For us, Ko Phi Phi was a little vacation from the more cultural tourism we've generally been practicing. With no historical landmarks or museums, just pure natural beauty, we were happy to give ourselves over to a different kind of sightseeing on Ko Phi Phi. Over the course of our three days there, we took in views of the island from under the crystal blue water, above the jagged limestone cliffs, and, of course, from the hammock of our beach-facing bungalow.

Ko Phi Phi's restaurants have two natural advantages when it comes to pleasing the taste buds. The first is the bounty of fresh seafood that is pulled in from the ocean each day, which can be found on every menu, from the smallest market stall to the giant beachfront resort restaurants, with their longboat-shaped bars full of glistening fish and prawns on ice. The second is the increased appetites of the islands visitors, who are variously: exhausted from the island's recreational activities (which include scuba diving, snorkeling, hiking and rock climbing); refreshed by the fresh heat and ocean breezes; or wrung out with hangovers and sunburns - all conditions that can enhance the perceived deliciousness of almost anything.

In between our alternating bouts of intense activity and pleasant lassitude, we slurped down bowls of seafood curry, plates of rice, dishes of fried squid, and not a few fried bananas. Nothing that exotic crossed our paths, but the curries were rich with lustrous coconut milk, the fish tender and flaky, and the squid was some of the best I've ever had, with just the right degree of elastic resistance to the teeth and a sweet, fresh taste.

After Ko Phi Phi, we spent a night in Phuket Town on our way out of Thailand. We saw exactly one square block of the town, and that mostly closed in the late Sunday evening, but we managed to squeeze in a few tasty finds: more excellent seafood, some fried rice dough, and a variety of classic Thai agar desserts. The desserts are my favorite, because of the interplay and variety of textures. The purple one, for example, is thick and slightly grainy, and it slides cleanly against the teeth. The clear agar is both firmer and more ephemeral, as it breaks and fractures under the bite and then dissolves.