Leonardo not found

We spent the morning getting a few necessary things done. We were dreading the chore we have come to hate most, next to going to the post office: changing our airline tickets. But after a short phone call to Cathay Pacific in Bangkok, our flights were changed, just like that (mobile phone calls only, as the island still does not have phone lines). Whether or not we are actually on the flight we changed it to remains to be seen, but for now we're happy to have that over with.

Our errands run, we got some sandwiches made up to take away and hired a boat for the afternoon to cruise over to Koh Phi Phi Lei, not far from Koh Phi Phi Don where we're staying. Unlike Phi Phi Don, Phi Phi Lei is uninhabited. It is made up of limestone cliffs, caves and a few small coves. We passed Viking Cave, which reaches back into the cliffs. Locals harvest the birds' nests here (and all around the island) for bird's nest soup. Also in Viking Cave are prehistoric paintings. We stopped in a few places around the island for some awesome snorkelling. The water is incredibly beautiful, the coral is healthy, and there are so many fish! Like at Bamboo Island, we saw so many different types of fish, and even a Moray eel. Our boat captain dropped us off at Maya Beach for an hour or so while he and his two 'crew members' (really just his mates) went out to deeper water to fish. Maya Beach is a cove on Phi Phi Lei, with clean, soft, white sand, palm trees and warm clear water. It's where parts of the film 'The Beach' were shot, and the water really does look as beautiful as in the movie. We ate our lunch, walked around a bit and spent the rest of the time swimming.

On the way back to Phi Phi Don, we stopped at a few places for the guys to try to catch some squid. Nige had a go and caught one, but like my King Mackerel yesterday, it got away. We returned to the main island just before the rain started. We had a quick shower while the rain passed over, got a few beers and peanuts at the store and sat on the beach to enjoy the sunset. Our last dinner on the island was of course at Hippies. Afterwards we relaxed in some hammocks on the beach while we waited for the Thai Lantern Ceremony to begin. We're not sure why it was happening, maybe 100 days since the tsunami??? Anyway, everyone gathered on the beach and began to light their lanterns up. They are made with a large plastic bag with a wire frame on the bottom to hold it open. Secured to the wire is a wad of tightly rolled paper or something of the sort. I pushed out of my mind the thoughts of the unenvironmentally friendliness of it all, especially considering they definitely do not need more trash on this island. It was a funny 30 minutes as we watched everyone try to light their 'wicks' then gather enough hot air in the bag to lift it off into the night, all while hiding the flame from the wind. It turns out that it was a bit too windy, so no more than 3 or 4 actually launched into the sky. The few that did were beautiful, and we can only imagine what it would look like if they could have all floated away. We somehow found our way back to get another massage and briefly watched a fire show before heading to our bungalow.