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Published: March 15th 2011
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After flying into Bangkok, we travelled down to the south of Thailand, this time deciding to take an overnight train instead yet another bus journey. We opted for second class, cheap yet cheerful and sufficient for us to pull our seat back and get some sleep. The trains are rather old, the passenger emergency signal still being a long chain that you had to pull. It was an enjoyably different travel experience, seeing the rail side scenery chug by with the night air washing through our carriage, as well as the seemingly constant stream of sellers getting on and off at stations as they pleased to walk the aisles to tempt you into buying there drinks and homemade snacks.
After waking in the early morning to get off the train, only to get a local bus, another bus then finally a boat, we arrived on the Island of Ko Samui. We headed to quiet and lovely beach of Hat Mae Nam, consciously staying away from the temptation of the the great but very busy Hat Chaweng. We knew we made the right choice when after waking in our comfortable tiled floor bungalow with small outside patio area which was a
stones throw from the beach, and we laid down are beach towels on the soft sand of the quiet palmed beach which overlooked an invitingly calm and clear turquoise sea. We quickly got used to the far from strenuous routine of applying suntan lotion, reading or writing, swimming, reapplying lotion, eating ...etc. We stayed at this quiet beach for a few days. We wished to stay a little longer but the full moon was approaching, meaning we had to make a move to Hat Rin, on near-by Ko Pha-ngan island to secure ourselves accommodation for the world famous Full Moon Party. We got ourselves accommodation in town which was reasonably priced and safe, although it did turn into a sauna when you left the room and the fan is turned off. Safety was key since there is a lot of theft stories that occur during Full Moon partying. On the first day we arrived we checked out the nearest beach which was home to the upcoming party. It was very large, with soft sand set in a stunning large, tree-covered cliff bay and the waves were very busy. It was also very crowded and full of young adults playing volleyball,
football, beach tennis and frisbee, as well as drinking games and general lounging. Although is was a lovely beach and fun packed, it was not the best beach in which to relax in, which was our main goal at this point. It was great that there was another beach that was situation just the round the corner of the cliff ridge known as Sunset Beach (the main beach being known as Sunrise Beach). Here, the sea was calm and the small beach was lined with small trees in which to tuck yourself between for some privacy and also shade when needed.
The night of the Full Moon eventually came and we got ourselves in the partying mood with some cheap whisky and vodka we obtained before. The party doesn't start until about 10pm so we had dinner and refreshed ourselves back at our room with a cold shower and more drinks. Heading to the beach, the town was filled with partygoers from town and also from all the people who had travelled in from the nearby islands and beaches. Lots of florescent body paint was splashed everywhere as well as many flashing lights, glow sticks and all sorts of
party outfits and gear. Even dogs got into the party spirit with neon necklaces. Heading to the beach, the streets were lined with stalls selling buckets of drink (yes, an actual bucket filled with shots and mixers). On the beach itself, since it was clear night, you can't help but first notice the bright shining full moon that overlooked everyone and was heavily reflected in the dark navy blue sea. On the beach there were many people milling about in their outfits, holding their buckets while big groups of people were dancing together outside beach side bars that playing loud booming music. We joined the dancers and was having a great time for about an hour until we had a hitch in the night. We got our (luckily old and temperamental) camera and wallet nicked! We even had a small padlock for our bag since we knew the Moon Parties are notorious for pickpockets, it just wasn't on at that particular time. Stupidly, we had one of our bank cards left in the wallet. Party stopped - for the time being. We hurried to cancel our card, then we headed to the police station so we could get a statement
for our insurance. Interestingly and terribly, there were lots of people at the police station putting in there theft statements. We seemed lucky compared to others. One man went back to his hut to find it was broken into and everything he had had been taken! All the sensible things taken care of, we bought another drink and headed back to the beach, determined not to let the incident ruin our whole night, and we danced on the beach until about 5am.
Nursing hangovers and having had enough of the party town at Had Rin, we set sail on the boat to one of the beaches on the secluded east coast of Ko Pha-ngan. We made are way to Thong Reng bay, another lovely quiet beach set in a nice forested cliff bay. Because all the huts were taken at the budget place we looked to stay, we had to (not that it was a chore) stay at the lovely bungalow set on the cliff side which had a sublime balcony, complete with two hammocks, that overlooked the entire bay. It was so nice, some days we decided to stay relaxing on our balcony instead of heading onto the
beach. Apart from the normal beach stuff, we enjoyed having great food on the beach side restaurants.
Dragging ourselves away from paradise, we got another boat to our last destination in the Southern Gulf Islands. Koh Tao is a tiny island north of Koh Pha-ngan, which is world-famous for its excellent snorkeling and diving. First, we went to Hing Wong Bay to do some snorkeling. It was pretty amazing to see so many tropical fish including one section where there was thousands of the same type of fish staying still on the sea bed. We glided over them and enjoyed all the different colours of fish swimming around us. After a few days of this, we went to Sairee Beach, which is the most popular play to stay on the island. We spent a few days lying horizontal on the beach reading and doing a touch of snorkeling here and there. On our last day, we went on a snorkeling trip around the island. We stopped at tons of places including Shark Bay where we swum with Black-Tip Sharks and a Japanese Garden in the bays of a protected island. The coral there was very beautiful and fish plentiful.
In the evenings, we spent our time eating BBQs on the beach and generally being lazy.
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