuming fruit in a matter of seconds then, arms outstretched, eyebrows raised clearly expecting another one. Back on the main boat we partied more and went to a point of clear water where we went snorkeling, it was beautiful, but snorkeling while drinking isn’t like normal snorkeling, maybe I saw more fish than there actually was but it was glorious all the same, at one point I forgot that when you dive down to the coral floor you no longer have the option of breathing through your snorkel. Throughout the whole of this cruise we were throwing down some incredible shapes, the likes of which the world has never seen and we attracted attention from every other boat in the vicinity, some even abandoned their own ships to join ours.
Our final stop was the bay where “The Beach” was filmed, it was a reasonable small white stretch of shore but packed with people and cast in shadow by the surrounding hills. While the rest of the boat went to shore, me, Andy, Alana, Sara and Edith stayed behind, repeatedly jumping from the roof of the boat and playing fitting songs, like ‘What’s My Age Again’ and ‘It’s Tricky’. By the time the others had returned from the island the five of us were singing to Tenacious D (we like this song). We had a barbecue and chilled out on the front of the ship. This is where Andy pulled out a tray of cupcakes with 23 little candles protruding out of them and Captain Art gave me the a Birthday bucket with candles wedged in the straws. Around this time the sun was setting, and it was a beauty, the best I had seen in Asia. It cast the clouds on the horizon a burnt orange and if you looked a little higher you could see the moon looking like the Cheshire cat’s smile gleaming a brighter pearly white as the blue skies darkened. By nightfall I climbed again to the boat roof looking towards where outlined hilltops and beachlights of Phi Phi, feeling a little bit like Jack Sparrow. We stopped in the water and jumped again from the roof, Me, Andy, Sara and Edith bobbing about in the waters making the plankton light up, when over the horizon on the tip of Phi Phi’s tallest hills, lighting lit up the skies. Back in the harbour Captain Art played his guitar for a while, we sang more Oasis getting the whole crew involved. The last song the left the soundsystem was ‘Killing in the Name’. This boat rocked.
By dinner everyone was truly shattered. Our heads still swaying the boat’s motion. We had a few beers and I got presents from Andy, Alana, Andi and Harry; An American Football, A new Frisbee, A fresh vest (free of luminescent paint). A robot/bug mask and a man purse with a little elephant on for all the bum change I collect. But the best was some awesome speakers so I can share my legendary music tastes with everybody. The original idea now was to go back out to the beachside and have more drinks but by the time we had dropped stuff of in our rooms, Sam was sick and everyone else (apart from Harry and Andi.. those rascals) had crashed in my room on the bed. Some strange Thai movie was on Tv people left for bed and we kicked Andy in his drowsy state off the bed, he didn’t get up for a few hours.
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