Blogs from Ko Pha-Ngan, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia

Haad Rin is a bit of a maze of foot path streets with no vehicle traffic permitted (at least for the most part during the full moon party). Niki and a few others told me that your first stop at Haad Rin pretty much has to be Chicken Corner. What's Chicken Corner you say? Now, I know what you may be thinking; at first you're probably picturing all manner of chickens bolting left and right as half drunk back packers chase them down the streets, hands out-stretched as if pursuing a hat blown off their head in a sudden breeze. Instead it is two restaurants across from one another that specialize in, you guessed it - chicken sandwiches. We decided the fist one we'd hit was the shop that made chicken schnitzels. They were cranking these ... read more

We slept rather late the day after the full moon party. But since we still had another full day on Ko Phangan, we paid yet another visit to our new local joint for breakfast. As we were finishing up we bumped into our british friend from the other night, Ricky. We asked him if he wanted to join us for some snorkelling, which he accepted, and we spent the afternoon flippering around out in the bay. As it turns out, Ricky had recieved his new bank cards in the mail that day and was now planning the next leg of his trip. He told us he was also going to Ko Phi Phi in a few days as well. Before we parted ways we said we'd be sure to look for him while we were there. ... read more

As I mentioned before, there is a massive exodus to Ko PHangan around full moon time, so they really jam you onto these boats. People cover every square inch of deck space and on the back of the boat is a mountain of backpacks, bags and suitcases. Despite being in various stages of travel weariness, everyone is in a pretty jovial mood as they head towards the island paradise and one of the best parties in this hemisphere. It was a beautiful sunny day and below decks a nice thai woman was selling snacks, water and best of all, beer! Niki and I did it up right and grabbed ourselves several beers each to start the Ko Phangan leg of our trip off in proper Canadian fashion. We arrived at the island and waded through the ... read more

We awoke the next day to my first taste of a tropical storm. It started with the rain literally pounding down on the roof of our bungalow. Back home on the west coast of british colombia, we get a lot of rain and occasionally we get some driving rain that pours down and forces cars to pull over as their wind shield wipers just cant keep up with the deluge. The rain that morning made those look like spring showers. It hammered down and within seconds there were wide spreading pools on the ground and palm trees bending under the pressure. Then the flashes of lightning over our heads followed immediately by window rattling thunder. It was incredible, and I stood out on the deck of our bungalow marvelling at the sheer power of it all. ... read more

Motorbikes through the island to the beach... read more

Well it's been a while since my last post. Since then I've been a teacher and a student. I've sunbathed and painted people with florescent paint. Contemplated over an iced tea and the ocean. I've gotten to know new plants, new animals and new people. Travel, it's a good thing.... read more

Not much to report really, as island life is slow as you can imagine, but really nice and chilled. We are in the resort of Haad Salad in Koh Phangan, on the north wes of the island, which has awesome sunset views. It is so nice to see fluffy white clouds and stars at night, as everyday since we have arrived the immense heat that the sun has blasted out seemed to block its own rays, creating an overcast bright white sky, which is really hazy, and is as you can imagine, very uncomfortabe! In the islands down in the South West, it's almost like that heat you feel in a hot european beach resort, it's been about a steady 37 degrees today, and it's now 8:30 ish, and still feels around 30. It really is ... read more

Hallo Allemaal! Laatste verhaaltje is alweer even geleden! Dus hierbij een update waar ik de afgelopen weken ben geweest! Omdat het een langere periode betreft, een klein verhaaltje over elke plek! We zijn gebleven in Chiang Mai, ik ging iets extreme doen..... het was extreme downhill mountainbike! Wat was dat gaaf, ze zeiden je moet een expert zijn als je die tocht wou doen..... nou dat ben ik toch fiets elke week in Nl. Hahaha dat heb ik geweten van rots naar rots springen op je fietsje, springen over bomen die over het pad lagen en steil naar beneden met veeeel losse stenen. Extreme maar gaaf was het wel! Het ging verrassend goed! Het was een kleine groep, gids ik en nog een amerikaanse dude, en die heb ik er natuurlijk uit gereden!! (Zie filmpje van ... read more