Ko Pha Ngan: Bare feet and Full Moon Parties!

Our stay on Ko Pha Ngan has been absolutely glorious...maybe thats why we've stayed almost 2 weeks. There isn't too much adventure to talk about as my time has consisted of lying on the beach, swimming in the ocean, drinking banana shakes, and making a decent attempt at a tan. Seriously, heaven!

Linds and I arrived on Bottle Beach after taking the night ferry, a taxi and then a long tail boat. Bottle Beach is a very secluded part of the island with white sand, swaying palm trees, and high mountains on either side. It is only accessible by boat. There are 4 sets of bungalows only. We stayed in a cute little bungalow overlooking the sea.

About 6 days later we moved to Thong Nai Pan Noi Beach just for a bit of a change. There is a slightly bigger beach here, and the village is more lively. There are a few bars, lots of little family run restaurants with AMAZING Thai food and a bit more surf in the sea.

Highlights from my time here:

* 10 days and I haven't worn my shoes!!! Bare feet only!!!

* I am now SERIOUSLY a coniseur of Banana shakes - I have tried them all everywhere and they are soooo good!

* I met Greg, from LA, one afternoon on the beach. Turns out he is amazing at teaching yoga so for the past 2 weeks, I've been doing yoga on the beach every morning. It feels SO awesome and I can't wait to start once I get back home. Greg, it was fabulous meeting you. Here's to a reunion in LA or maybe at Schwarz'!

* Linds, Greg and I went snorkelling one day. The "tour" was only the 3 of us so we had the entire long tail boat to ourselves with a private guide. Our guide thought we were very funny as we did way more sun basking than snorkelling. Hmmm, tropical fish were very cool - Same Same but Different.

* One afternoon I took a BUMPY songtheow ride (ie. sitting in the back of a pickup truck) to Wat Pho in the middle of the island jungle. I visited the temple and then went to the Herbal Sauna. Wow, what an experience to sit in the soothing aromas of Thai herbs. Afterwards, I had the BEST Thai massage with a herbal steam. It was completely relaxing.

* THE FULL MOON PARTY!!!!! Words cannot even explain the sight! We took a water taxi from our beach to Haad Rin - from miles away I could see the bright lights of the all-night party. Music blared from about 10 or 15 clubs along the beach. Linds and I, along with at least 10, 000 other people, spent the night drinking buckets, dancing on the sand and chatting with people we met. I even bought a flower lei and had my body painted!!! At 6am the sun started to rise over the water. Then I had an unfortunate experience as I waded in in waist deep water to get onto the boat - the salt water took advantage of my camera. :( My film camera with pics of the party is ruined - the verdicts out on the pics... Time will tell.

Anyway, that about sums up our time on Koh Phangan. I'd go back in a heartbeat! After the full moon party, we packed up and left for a FULL day of travelling and an overnight train to Bangkok.

Linds' Blog

Linds' Blog, Part 2

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