Bangkok and Ko Phangan

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Well, it's our first venture into Asia and it's been absolutely hectic! We landed in Mumbai after an eight hour flight (28th) and because we didn't get a visa in time, we had to stay in the airport for twelve hours until our connecting flight to Bangkok. This was an absolute nightmare because we didn't know where we needed to be, and at what terminal - there was also a lot of hoohaa as we didn't possess the right tickets for the right flights, but this was corrected after a long, slow process. We lazed around until I couldn't even think anymore, and it got quite lonely and depressing being there in an empty room without being able to explore. Our flight to Bangkok couldn't come soon enough, and when it came it was fabulous - largely because of the quality of Thai Airways' plane and service.

When we landed in the airport (which was massive and modern) we immediately set out to take advantage of the low prices, with the start of our converting into English pounds routine! A bus was then laid on for us to get to Bangkok and we chose the legendary Kao San Road to be dropped off at, which is the travellers ghetto. We didn't need cheap digs as we were getting the connecting boat to Phangan that night, but it was good to get a feel for the place. Or so we thought.

We stepped off the plane, and Bangkok is absolutely hectic from the minute you get there, with tuk-tuk drivers aggressively trying to get your business, often bordering on physical over-touching. When you're jet-lagged and struggling to get used to the heat, the smells and the huge urban jungle, it seemed to be a living nightmare. So we retreated to an internet cafe and found somewhere to dump our bags. After that, we went to the shopping centre until night time came, and it was here that I photographed myself in the midst of jet-lag - we were struggling and we almost fell asleep right there on our computers, as our bodies were adjusting (also, combined with lack of sleep on the plane). We finally got on the bus which lasted an amazing 11 hours overnight and then got on a ferry to Ko Phangan. It was good to finally get to our destination and leave Bangkok until a day at which we could deal with it properly.

Ko Phangan

We arrived on the on the island on the 31st without a room (wasn't good considering it was one of the biggest parties of the year) and made our way immediately to Haad Rin to look for Brenna and Sam, hopefully trying to get a room somewhere near the party. We weren't too hopeful, but we managed to find them in Seaview resort right on the edge of the beach in alovely beach hut . After we acquainted ourselves we went for tea and prepared for the party, Brenna decorating us in awesome body art in UV.

We then made our way to the beach in time for the party; by the time we got there it was getting loud and busy with thousands upon thousands of people - from here on in, it's best to let pictures tell the rest of the story!

I retired to bed around 2am which is quite early considering the idea is stay up 'til the sunrise, but I hadn't been out in ages and jetlag was still taking its toll.....

The party was amazing, and it was a great experience; I'd love to do it again sometime in the future.

The next day was spent quite predictably in bed, dossing around and grabbing some awesome shakes from the bar for breakfast.

The next day was spent riding around the awesomeness that is the interior of the island. Fortunately for us, the lax laws surrounding mopeds meant that we could get one rather cheaply and discover the island by bike, and we landed right in the national park (unintentionally). We got some amazing views from about 600m up a rather large hill, and viewed a brilliant waterfall. Ko Phangan isn't quite known for this kind of beauty, so I was pleased to have discovered this little gem.

A fairly quiet couple of days followed and it wasn't long before we planned the next part of our trip to Phuket.

I enjoyed Ko Phangan a lot. I didn't see a great deal of the island apart from where were based but I think looking back (I began this piece on the 4th January and I'm finishing it now on the 11th February) it was a part of the trip I enjoyed a lot. This is largely because we were in familiar company with Kim and Brenna re-uniting, and also because we just lazed about - and this counted for a lot at a time when we struggling to adapt to the timezones amongst other things. We enjoyed Phangan that much that we're probably going to go back there at the end of our trip to wind down before heading off home.

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