Koh Phayam

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Ranong is a small town which people seem to dash through either on route to the islands of Koh Chang and Koh Phayam, or before skipping across the water to Burma. And to be honest it didn't appear to be
somewhere with much individual appeal.

However before we sailed off for another slice of island life, we decided to visit Ranong's nearby geothermal springs. A popular spot with Thai tourists the scolding hot pools are said to have healing
properties. Harri and I could hardly bare to dip our toes into the near boiling water and weren't convinced of it's power to heal. But Lewi the masochist loves hot water and so enjoyed the pain involved in soaking his feet in the scorching tub of water. But even he couldn't compete with the madwoman who was calmly sitting in the pool pouring the water all over herself, she must have reduced nerve capacity...or bad burns!

Despite the intense heat of the water it was a beautiful setting and amazing to think that the power of nature created these hot springs. It had been an interesting way to spend the morning and so with our
feet tingling we headed over to the ferry pier to catch our ride to Koh Phayam or Kangaroo island apparently the shape of the island is just like a kangaroo).

The ferry was ready and waiting when we arrived at the small non-descript river port. Tickets paid for, bags loaded into the hold and with half an hour to spare Harri popped to the loo and Lewi went off
in search of beers and snacks. All of a sudden the boat began to pull away from the pier, I stood up confused. Harri heard the revving engine and came running, jumping aboard just in time. We implored the skipper to wait but no answer, at the top of our voices we shouted for Lewi and he too began to sprint to the dock. "Please wait" we begged the captain "he's right there!" But he just smiled and turned the boat leaving Lewi on the dock arms out stretched, beers in hand, looking dejected and rather bemused.

Amazed that the boat had left half an hour early Harri and I were stunned and resigned ourselves that Lewi would just have to make his own way to Koh Phayam. Then a kind man explained that the tide gets too low in the river port so the ferry waits at the mouth of the river until 2pm when a small boat brings the remaining passengers. Well actually he just said, "he, small boat...river no water" and we filled in the blanks. Sure enough just after 2 o'clock Lewi turned up with a few other passengers on a little boat, phew, there was only 1 Chang in the bag now!

Relieved to be reunited we enjoyed the rest of the two hour journey passing gorgeous mountainous islands both Thai and Burmese, and watching as the crew dropped off supplies and post to waiting boats.

On arriving at the harbour we caught the only form of transport available on the island-mototaxis to Ao Yai, 7km across the island to the west coast.

Ao Yai, or Long Beach, was a vast stretch of golden sand, it certainly was long. We checked into the lovely Bamboo Bungalows where the friendly Israeli owner gave us a prettily decorated shell hut for 450baht. With limited electricity supply on the island there was no a/c or fan in the room and it was very hot, but we liked the feel of the place.

It seemed to be the most popular spot of the few choices there were along the beach, that said everywhere was beautifully quiet, it was not overrun with tourists. Just how we like it.

That evening there was a huge thunderstorm, and the beach was lit in almost purple flashes of forked lightening. It was a beautiful sight and very dramatic. The torrential rain and thunder seemed to rouse the bull frogs who then started to croak and ribet at top volume, all in all it made a hell of a racket!

The next morning we woke to clear blue skies and scorching sunshine, no sign that there had ever been rain. We eased ourselves into the beach life, reading, swimming, a bit of bat and ball, nothing too
strenuous. It was tough to sink into the routine of drinking cocktails at sunset beside a gorgeous beach but we managed it.

After a couple of fantastic days of languidity we got more adventurous and took some kayaks out to sea. However all was not plain sailing. Harriet and I were having difficulty finding a paddling rhythm and to
Lewi's amusement weren't moving forward very well. In fact we were going around in circles! We finally began to move in the right direction only for a flailing paddle to bash me on the head, pretty painful. Still, we got better at this kayaking lark and made it to the rocky beach on the headland where Lewi and I did a little snorkelling and Harri collected shells and kept an eye on the kayaks. Not too keen on swimming in the sea is our Harriet. After a while we dragged the kayaks back into the water and continued on our voyage, as we did I felt that something wasn't right. The kayak was so low in the water and felt so unstable and heavy we could hardly paddle forwards, so I stupidly thought it would be best if I got out. Of course this capsized the kayak leaving both Harri and I floundering in the deep water, the last place Harri wanted to be. With thoughts of sharks and sinking kayaks in our heads me and my sister must have looked quite a sight splashing about in the Adaman sea, making the already comic expedition even more hilarious for Lewi. But once over his laughing fit Lewi took control of the silly situation, the kayak just wouldn't take both Harri and I anymore so Haz took our kayak and Lewi towed me back to the small rocky beach where he gave us a strict talking to. What an over reaction I had made, I even suggested I swim back to the beach 250m away! Luckily lewi figured out a solution, I would take the heavy kayak solo and he and Harri would take the other one together. It took us over half an hour to get back to shore what with the pull of the tide and our tired arms (well my tired arms anyway!) To finish us off when trying to pull my kayak out of the water both Harri and I got totally wiped out by an unexpected wave, add bruised shins to the injury list. It had been an exhausting but very amusing days work, we certainly earned our sunset cocktails that evening!

We had eaten some yummy meals at Bamboo bungalows with the regular nightly storm for entertainment and tonight was no exception. I love a good curry and a thunderstorm.

Koh Phayam is a relatively small island and the next day we traversed most of it cruising on rented mopeds from Ao Yai to the pier to Buffalo bay. The roads were pretty dodgy, from potholed concrete to
deep sand with low hanging tree branches to duck beneath, it made for a fun trip. Still they were in excellent condition in comparison to some of the Sumatran roads we travelled! It was fun to bump along
these roads cutting through cashew plantations and banana trees.

Earlier in the day Harriet had spotted a poster for a free BBQ tonight at 'My BBQ' with cheap drinks, funky music and fire dancing, who could ask for more! We threw ourselves into the party, several helpings of
squid and swordfish and a few beverages later we were chatting with some Thai guys and I realised it hadn't rained yet...there wasn't a cloud in the sky to obscure the beautiful star scape. We watched the
flaming baton and chain twirling artists, one of whom was only eight years old. It was a really fun night and we stumbled back to our hut at about two in the morning.

On our last day in island paradise we reverted to our roots and relaxed to the max. At one point during the day I went back to our hut and discovered a big blue and orange lizard chilling in our bedroom,
it was probably 30cm long and had beautiful patterns. Before we left for this trip I thought I'd hate all the bugs and reptiles however I have a real affinity for lizards now, I'm pretty sure I'll never like spiders though.

All too soon we had to leave the beaches behind and board an overnight bus to Bangkok. This proved to be a nightmare journey with my stomach giving me pains all night and with no toilet on board I was very
uncomfortable. This in turn gave the others a sleepless night, and when we arrived into the city of angels at 5.30am none of us were feeling too great. The delights of our travellers life were becoming clear to Harri now.

Everyone had been concerned for us returning to Bangkok as the political situation appeared to be worsening. However at our favourite guesthouse, River G H all was well and the cold showers and comfy beds were all we needed for the next few hours.

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