Garland also wrote the screenplay for the movie. The prodigiously talented Leonardo DiCaprio plays the lead role, which was rewritten as an American for him. It was directed by Danny Boyle, who just won an Oscar for directing "Slumdog Millionaire".
So why is the movie so bad?!
In the book the beach is so perfect partly because it's not visible from the ocean. It's can only be reached by an underwater tunnel or by jumping off an inland waterfall.
The filmmakers had to find the perfect beach in Thailand. They chose Maya Cove on Koh Phi Phi Ley. It's pronounced pee-pee-lay.
Go ahead. I'll wait until you're done giggling.
As I understand it no one used the beach until it was rediscovered for the movie. When permission was granted to the filmmakers to use the island there was much criticism.
No one is complaining now that the island is a cash cow. Thanks to the movie, the secret is out. Paradise is Lost. This is the view from my tour boat backing up to the beach.
Half the beach is lined with boats. The other is crammed with tourists.
Bear in mind that there is no accomodation on the island. These people are all here on day trips.
And no wonder. It is a truly magnificent site. The beach isn't completely concealed, as it is in the book, but it is almost completely encircled by limestone cliffs. The water is pristine. This is the view from the beach.
From Maya Cove we traveled up a channel where the water color is a series of startling greens that seem almost unnatural.
We also stopped by Viking Cove. Apparently even Vikings needed a vacation after months of looting and pillaging. (Actually the cave gets its name from paintings of boats inside that are said to look like Viking ships.)
The scaffolding is for harvesters of swallows' nests, which are used in soups and drinks. I ate a bird's nest in Beijing and it's actually worse than it sounds. The nest isn't made from twigs or bark, it's made of hardened strands of saliva.
Mmm ... bird spit.
Collecting birds' nests is a controversial practice because if you steal a bird's nest it can't breed. Thus no baby birds, thus no more bird's nests. Men climb rickety ladders hundreds of feet in the dark to find them. It's dangerous work, but they fetch a ton of money.
We stopped briefly at a surprisingly nice snorkel site, then had lunch on the biggest of the islands, Koh Phi Phi Don, the bigger of the two principal islands. This is where all the tourist infrastructure is.
The Boxing Day Tsunami of 2004 wiped this island clean. Today it's back at full strength, but in the aftermath of the disaster there was absolutely nothing left.
We sat in the front of the boat with a rowdy group of Finns who were all snotslinging drunk. I wish Americans would just spontaneously break into song when we have a few beers in us. Of course, drunken Finns sing Finnish folk songs. Americans would end up singing Bon Jovi or 50 Cent and the world would hate us even more.
I couldn't pronounce their names so I won't attempt to spell them. The two guys on the right are both in severe pain. Can't you tell?
The guy on the right had one of the worst sunburns I've ever seen. He took his shirt off to go snorkeling and everyone on the boat said "Ooohhh". He looked he fell asleep on the beach. For a month.
The guy in the middle has a scar on his right shoulder from a motorbike accident. His shoulder is broken.
Kippis! (Cheers!)
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