Koh Naka, Thailand

Did you ever imagine what the most perfect place in this whole wide world looks like?

I haven't until we landed on the shore of Koh Naka.

Speeding up to the island you can see the water getting clearer and bluer.
And I was just thinking to myself "I would so much love to stop here..."
The boat slowed down, we dropped anchor, and I almost jumped off the back of the boat with excitement.

We had about 45 minutes in the most beautiful place in the world and I wasn't going to waste a second.

While I swam and played in the perfect waters, of the perfect island, with the perfect man, the perfect man was asleep.

So I laid down next to him and tried to sleep.
But I just couldn't.
I was too excited to be someplace so beautiful.
So I sat on the beach and waited patiently (apart from the occasional poke) for my darling to awaken from his slumber.
And finallllly managed to convince him to come play in the water with me.

It was time to go way too soon.
But the tide was coming up and I had a feeling there would be no beach at all if we didn't leave now.
Chris found me a present, but I decided to leave it on the beach.

It was a very full day, and everyone looked quite exhausted, but the trip still wasn't over!
There was one last surprise on the way.

Monkey Beach, Thailand

The next island we pulled up to was called Monkey Island.
And for good reason too.

The moment you see the island in the distance you can make out shapes of little creatures jumping and running around.
When you get closer you realize they're monkeys.
Unfortunately they've gotten quite aggressive and lazy over the years.
People used to dock here, come on shore and feed bananas and other fruit to the monkeys.
Then a few years ago a woman was attacked by these monkeys.
And now tours only really get just close enough to the shore to throw food to them and take photos...

Or so we thought!

Just because we didn't go on shore, that doesn't mean they were going to stay away from us.
They jumped onto the front of our boat like they owned the place, climbed right in and started roaming around.

I wasn't sure if I should push it off, pet it or feed it.
I decided a photo would be sufficient.

Looking back on that photo, I don't particularly like how this monkey is looking at me so I'm glad I didn't stand there any longer than I did.

There was a little boy on board who decided it was a good idea to pet the wild monkeys.
While teasing them with a banana just far enough where the monkey wouldn't be able to reach it.
The monkey finally swiped its claws at him and he jumped back.
All this happening while the crew and everyone on the boat yelling at him to stop.
And his parents reaction was to take photos of him...

Lunch on a new island was the next point of port!

Has anyone else been to an island of hungry, wild monkeys?

Maya Beach, Thailand

You know when you watch certain movies and the scenery looks so beautiful you convince yourself that it's being filmed in a Hollywood studio because nothing in nature really looks that perfect and beautiful?

You're wrong.

Very, very wrong.

This is real life Paradise, otherwise known as the Phi Phi Islands of Thailand.

And if you happen to find yourself in Thailand and want to go see them yourself, I highly, highly recommend booking a trip with Phuket Sail Tours.

They are a little more expensive (a lot more private) and worth every penny.
Bigger, cheaper tours will make you feel like cattle being herded from one place to the next compared to this tour.

We were picked up bright and early, taken to the docks, loaded up, and shipped out.

First stop:

Maya Beach (also known as the filming location for Leonardo DiCaprio's 'The Beach'.

Anchored safely in the harbor we jumped into the clearest water I've ever seen and made out way for the beach.
Stopping only to pinch ourselves to make sure we weren't dreaming, or to take a photo.

Safely on shore we went exploring.
We actually landed on the back of the island.

The Beach was mostly filmed on the opposite side.
However the queue to see it was MASSIVE and we much rather play than queue.
So back to the water it was!!!

A little word of advice:
A waterproof camera will make sure you capture all those wonderful memories on a beach vacation.
BUT, make sure the lens doesn't have any water or sand droplets on it before shooting or you'll end up with random blurry spots on your photos like I did!

I use an Olympus Tough TG-2 in case you're curious.

After about 45 minutes or so we were waved back to the boat; it was time to make our way to the next destination.
And at a good time too!
(All the packed ships started to arrive just as we were leaving so I know what I say when I tell you to stay away from them!)

We swam back to the boat and waited to see what beautiful place we would be taken to next.

We were not disappointed...