Chasing Chaos: This is not the love boat...

One of the things Kayla & I were most excited to do in Phuket was to go snorkeling around the island of Koh Phi Phi (pronounced pee pee.) On the trip you have the opportunity to not only snorkel at several different locations but you also have the chance to visit several spectacular sights. There are the limestone cliffs, Viking Cave, Monkey Beach, and 2 very nice beaches where you can eat and relax. We were beyond excited to see so many of the sights that we had been looking at in photographs for months. The limestone cliffs seem incredibly tall as you sail along below them and Viking Cave looks like something that could be in a horror movie. Monkey Beach was cool because as your boat pulls up to the beach tons of monkeys swarm into the trees above waiting for you to throw fruit to them. They do warn you to be very careful as the monkeys have been known to jump down into the boat and try to follow you home. Both of the beaches we visited were very nice. One of them was featured in the movie "The Beach" starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Kayla and I had seen the movie in our hotel on Koh Tao. Unfortunately, the movie does not make you want to go off and explore the area on your own. We also had the chance to visit a spectacular cove while on the trip. Let's just say that it puts the party cove on Canyon Lake to shame. Overall it was a great day. We had the chance to see some amazing sights, swim with all kinds of fish, and see some of the biggest, pinkest jelly fish we have ever seen!

The only draw back to the day was that we were the only 2 single girls on our boat of about 35 people. With the exception of us and a group of about 8 guys everyone else on the boat was coupled up. This presented an issue when the group of 8 guys turned out to be VERY loud and seemed to "claim" Kayla & I because we were the only available girls. One thing that we have noticed since we arrived on Phuket is that it appears to be a popular vacation location to middle eastern men. Every group we have run into has been very overpowering and seem to think that since Kayla and I are women that they can do whatever they want around us. This includes standing behind us while we eat and take a picture, just straight up take pictures of us without asking, whistling at us, and refusing to leave us alone. It hasn't been anything dangerous, there just seems to be a lack of respect when it comes to women. The men on the boat were absolutely obnoxious. It seemed that the rules applied to everyone but themselves. They pushed people over to sit next to Kayla and I, yelled at each other from opposite sides of the boat so that no one else could have conversations, refused to sit down while we were going through rough water even though the guide asked them to, and had to be first to do everything. We tried to breathe and just deal with it all day but finally an Australian lady stood up and said what everyone on the boat had been thinking. One of the guys tried to pretty much climb over her so that he could be the first one off the boat and boy did she let him have it. I think he was shocked that a woman would talk to him that way but needless to say he was much better behaved for the rest of the trip!