“Trust me, it’s paradise. This is where the hungry come to feed. For mine is the generation that travels the globe and searches for something we haven’t tried before. So never refuse an invitation, never resist the unfamiliar, never fail to be polite and never outstay the welcome. Just keep your mind open and suck in the experience – And if it hurts, you know what? It’s probably worth it.”
Aw The Beach. One of my guilty pleasure novels and movies for that matter (yeah I know) ;). But there’s something so exciting and freeing about venturing out to find that place that tourists haven’t sought out yet. And with my travels I have found a few. Gimmelwald in Switzerland comes to mind as a great place off the beaten path. But today I finally made it to the filming location for The Beach. And let me just start out by saying it was not the desolate cove we all hoped it to be. It’s flooded with tourists. But it’s still beautiful, and if you’re like me and have always wanted to see it than yes it’s worth the trip.
Since I didn’t have a whole lot of time left in Phuket, I managed to book a day tour on a speedboat for just under $40. Not bad since it was one of the quickest ways to Maya Bay and the Phi Phi Islands.
It was a fairly small group, which is always nice. I made friends with a lovely Australian couple and a small group from Lithuania. We all sat on the front of the speed boat as it sped it’s way across the sea. Our guide was fantastic! He was so full of life and happy. Really great guy. Couldn’t always understand him, but he always made sure we had a great time.
It was quite the rough journey from Phuket to Maya Bay but it was all worth it when we pulled in. It really is stunning. And something to see at least once. We were able to get out and explore for a little bit, but I’m not kidding when I say it’s covered in tourists. Though yes, I’m a tourist too, but you know how you always hope to discover something others haven’t? At least I do ;).
The rest of the day was also lovely. Snorkeled a bit off of the Phi Phi Islands, saw a bunch of monkeys and had a lovely lunch on Phi Phi Island. I think next time I’d like to stay there. It’s great. Beautiful and much less chaotic than Phuket. Though Krabi is also on my list for next time I’m in southern Thailand.
I’m so blessed I’ve been able to travel. It really is the greatest and I sincerely hope you all get out there and do the same. It really is worth it. 🙂
thetravelingfilmmaker 