With very little time in Phuket, we went out for a cheap dinner before getting a good night's sleep in our 'boutique chic' hostel (Ananas). I have no idea what 'boutique' or 'chic' actually mean but it was very nice and had a big screen film room so I'm sure it fit the description. We only had one night there and an early start to catch our ferry to Koh Phi Phi Don.
Like the bus journeys riddled with uncertainty, you can never really be sure that your transfer to anywhere will really pick you up. The language barrier means that things often get confused; Pete, for instance, is eating a 'cheese burger' with no beef as I write (if you're wondering, I sent mine back and am currently waiting for the cheese and beef burger's return).
The Chinese and Japanese tourists with an insatiable appetite for photographs made the ferry slightly less phiceful at the front of the boat, and I was particularly confused by a Japanese couple who were singing Auld Lang Syne while taking pictures. Nevertheless, as we approached the Phier it looked exactly as we'd hoped it would: turquoise seas, white sandy beaches and bars which would later come alive. Our hostel (Phuphaya Bungalows) was situated up a short steep hill, and when we reached the top we were sweating profusely. These were our first rooms without air con which wasn't great but we could deal with it. The sheets were a bit thin, but by this stage we all had thin sheets(!) so we'd grown accustomed to the feeling.
Nearly every day we sauntered down to the main beach by Tonsai village and bobbed up and down in the sea until sunset. Sometimes we read, other times we played ball. Pete and I headed the ball back and forth for hours (our record at the moment is 29 but we plan on improving that drastically). Becoming restless as Charlotte and I engrossed ourselves in our books, Pete made friends with some of the locals, learning how to spin bottle caps and playing keepy-uppy with them. Originally planning on staying just three nights, we took a fancy to this lethargic lifestyle and we ended up being there for seven, moving hostel to one without a big hill (but still without air con) for the last four nights, right in the heart of the village. 'Tonsai village' translates as 'tourist village' and says a lot about how the island has rebuilt itself since the tsunami which rocked the island in 2004. It caters for everything you need on your typical beach/party stay in PP.
The first couple of nights I was quite ill. We've all been a bit ill at some point in PP and it seems as if it's not a question of whether or not you are ill at all, just to what extent. However, while I was spending the majority of my time in the bathroom, the others were busy enjoying themselves. Pete stayed on the strip of bars by himself for the first night, fascinated by the fire shows which take place along the beach every night. They are very impressive to give them credit. Charlotte joined him for the second night, when a large rain storm hit the island. Pete managed to lose part of his phone while laying it out in the sand to dry. If he hasn't replied to you, that's why.
When I finally had some respite from my 'Thai tummy' I made sure I was alright, testing my tummy with a whiskey bucket (dubbed a 'risky bucket' if with ice by Pete) and a night out on the beach at Slinky's. We were amazed at people's confidence in others as one after another flung themselves from a 12-foot wooden platform and were caught by a group of people linking arms with their opposite number to form a soft landing. It was crazy.
The next day we went kayaking to 'Monkey Beach'. While we didn't spot any monkeys, the sand was the whitest sand any of us had ever seen - 'like ice cream' Pete said. Further, because the beach can only be reached by swimming or kayaking, it was blissfully empty. The sea was beautifully blue. Proper guide book stuff. 
That night we didn't go out properly because we had a half-day snorkelling trip around the island booked for the next day. Instead, we had a quiet drink with some girls we'd met in Bangkok and had been out with the night before, then headed to 'Reggae Bar'. Inside, tourists are lured into a Thai boxing ring by the promise of a free whiskey bucket and forced to battle it out with each other, before a victor is chosen. While tempted, Pete and I chose to pay for the 'two for one' buckets (everything is on offer in PP all the time), Pete rejecting his new Thai fire-spinning friend's offer of a fight (rather wise given that he had spent two years in the Thai army), and sit back and watch others humiliate themselves. One particularly drunk Brit had everyone in raptures as he fell over the ropes into the ring and turned the fight into a 'who can punch someone the most in a minute' competition. A girl fight was spurred on by Pete's shouts of 'kick her in the womb!'
On our snorkelling trip we were ferried around in a 'long-tail' boat, stopping first at Maya Bay on Koh Phi Phi Leh, PP Don's younger brother, the setting for much of 'The Beach'. None of us have seen it but we're told it's the beach where Leonardo Di Caprio has sex. Great. It was very busy but one of those things you have to do in PP I guess. Charlotte and Pete started singing 'Maya Bay, Maya who, Maya ha ha' to the tune of that annoying Rihanna song they play in Wahoo all the time, and we saw an amusing flashy boat which had painted in big fancy writing 'Jame Bond' on the side. Thai translations aren't the best.
We then moved on to a snorkelling spot around the corner, which had fantastically clear water and thousands of fish. I had never seen most of them before, and any knowledge of those I had seen came solely from Finding Nemo. Disappointingly, none of the fish could speak like in the film, but it was a great experience nonetheless.
The boat then took us to another 'Monkey Beach', which this time had lots of monkeys on it. We were greeted by the alpha male of the group making love with one of the females. She was scared off by our boat, but he clearly wasn't finished, and decided to have a bash right there in front of everyone. Pete was nearly mauled as he tried to get a close up of some of the monkeys but Charlotte and I kept our distance as we threw the monkeys pieces of pineapple, having not had rabies jabs before our visit.
A typical hungover beach day was just what the doctor ordered the next day. In the evening, we went for dinner at Paddy's Place, where we ate great burgers and drank free shots before getting a bucket each and heading, once again, to the beach. Charlotte retired with illness while Pete and I continued with our buckets on the beach. We learnt from Pete's buddy the basics of fire spinning. Pete had grown suspiciously fond of his twentysomething Thai friend (who's name we never discovered) and kept Phiering at his washboard abs. He answered in the negative the man's questions of whether Pete was going out with Charlotte and then Pete asked the poor guy immediately after whether he had a girlfriend. Nothing would come of this potential flame, but Pete was certainly open to all eventualities. When we ran out of bucket to drink we decided to save ourselves money by partaking in the fire skipping show for free vodka (I have a bald patch of leg hair to prove it) and the fire limbo, on which Pete and I were both guilty of overestimating our abilities. He fell forward and grazed his knees while I burnt my shoulder trying to duck under the enflamed pole. Island a useful lesson.
Having never drunk whiskey like this before, we were all quite ill the next day. We didn't leave our room until four, when we chilled at the beach before climbing up to the PP sunset viewpoint. It was extremely high and quite a walk, but worth it when we got to the Phik. The views were breathtaking. We bumped into our friends we met in Bangkok there and went for dinner with them, partaking in our last bit of fire skipping before retiring to bed ahead of our early ferry the next morning. Next stop: Koh Tao. 
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