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Published: August 22nd 2008
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Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai
Mind those sea urchins! Having stomached all we could of being addressed every 10 minutes by a tailor or masseur and a bit fed up with the indifferent weather, it was time to try a change of scenery. We made our way to Ban Rak pier in Northern Samui, the main ferry route to Koh Pha Ngan. This was easier said than done.
The Frustrating Journey
Hat Lamai has a thriving bar scene which means that at 8.30-9am almost everywhere is still shut and the streets deserted. As we wanted to leave about 8am and catch a sawngathaew (converted pick-up truck) to the port which usually involves sharing and so would keep the costs down, we ended up being the only people on one and it cost us more than we anticipated. I got the driver down 12.5%!a(MISSING)nd that was hard enough.
After buying our ferry ticket we had breakfast by the pier. We had to walk along a rickety wooden pier with gaps large enough to lose a flip flop through! The voyage was incident free and we arrived in Hadd Rin (home of the infamous full moon parties) 3 hours later and sought transport to a more tranquil
beach.
Again chaos greeted us on arriving in Hadd Rin - minivan and tuk tuk drivers shouted several different destinations to the mass of people disembarking the ferry. Unfortunately we were the only two people who wanted to go the Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai, a quiet beach on the north east coast. We were quoted the equivalent of over 20 pounds for the van to take just the two of us. Bearing in mind this was more expensive than a UK cab for the distance - we refused. This left us with what seemed like only one other option - to wait until 2pm till the next ferry arrived and share with hopefully some others. However we decided against waiting and walked hopefully into town in search of a taxi. Luck was on our side as we managed to get a taxi to Thong Sala, the main port and picked up a sawngathaew to our chosen beach.
Ao Thong Nai Pan Yai
We arrived at 2pm and checked into Pen's Bungalows which had been recommended to us by Siân. The sun was shining so we had a beach side shake and went to test the
water. Lovely white, soft sand and warm clear water made this our favourite beach so far in Thailand. However there was a thin sprinkling of sea urchins that required some vigilance.
The following day we moved to Dream Land Resort, 2 minutes down the beach which had a lovely big pool and even a swim up bar (I only used this on my birthday) for the same price. We stayed in a cosy wooden bungalow which was quite private and had a lovely big balcony.
On our second day there we had a unwelcome visitor. After pumping the room full of fly spray the night before, the cockroach/circada/locust (we weren't too sure what the creature was) which was the size of a small box of matches, did not seem to be in the best of health and was swiftly put out of its misery with a swift blow from a size 12 trainer and removed much to Lisa's relief. Following the discovery of the intruder, all gaps were filled to ensure nothing else could get in which Lisa project managed with vigour.
We spent 6 nights in Koh Pha Ngan mainly basking in the sun and swimming.
On our last day we were a little more active and hired a sea kayak to get to a smaller bay, Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi. This beach was better for swimming as the sea was clearer and appeared free of sea urchins.
Whilst we were there I turned 27. To celebrate we had a few beers and even stretched to a glass of wine at a beach bar where you could lie on the beach on cushions and look up at the stars and forget the cost of the wine you just bought!
Many of the guesthouses along the beach were closed for food/drinks after 10pm and the guests all gone to bed. We usually went for food off the beach as we found a place that served decent Thai food at reasonable prices that we had been used to paying on the mainland. The walk between the restaurant and our bungalow presented a surreal experience passing 3 bars churning out loud music into the night without patrons - it resembled a ghost town. As a place to escape and be free (relatively) of all people continually harassing you to buy crap from them it was perfect and we thoroughly enjoyed our time there.
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