Loving Ko Phi Phi's Low Season

With tourism bringing crowds to ever more remote places, low season is today's version of 'the less traveled road'. And it’s a blessing to the cash-strapped - if you don’t mind a little rain now and then, you can enjoy many beautiful parts of the world at very reasonable prices, with no crowds.


May through October marks low season on the Andaman coast. At Ko Phi Phi, we stayed at Phi Phi Erawan Palms resort, which offered double rooms for 1,800 baht (when booked through Sawadee.com) – this goes up to a whopping 4,500 baht at the height of peak season.

We had the beaches at Laem Tong and Ao Loh Ba-Kao all to ourselves.


Hin Klang Reef, Bamboo Island, and Mosquito Island were pretty much deserted when we got there – it was just us, dozens of parrotfish, and a small but menacing community of black sea urchins. Our sole human contact, other than with our boatman, was with a family of three Americans who briefly gushed "beautiful reef, beautiful fish!" before setting off... once again leaving us to the silence of the Andaman sea.

The wind was blowing too strongly for us to see Ao Maya, a magnet for day-trippers from Phuket anxious to see where The Beach was filmed. Ah, the sacrifices one must make to enjoy the low season. We swam for a while in the lagoon at Ao Pileh before distant lightning strikes and arriving day-trippers prompted us to scramble out of the water.


After crossing the inter-island swells in a tiny longtail boat, the ominous grey clouds on the horizon were enough to make us flee to our favorite rainy-day pastimes: eating and shopping. Note to self: low season water travel requires a strong stomach!

Ton Sai was backpacker central even in the off season; I can just imagine how packed it must be during peak. I stood for ten minutes on the main alley and watched wave after wave of Caucasian shoppers and backpackers walk by, with few Thais or even other Asian tourists in the mix. While cheap rooms were available in Ton Sai for a fraction of what we were paying at Erawan Palms, the hustle and bustle of "downtown" just didn't fit with our idea of a relaxing vacation.


Back at Laem Tong, we scouted around for evening activities. Even at low season prices, I can’t afford to stay at luxury resorts like Zeavola, with rates ranging from 5,500 to 11,000 baht a night. But for the price of a cold cocktail, we were able to indulge ourselves, lounging on cushioned beach beds that would otherwise go unused. Staff are at their friendliest when there’s no one else waiting to be served, and instead of rushing us at dinner they cheerfully brought us a second serving of their delicious octopus ink bread and let us soak in the relaxed ambience of their romantic beachfront restaurant. If we weren’t so perplexed by the bread’s color, I would never have guessed its ingredients included anything more exotic than toasted cheese.

The other benefit of low season is discounts on the ultimate in pampering – spa treatments. At Wana Spa at Phi Phi Island Village, we booked a two-and-a-half hour package that included a milky jacuzzi soak, a scented body scrub, and a relaxing aromatherapy massage for about 2,700 baht per person. Okay, so it was an indulgence that was over ten times more expensive than the humble Thai massage we got in Krabi town for 250 baht, but I consoled myself with the thought that the same spa package in Singapore would probably set me back at least 6,000 baht, if not more.

Tourism authorities all over the world are doing their darnedest to market rainy season tourism, quoting euphemisms like "fruit season" or "green season" to dress up the cold, wet truth. I’m half-hoping they’re unsuccessful, so that we can keep low season the exclusive province of knowing travelers with a penchant for cut-rate trips.

Low season optimists know that weather forecasts that predict a 50% chance of rain can be flipped around and read as a 50% chance of, well, no rain. Here’s hoping we continue to stay lucky.

Contact information and more details

• Sawadee.com hotel reviews and bookings - www.sawadee.com
  
• Phi Phi Erawan Palms resort - www.pperawanpalms.com
  
• Phi Phi Island Village resort - www.ppisland.com
  
• Zeavola resort - www.zeavola.com
  
• Longtail boats can be booked by trip or by the hour with the Chao Ley (sea gypsy) cooperative, which sets standard fees. You can also book through resorts at a slightly higher rate.

Read more about Ko Phi Phi

• "swam for 45 minutes with three 15-20ft manta rays swooping around us" - Schiavoni Files
  
• "tonnes of farangs running around but somehow, the whole place doesn't seem as shamelessly touristy as say Patong" - unkster
  
• Rock climbing at Ton Sai tower: "At the top of the routes, you overlook Ao Ton Sai and Ao Lo Dalam, which are the two bays in the skinny part of Ko Phi Phi." - All Thai-ed Up
  
• Post-tsunami cleanup report by Project Aware

Read the previous entry or check out the rest of this Krabi and Ko Phi Phi trip series.

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Christchurch: Summers B&B at Knowles Court

Our cab pulled into an empty gravel driveway surrounded by a nondescript brick wall. There was no one in sight, although I’d briefly caught a glimpse of a shadowy figure through the old house’s windows.

"Are you sure this is the place?" John asked. We could see lights in the living room, so we walked cautiously through the garden to what looked like the front door. Knock, knock.


A few minutes later our host appeared in the doorway. He was large, imposing, and the very picture of a proprietor of a grand old Christchurch manor home. He gave us a hearty welcome, and on finding out we lived in Singapore, regaled us with stories of his excellent Chinese cooking. Yes, multi-course Chinese dinners complete with proper rice vinegar. No wonder Summers B&B is popular with Asian students and teachers.

Knowles Court is a registered Heritage Home. Sounds good, right? It was built in 1910, and if you wander around I suspect you can still see some of the original plumbing. Clawfoot tubs may look luxurious in pictures, but ancient showers and toilets are certainly something else.

We entered our apartment just as darkness started to fall. Our host gave us a short tour and turned on the heat. Then he left, shutting the door with an ominous thud. We were on our own.

The bed was simple and somewhat old, clearly not the luxurious queen bed with fluffy down pillows and sumptuous duvet that I’d conjured up in my imagination when making our booking. There was a huge closet in the bedroom. It was large enough to hold a person and I was afraid to open it for fear that it did.


The living room was sparsely furnished and had a small TV. An empty candlestick stood on the windowsill, instantly transporting us onto a real-life set for Cluedo. "Colonel Mustard in the living room with the candlestick!" We looked at each other and laughed nervously.

We explored the dining nook, where we found a length of twisted curtain tie on the shelf. "Mrs. Peacock in the dining room with the rope!" Our overactive imaginations manufactured an atmosphere of general creepiness and we scared ourselves silly.

We stayed awake for as long as we could watching TV, and then gingerly crawled into bed. We pulled out one of the headlamps we’d brought to Nepal, pulled the chain to turn off the room light, and slept with 4 bright white LED lights keeping us company.

The one redeeming factor of our stay was the delicious cooked breakfast, served to us in our private dining room by our host’s wife.


The apartment lost most of its sinister atmosphere in the bright morning sunlight. "You have no power over me!" I crowed happily, feeling triumphant until I opened the bathroom door and gazed sadly at the sub-par shower. As you can imagine, I am not generally keen on bathroom fittings that may be twice as old as I am.

As we left, John looked back at the house and quipped, "We never did find out what was in the cellar..."


Lessons I've learned on how to choose a bed and breakfast:

1. If you are booking in a home built at the turn of the last century, check to make sure the plumbing isn’t as historic as the house’s foundations.
   
2. Don’t get carried away by good-looking websites. Be wary if photos focus on details like lampshades and table corners instead of showing the entire room.
   
3. Always check reviews. I got lucky with Ropatini’s, but I’ll be a lot more cautious booking unreviewed B&B’s in the future.

Summers B&B may well be a terrific choice for New Zealand breakfasts and Chinese dinners, and I understand the house is being steadily though slowly fixed up. Until our favorite creature comforts are in place, though, I think we’ll stay somewhere else next time...

For the less-easily scared, here is their contact information:

• Summers B&B is at Knowles Court, 274 Papanui Road, Merivale, Christchurch; a few minutes by car from the airport.
  
• Web site:www.summers.net.nz
  
• E-mail: stay@summers.net.nz
  
• Phone: +64 3 355 1145
  
• Rates range from NZ$60 to 120 per double per night with breakfast
  

Bloggers tell tales of scary stays in other places:

• “We were both awaken (sic) by a thrashing sound of something flying." - Iloilo City Boy, in Iloilo
  
• “I kept visualizing this enormous spider (the size of a grown man's hand) crawling out from behind the mattress and on to my pillow." - dcb, in Cairns
  
• A Haunting in Hugo: Old Johnson House Inn, also built in 1910 (Coincidence? Ha, I think not) - Open Magazine

Read the previous entry or check out the rest of this New Zealand trip series.

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Queenstown: Southern Laughter

I'm a compulsive reader. Give me a piece of printed text, however mundane, my eyes are irresistibly drawn to the letters. So it was heaven wandering around Southern Laughter where every last inch of the place is plastered in poster-sized Far Side cartoons and jokes of all sorts.

And these beds! The bed in the double room was so comfortable it was hard to get an early start.

What I like most about Southern Laughter is the crowd. In the winter, the hostel serves free soup at 6 pm. People gather in the common room with their soup bowls, swapping stories and laughing at re-runs of Friends. I figure anyone who can stay in a hostel wallpapered with Gary Larson cartoons has to have a good sense of humor.

The rest of the facilities are pretty good. They've got a couple of spacious kitchens, and lounges with video libraries where we scared ourselves watching Stigmata late at night. The hot tub is fabulous after a long day of canyoning, if you don't mind making new acquaintances while getting your soak. Alternatively, if you'd prefer to meditate in the hot tub alone, 6 pm is the perfect window of opportunity while everyone else has rushed off to the soup pot.


The staff was friendly and efficient, except for the one new guy whom we stumped on his first day by asking him about white-water kayaking. He got a little flustered after that. Turns out nobody offers white-water kayaking in Queenstown because it's too dangerous for the inexperienced.

My only complaint about Southern Laughter is - you guessed it - the bathrooms. The showers are fairly decent, although nothing like the superb ones at The Old Countryhouse. It's the sinks I can't stand. This hostel deserves to be in the Guinness Book of World Records for the world's smallest hostel sinks. There's barely enough space to wash your hands, let alone brush your teeth or wash your face.

You also need to watch out for the fire station across the street... but Queenstown is small enough that I guess practically all the hostels have to deal with either bar noise or fire engine noise. We opted for the fire station because at least we know the sirens won't run every night!

Minor quibbles aside, stays at Southern Laughter are bound to be cheerful ones. And that definitely gets my vote.

Information and Contact Details for Southern Laughter Lodge

• Web site: www.southernlaughter.co.nz
  
• Rates range from NZ$23 per person for a share dorm over 4 beds, to NZ$54 for a double with shared bathrooms/showers.
  
• Address: 4 Isle Street, Queenstown, New Zealand
  
• E-mail: southernlaughter@xtra.co.nz
  
• Phone: 0800 5284 4837 (local toll-free) or +64 3 441 8828 (international)

What others are saying about Southern Laughter

• 2.5 stars at BUG
  
• "open-minded, fun, and altogether wonderful people staying here" - one of several user reviews at Hostelz
  
• "funny cartoons are framed everywhere...even in the toilets!!" - A Kookie in a Nutshell

Read the previous entry or check out the rest of this New Zealand trip series.

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