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Published: February 3rd 2009
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Koh Phangan !
Our view at breakfast each morning...tough eh ! After our xmas and new year on lovely Koh Tao, we said goodbye to our little bungalow and Ralph the lizard, and headed to the nextdoor island in the Samui group, most famous for its Full Moon parties; Koh Phangan. After the sea crossing from the mainland to Koh Tao, I went fully prepared and dosed up on sea sickness tablets ! It wasnt too bad though and we arrived in one piece....
Not sure on where we were headed, we found ourselves being bumped along in the back of a taxi van towards Hat Rin beach, which is where the infamous beach parties are held each full moon, and also each half moon now too ! (They dont miss a trick out here !) As it was really early in the morning, it was pretty dead when we arrived (or rather when the taxi van came to an abrupt halt at the edge of the road and the driver shouted "Out Out !! Hat Rin Hat Rin!!") except for a handful of what we now refer to as "the Britpack" absolutely hammered and stumbling round in their adidas 3/4 lengths and reebok classics with massive bottles of heineken in
Weeeeeeeeeee !!!!!!!
Ao Thang Pan Noi beach, North East Koh Phangan their pale little mitts !! We wandered around for a little while trying to summon up the party animals in us (who sadly seem to be getting sleepier and sleepier as we get older !) but just couldnt do it. So we ended up jumping into another taxi van with an American couple and driving to a really small beach town towards the North called Ao Thong Pan Nai (or something like that...!) This place was sooo pretty, the weather had been a bit rubbish the past few days, but as we arrived here it began to clear up and it just looked like a little paradise ! Only a small beach with a few bars and restaurants along the beachfront, we found ourselves a tiny hut set into the cliff at one end of the beach which looked straight out to sea, was so lovely ! Not much to report on what we did here, other than swim, play frisbee (at regular intervals to keep a certain someone entertained....!) eat and drink. Perfect ! This turned out to be pretty much the norm over the next few weeks on the islands....is tough i know, but someones gotta do it
Taxi Van
En route to our next beach in the back of a taxi van, the roads there are horrendous !! !!!
After a few days relaxing here, we got on the ferry to the next island, Koh Samui. We hadnt heard great things about this place, is supposed to be like a little Bangkok complete with the ladyboys and prostitutes. But always is usually only a small part of the island so we planned to stay in a place just north of the shenanigans, in a place called Bo Phut. Coincidentally, it turned out my mums friend's son Chris (who I havent seen since I was teeny tiny) had just been sent to Bo Phut for work ! So we got in touch via facebook and planned to catch up whilst we were there. Bo Phut is a really quaint little place, particularly in fishermans village where we managed to stay. There were some small traditional shops and also some really nice bars and restaurants in a road that ran along the seafront. I said it reminded me of Topsham, Nath said it had a mediterranean feel... Anyway, we met up with Chris and had a few drinks before heading into an area called Chaweng which is where it all goes on...literally. Was kinda like Newquay on heat !
Bo Phut - Koh Samui
Nath on the small jetty at Fishermans Village, Bo Phut. From here we headed back over to the mainland, and caught a number of buses over to the western side of Southern Thailand, to Krabi. We'd been told there wasnt much to see in Krabi town itself, and we'd only need to go through it to get to one or other of the islands. But we ended up staying there a night in the cheapest room yet ! and really liked it ! We ate for about 50p each at the night market, whilst watching the locals perform some kind of ritualistic prayer/dance to a table which they'd covered in incense sticks and gifts of fruit and drinks. They had someone banging a constant rhythm on a big drum which they danced and hopped and shook in time to, was really something to see ! They would also every now and then set fire to a coconut shell and then throw it down really hard so it made a really loud bang !
After much deliberation as to whether we should be going to the main touristy areas of Phuket or Phi Phi, we jumped in a taxi van to Ao Nang and then caught a long tail
Z list celebrity spotting !
Lee Stafford from celebrity scissorhands ! (This ones for you Lex !!) in Chaweng; Koh Samui's answer to Newquay....!!! boat over to, the less touristy, Railay. It was definitely the best decision, Railay was everything we'd been looking for. Although not an island, we could only reach there by boat, and it was so rustic and beautiful ! Made up of just a few huts and wooden bars, Railay is very popular for rock climbing as its surrounded by limestone cliffs, and the beach we stayed on (Ton Sai) was full of climbers and also had a real Reggae feel about it. There were chilled out bars set off a dirt track behind the beach full of Thai rastas with dreads and colourful wooly hats ! We spent one night in a beach side bar watching a really cool Reggae band who were great !
Ton Sai didnt have the most amazing beach, so we took a walk through the jungle which brought us out at the next beach which was picture perfect. White sand and crystal clear water with the cliffs looming up on either side. The weather was perfect too ! Here we met an English couple, Owen and Claire, who we ended up bumping into most days. They were staying on this beach so we arranged
Me and Chris (This ones for you ma!)
How about that, meeting one of my mums closest friend's son on Koh Samui, I havent seen him since I was really tiny !! to meet up with them that evening, not realising that once the tide is in, the only way over to that beach from where we were staying was a 20 minute scramble, armed with head torches, over the cliffs separating the two beaches ! There was even a rope there to help you down the rocks it was that steep ! Still, we had a really good time with these guys and made the climb a couple of times to meet up with them during our stay. It happened to be much easier after a few drinks.....!!
One of the days on Railay we hired a kayak and spent the day paddling round the different beaches and exploring the coaves around the rocks. The water was so clear and as we'd bought a snorkel over xmas, we spent ages checking out all the fish, there were loads !
Once we'd dragged ourselves away from Railay, we headed towards Tarutao National Park, a group of islands towards the Malaysian border. We were supposed to be heading to an island called Koh Lipe, which we'd been told was really nice, but ended up on an island called Koh Tarutao instead, which
Railay, near Krabi
One of the chilled out Reggae bars on probably the most chilled out place we've ever been. Naths so chilled in fact, hes ordered the whole bars worth of spirits.....haha !! had no development on it at all other than the National Park headquarters, where we hired a tent and pitched up right on the edge of the beach. The view was incredible. Practically deserted, the beach seemed to stretch on for miles, and the sand was so fine it squeaked when you walked on it, like snow ! We ended up staying here for a few days, walking through the jungle interior to other equally deserted beaches and just sitting by our camp soaking it all up. Nath even managed to find some logs and dragged them around to make a seating area in front of our tent where we would sit with some (very cheap) beers from the tiny store, and watch probably the most spectacular sunsets we have ever seen. There were tons of bizarre looking birds here too, including hornbills which are massive great things with two funny looking beaks ! We also got used to seeing great big eagles swooping around too, particularly around sunset.
After the solitude of this island, we decided to leave out Koh Lipe (which is supposedly much more built up and touristy), and carry on our journey towards Malaysia....
Rock climbing on Railay
No thats not either of us...! But Railay is fantastic for rock climbing and was amazing to watch some of them and what they were managing climb !!
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alex
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wowwwwwwwwwwww!!!!
what a beautiful set of pics... you must be having the time of your life... so glad yu are enjoying yourself... it's freezing here... and... it's snowing right now.... have a marvellous time guys.... lots of love alex xxx