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Published: June 18th 2006
Koh Tao
Siree BeachThis trip is going by SO QUICKLY!!! Where do I start? It's been ages since I've updated this thing.
I spent three days in Koh Tao, two in Ban Chalok Bay and one in Tanote Bay. As usual, Tanote Bay was beautiful, but I felt a little displaced b/c it was filled with couples and I felt like the only "unattached" one on the whole beach. Ah well...
I got to Koh Phangan on the 9th or 10th or something and met an AWESOME bunch of people at my bungalows.... so I pretty much spent the next 5 days riding around on scooters, lying on the beach, and partying until 4 or 5am. The full moon was good, though it was probably my least favorite night of them all.... I guess nothing will ever beat my first "Full moon experience", but I had fun nonetheless.
I left Koh Phangan (and my new friends!!) on the 13th and made the trek to Phuket to meet Auntie Jollean at the airport for the 14th. It should have only took 5 hours to get from Koh Phangan, but it took much, much more. I got in bed on the 13th
Tanote Bay
Even more beautiful when you put your head under the water. at 5:30am (not the smartest thing, I know, but TOTALLY worth it), got up at 8 amd packed up, left for the ferry at night, got off the ferry in Surat Thani at 12, got to the town by bus at 1... and here's where it gets interesting... a bunch of other people and I were picked up from the bus station (well it was more like at the side of the road) and taken to a travel agency where the agents kept us waiting there until 6pm!!!! It was obvious they were trying to cheat us out of extra money b/c they lied over and over to our faces... but anyways, we got on a minibus at 6 or 6:30... left the city around 7:30 and didn't get to Phuket province until 12 - they ride should have only been 3 hours but the driver kept stopping at random places... anyways, when we got to the province, they got us out of the van outside the major city and told us we'd have to pay 150 baht each to be dropped off in the city.. needless to say me and the 10 other people on board were super pissed,
Koh Phangan Viewpoint
John (the American) and I so we didn't pay and ended up getting a tuk tuk to take us to Patong beach (the majore beach).... I love Thai people, but the ones that ran that travel agency were very, very crooked....
Anyways, I had a room booked at a (seemingly) nice hotel in Patong beach... when I got there, it was 1am and the place was a DUMP! There were mysterious black hairs everywhere, and the guy that ran it was very rude. I slept there for 5 hours, and then found a motorcycle guy to drive me 45 mins to the south of Phuket where I found a gem - Kata beach!!!
I spent a couple of hours scouring the town for a nice place to stay, and b/c my auntie was meeting me that afternoon, I picked place called "The Boathouse"..... little did I know it was a 5 star resort! Even though it is 4000 baht a night ($125 - in LOW season) my aunt and I have come to the conclusion that it is one of the nicest places we have stayed at. Teh people that run it are GREAT (and that means ALOT to me), they have nice,
The Biker Gang on Koh Phangan
Our little group all rented motorcycles and rode around the island during the day clean rooms and GREAT showers, and they FILL your room with orchids! We had dinner at the hotel last night and it was wonderful... we both had lobster and a lovely New Zealand wine! It's been a different lifestyle from Rasi Salai and the thatch bungalows of last week, but I'm not complaining!
Today, after Auntie Jollean finishes her golfing, we're going to get facials and then probably lie on the beach. Tommorow morning we leave for Koh Phi Phi, and hopefully the group I met in Koh Phangan can manage to meet up there. I'll keep you guys posted!
Love,
Raylene
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