Ko Phi Phi

Turns out that I'm not the only tourist to hurt herself on a motorbike. Everywhere I go, locals point at my leg and ask, "Motorbike?" I nod. They then ask, "Phuket?" I nod again and hobble away as quickly as possible.

I'm feeling much, much better. Most of the stiffness in my knee and foot is gone, so it doesn't hurt so much to walk anymore -- hooray! The scrape is also healing, though it's really not pretty.

I took my battered bod to the gorgeous island of Phi Phi Don to recover. This island is the inhabitable, touristy island next to the uninhabitable island of Phi Phi Leh where "The Beach" was filmed. It's surrounded by limestone cliffs, rock formations and covered in palm trees. When it's sunny, the water is emerald green. And the best part of all: there are no cars, motorbikes or even roads on the island.

I was drawn here by the amazing, gorgeous photos I saw everywhere. But I didn't get to see any of those beautiful views -- I'm not sure you can without a helicopter and a bright blue photos lens. My photos don't do the place justice. So here are some prettier ones.

I rented a cute bungalow right on the beach, parked myself in a deck chair, and read books for 2 days. I "exercised" by walking from my deck chair to the bathroom, and from my room to the restaurant. I took a brief trip to the tourist strip to look into taking a trip to Phi Phi Leh, but decided it would be better for my leg to just go back to my chair. Which I did.

This morning I took the boat to Krabi, where I will take a boat trip to see some cool islands and caves and maybe do some kayaking. Today, I'm taking a Thai cooking class -- anyone who helps me move in August gets a free gourmet Thai dinner.