Our final stop in Thailand was at a lovely beachy spot: Phi Phi Island.
And it was truly a slice of paradise.
The white beaches led you into the blue blue ocean, where you could walk out for 10 minutes into the ocean, and still be only chest-deep. We did a lot of swimming, both in the ocean — and in our pool overlooking the ocean:
The 2004 tsunami devastated the islands — around 70% of the buildings were destroyed. It was moving to see the memorial dedicated to the victims of the tsunami. They still don’t know how many people were injured or killed in the tsunami, but the estimates are around 4,000 people.
The hotel complexes were rebuilt over the following years to attract tourists — a main source of revenue to the area. And we had a paradise to enjoy with beautiful views:
And stunning sunsets:
Every evening we’d get back to our rooms, decorated with fresh flowers on the bed — beautiful hibiscus flowers:
And my favourite flower (that I first discovered in India) — oleander:
And beach vacations are nothing without good food — which the hotel provided for us in spades! They even had gluten-free rice flour croissants for us at breakfast!!!!!
So I made sure to have one every morning — along with a bit of nutella (a perfect holiday treat!), and some stunning passionfruit:
And I loved having all the magic toppings for my morning yogurt — cubes of dragonfruit, local honey, pumpkin seeds, and cashews:
Tropical life definitely has its downsides:
But they were quickly forgotten as soon as you got to eat the falling coconuts! My beverage one day at lunch was a young coconut, with a straw — and when you’re done drinking it, you can take a spoon and eat all the delicious stuff inside:
Dinner had not only great food, but lovely entertainment. Veggie pad thai —
And traditional Thai dancing:
Goodbye, Thailand. Thanks for sharing your beautiful temples, kind people, divine food, perfect beaches, and joy with us. We will be back.
Kitchen Operas 
Wow! What a completely beautiful place…
I seriously want to try that rice-flour croissant. Yum!
Beautiful photographs!
all the food looks incredible – but the veggie pad thai would be incredible!!
wearing my pretty Linz flower in my hair today ❤
You would have loved the Pad Thai — maybe we need to recreate it here for a Thai night?
Hey, I was just wondering what hotel you stayed at on Phi Phi? I’m heading there next week and am super keen to try those croissants!
Hey, I was just wonding what hotel you stayed at? I’m travlling to Phi Phi next week and those croissants look amazing!
Hi Sally — we stayed at the Outrigger Phi Phi Island Resort. I hope you get some croissants!