Koh Phangan

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We arrived on Koh Phangan at about 6am on the 16th February following a bus to Krabi (from Koh Lanta), another minibus to Surat Thani and finally a night ferry to Koh Pangan. It was a fairly painless if quite long journey. The night ferry was a claustrophobic experience - you were unable to stand.

We were a bit worried we would struggle to find accommodation as the full moon party was on the 19th but there was a tout at the dock who recommended Haad Guard Resort – we got a taxi there and managed to get a room right on the beach for 400baht a night (with a hot shower which is a luxury whilst travelling the islands).

On our first full day we did a trip which involved having a monkey climb all over me which was strange but I have to admit I felt a bit guilty as we both thought the captivity of the monkey was a little cruel. We then moved onto a waterfall where you could sit in the waterfall which was very refreshing. Next was snorkelling at Koh Ma a reef at the north of the island before going to Bottle Beach a beautiful beach only accessible via longboat. Finally another half hour of snorkelling. This trip was good fun, with the only disappointment being the snorkelling as the water was not very clear so we didn't see that much.

Koh Phagnan is very hilly, so every time we tried to walk somewhere, it involved getting really sweaty. The rest of the time in Koh Phagnan was fairly laid back, we enjoyed the pool at our resort and the sea.

The night before the full moon party, I got very drunk with people who I met at the hotel bar which resulted me being quite hungover on the day of the full moon party!! Thankfully by the time we set off my hangover had gone, Hayley and I went to the party with one of our friends we had met at the resort. It was a really good night, we bought a set of fluorescent paint rather than paying extortionate prices for one design to be drawn on you, before covering ourselves in it!! Thanks mostly to buckets of vodka redbull we lasted the entire night and were back at our hotel by around 10am, after having breakfast we went straight to bed!!

Overall we really enjoyed our time in Koh Phagnan, especially the full moon party and would recommend anyone who enjoys drinking buckets of vodka redbull on a beach whilst partying to go to it. Our next destination was Khoh Sok, a national park in the South of Thailand.

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