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Published: December 28th 2008
Sorry it’s been a while since my last blog, it’s all been a bit hectic since Pam arrived and we started the Thailand Unplugged tour.
Like I said in my last post, I had a week to fill before Pam arrived so I headed down to Ko Sumui for a little bit time on the beach. Ko Phangan is an amazing almost Paradise like island that is host to the infamous full moon party, because of this 5 days either side of the party all the prices double of everything. It’s understandable up to a point as I was there on the 5th day after full moon and was the only person in the entire hotel. I just felt I was being ripped off a lot, especially during the times I was by myself and had to pay £20 for 8 seat taxi to take me 20 mins across the island when in other parts of Thailand the same ride would cost around 80p. Inventive local pricing aside, I did have a good time on Ko Phangan. Eating out in Ko Phangan is a little strange; all the restaurants show the Simpsons, Friends or Family Guy all day, then movies at
night. It makes for the most antisocial restaurant experience but I guess it’s more for kids resting there hangovers. We also went down to the beach where the full moon party is held and I tried my first bucket which consists of a bottle of Rum (that they call whiskey), a really thick red bull syrup and a can of coke all mixed into a little plastic sand castle type bucket which you drink through a straw. I left the group after 1 of these, but somehow ended up in a bar singing along to Oasis songs with a totally random bunch of people. Then got incredibly lost trying to find my way back to the hotel and found myself in a police station trying to get directions. It was really hard saying goodbye to the Matt, Sarah, Casey and Maddy. We’d spent the past 3 weeks together and I think you sort of get used to travelling with people, especially with guys as great and friendly as they were.
I ordered a ride back to Bangkok through one of the hundreds of travel agents on the island which sounded like a bargain. For £17 a taxi picks you up
from the hotel and takes you to the ferry landing, from there it’s 4 hours to the mainland then a coach takes you overnight back to Bangkok. You have to wait at a mosquito ridden bus terminal for 6 hours and the overbooked bus to Bangkok smells worse than a sewerage farm. I also got my phone pick pocketed which didn’t help matters.
I arrived back into Bangkok at 6am and checked into the hotel, luckily they had a room available so I crawled into bed and didn’t really leave it for the rest of the day. To be honest I was just excited about Pam coming out.
I went to meet her at the airport the next morning, I was a little worried because her flight time had changed and I wouldn’t get to the airport until after she had landed but we seemed to find each other without too much hassle. We spent the rest of the day wondering around the Ko San road, having massages and getting a little drunk on cocktails.
The following day we had to meet up with the tour group in the evening, but had the day to ourselves so I showed Pam
the water taxi, sky train and park that I’d been to previously then went to meet the group. Everyone in this group was under 35 and there was a good mix of couples and single people, we ended up on the Ko San road again for dinner and a few drinks in a bar just outside the hotel.
We were catching the train at 6pm that evening so we had the day to fill. Our guide Pun-Pun (pronounced Pan-Pan) took us for a little walking tour of the city, which was mostly through markets and a little dull but we did go to Wat Po, which is home to the famous golden Reclining Buddah. We were going to try and see the Grand palace as well but we didn’t really have much time.
The overnight train wasn’t nearly as bad as I had envisioned, each carriage has about 3 seats that convert into bunk beds when you ask the porter. They are fairly comfortable but could do with a little more legroom, but I guess they were designed for the slightly smaller Thai people. There was even a party car that was full of westerners.
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