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Published: November 13th 2006
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Koh Nang Yuan
Rare set of three islands conjoined by sandbars - some great snorkelling and views! My last blog missed out on the Full Moon Party, so I'll touch on that. I was taking it pretty easy because I was still nursing my wrist after the fan accident. Nevertheless, I had a great night on the beach with the seven of us, and of course the 10,000 other party people on the island. The party was tons of fun, very late into the night, and so many different people. From the most inebriated people you could imagine (many of which were laying in the "Designated sleeping area" , a roped off area of the beach which was deemed secure for those able to crawl to its refuge) to the older travellers who simply watched the whole frenzy take place from a safe elevated position. In the end, it was just a huge party. We all had a blast, we all got home safe, and we all are thinking that we might just need to make arrangements to visit again for the next Full Moon in a few weeks... but we shall see...
(On a side note, I met this one guy who was from Vancouver Island - He knew some guys at UBC that played volleyball,
Team Canada
Our nation's team went undefeated, even with scenes like this. and apparently partied out there one night... the place? Our old house "The Powerhouse." He had come to one the house's parties and hung out there. That was just tooo weird, this guy I met on an island in Thailand had been in my house before, and I didn't even know who he was.)
For a few days after the party we continued our routine of eating great food, hanging out with the boys, and living like kings at our Top Hill Resort. On our last night on Phangan, we went to another Muay Thai boxing night which was pretty entertaining, especially because our seats were literally against the ring - many times we were sprayed by the fighters' sweat. Kind of intense. There was one caucasian fighter, a Swede, and he destroyed his opponent who was significantly smaller than him but put forth an entertaining fight regardless.
Our boat ride to our next island stop, Koh Tao, was quite unnerving as the boat was kind of crappy and the weather/water was very rugged. It was pretty crazy going through 15 foot swells and having water submerge sides of the boat covering the windows. Isn't a boat supposed
Tasty treats
We have enjoyed so much good food, some of us are more adventerous than others. This fish/fly combo didn't look very appetizing to any of us though. to float on the waves not through them? After some girls on the boat started screaming for their lives, crying, and yelling "we're gonna die" people started to wonder where the life jackets were kept. Before long the ride was over and we were all very happy to be on solid land again. That was an experience I'd like to put behind me, though tonight we're taking a similar boat back down through the islands again and back to the mainland... let's hope the weather cooperates.
After arriving on Koh Tao we located a place to that offered dive courses and accomodation for the guys who weren't planning on diving. The first day we just laid around (a standard formality for the first day in a new place.) I was still not able to swim as I had to wait 10-14 days for my stitches to heal. Day 2 we did some mini golf, and came back to find a really cool volleyball court down on the beach.
For the next 3 days after that, Volleyball was the focus of our attention. The seven of us "trained" quite hard and brought ourselves up to the international calibre required
Pulling up to the beach
Our longboat (big canoe with car engine on the back) took us exploring, here we stop at Nang Yuan for some beach time. to compete against our opponents... The Thais! The local Thai people play every day and were able to throw a very good squad against us. We fought hard and used our ~~1 foot height advantage to its fullest. We beat them the first game, then won the rematch, then won the third game as well. It was a Canadomination! We were riding the high of our team's first victories and celebrated the night at a couple of the beach bars in the area.
In between volleyball, eating and lounging, we thought about getting certified for scuba... but didn't get very far. We decided that due to November being kind of a stormy month, the water would be in better conidition in early December, which is when my mom and sister will also be here, so we're going to wait and do our scuba then.
Yesterday we hired a nice Bavarian guy to tour us around the island in one of those cool Longboats. He provided snorkelling gear and guided us to some very nice spots. We snorkelled the "Japanese Gardens" which housed a reef with a lot of really colourful fish and even some barracuda. We continued on
Tall vs. Short
Though my height got me cut by a fan, here it proves quite advantagous. to Ko Nang Yuan, three islands that are connected to each other by sand bars (apparently one of the only places with this feature in the world.) We hiked to a view point and snapped some photos, then returned to the water and did some more snorkelling. In the afternoon, we got hit by a tropical storm, which is just a huge downpour of water almost out of nowhere, but still quite warm. As a result we retreated back to shore and spent the afternoon hanging out at our resort/bungalows.
During the afternoon, with very little to do, we ended up hanging out in the restaurant for a while. During which time we noticed that some of us were capable of consuming larrrrge amounts of food, and soon thereafter we began talks of a large eating competition (fueled partially by an eating competition we just watched on TV) The stage is set for Phuket, and we are allowing 3 hours to eat as much as we can. Essentially it is just me vs. Adrian, though others may join in for kicks. It all sounds very immature and foolish but considering how good the food is here I don't too
Muay Thai - Up close and personal
This Swedish fighter was the winner of the final bout, he TKO'd the biggest Thai kickboxer I've seen, probably because he was a foot taller and way heavier. much mind.
Tonight we leave the island, on a night boat back to the mainland where we will catch a bus over to the west coast (the one affected by the tsunami) and will hang out in Phuket for a while. Will post an update as soon as I can!
Thanks for the e-mails for those who went them, it's always great to hear from you!
PS. My wrist is almost healed and I'll be getting the stitches out when I get to the next main town. I think I'll start wearing a watch on that hand from now on to cover the scar, it might be kinda ugly!
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JK
non-member comment
your awesomeness
James getting your travel blogs make me happy.it looks like your having a blast. also it appears that thailand agrees with you...you look quite strapping in that pic with the fighter.miss you and trev, say for me...keep loving life xox JK