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Published: December 1st 2006
We left the peaceful and serene mountains of Northern Thailand and headed down to the west coast for a few weeks of island hopping on the infamous Thai Islands. Our first island we visited was Phuket, an island on the west coast of Thailand. The minute we landed we were dissapointedly greeted by thunder showers and dark grey skies. After seeing the non-enticing weather and combined with the fact that many travellers that we met along the way told us that Phuket was nothing more than a built-up tourist trap, we decided that we would leave the next morning in pursuit of a warmer and calmer island.
The following morning, we boarded a large passenger boat and headed out on the rough Andaman Sea to Koh Phi Phi. The enticing crystal clear waters, silky white sand and tropical surroundings made this island a household name when it was used as the backdrop for the movie "The Beach" with Leonardo DiCaprio. Sadly, Koh Phi Phi also gained notoriety during the Tsunami of 2004. It was one of the worst affected areas of Thailand; nearly 60% of the buildings were destroyed and over 1,300 lives were lost. As we disembarked the boat
and walked along the pier, remnants of the devastating Tsunami were easily noticed. The point where the beach met concrete was completely ripped apart. Buildings that once stood proudly on the water's edge now retreated behind destroyed foundations. After a few sad moments of realizing the damage that occured here only two short years ago, we entered the small port town. Souvenir and scuba diving shops lined the freshly laid cobblestone streets and tourists weaved their way in and out of the little city. A sense of recovery and life regained filled the clear, warm air. There are no cars on the small island of Koh Phi Phi, the only mode of transportation, besides your feet, are water taxis. When we decided where we wanted to stay, we jumped onto one of the rickety wood boats and motored our way to our beach front villa. We checked into our basic bungalow and went off to explore the island. We walked from beach to beach through narrow paths in the tropical vegetation and enjoyed the beauty and serentity the island had to offer. We layed out on the beach all day and soaked up all warmth the sun had to offer.
LOW TIDE
Hope another tsunami isn't coming!!Island life is great. That night, as we were walking into the main portside town we noticed how incredibly low the tide was and decided to take the ocean path instead of the path through the forest. We walked diagonally from our hotel to town, the same route that we had taken in the water taxi earlier in the morning. The retreating water left only small pools of water and sporadic coral along the ocean floor. Neither one of us had ever seen a tide change so much. It was beautiful. We walked through the enchanting town in pursuit of a restaurant that wouldn't break our budget. After passing all of the waterfront seafood restaurants, we found a hidden area full of local food stalls. This is exactly what we were looking for. As we were deciding which stall to choose, we were captivated by a sign that stood in front of one stand in particular. It was a large sign that told the cook's story of his survival from the tsunami and how he felt lucky for everything that it had given him. We decided to support his worthy cause and ate an absolutely amazing (and cheap) dinner that
night. Mike ordered the most delicious pineapple curry and Meghan had a fantastic green curry as well. We loved the food and the cook so much that we ate every dinner there for the next five nights that we were on the island. We spent the next few days enjoying our new, relaxing island lives as we laid on the beach, swam, played paddle ball and did whatever we felt like doing. On the fourth day, we decided to go meet one of Meghan's friends that was staying on the otherside of the island. Instead of paying the ridiculous boat taxi fare, we decided to hike to the otherside on a two hour journey. It started off easy enough and we quickly got to the top of the mountain and saw some fantastic views of the island. It was when we began the descent that the journey became a bit more intollerable. We hiked down a steep decline through the lush jungle, around slippery rocks along the ocean and through several local villages. Along the way Meghan managed to slip a handful of times, we saw some giant lizards and some even more breathtaking scenery. After an extremely tiring and
frustrating walk, we arrived at Meghan's friends' (Laura Wenglikowski for all of you that are wondering) lavish resort. This beautiful and extravagant resort put our bungalow to shame. We met her at the pool and enjoyed a few cocktails at the swim-up bar. Later that night, we all went into town and had a fun night out. We woke up the following morning to pouring rain and decided to book a boat ticket to the island Koh Samui for the next day.
The island of Koh Samui is the third largest Thai island. It is located off the eastern coast of Thailand and thus, was unaffected by the tsunami. After a long boat ride, we arrived on the well known island and were excited to see what it had to offer. Unlike Ko Phi Phi, Koh Samui was littered with cars, urban populations and thousands of tourists. The main drag along the high-rise hotels is tackily full of tourist traps along with Starbucks, McDonalds, Baskin Robbins...take your pick. We checked into a dilapidated "beach-side" hotel that faced away from the beach and were already a bit sceptical as we made our way out to the main road. Booths selling
fake designer watches, clothing and shoes occupied the bustling street, the sour smell filling our noses was nothing pleasant and loud honks incessantly came from the cars rushing by. At each street corner locals held monkeys, lizards and snakes which, for a small price, you could take your picture with. No thanks. What happened to our tranquil paradise? We ate at a decent and reasonably priced restaurant and then decided to walk around a bit more. Soon enough, the sky opened up and it began raining. We woke up the next morning, saw some clear skies and decided to walk down to the beach. We walked along the shore and looked at the densely populated ChaWeng Beach. Waverunners roared through the waves, people crowded the beach and swimmers swam in allocated squares. It was a decently warm day and we decided to go for a swim. As we were swimming in one of the crowded squares, Meghan felt a sting on her neck. A few short seconds later, Mike had a few stings on his chest and legs. Freaked out we rushed out of the water and the stinging stopped. We knew it wasn't a jellyfish sting, but we had
no idea what it was and decided to stay out of the water. We later found out that we were stung by sea lice...sick! We laid out for a few minutes before it started raining. Our beach holiday on this island was just not turning out the way we had anticipated. We decided to move on to the next island the following day.
We caught a boat the next morning in pursuit of a calmer, less populated and more peaceful island. We were heading to Koh Phangan, home of the Full Moon Party. We were planning on going to Koh Phangan for the crazy Full Moon Party, but were only intending to stay for a day or two. Due to our lack of interest in Koh Samui, we arrived on Koh Phangan a full four days before the party. We jumped into a taxi van with several other young travelers and headed a bit north, away from the main party town that is notorious for robberies and constant techno music. After a fifteen minute drive up and down steep winding roads, we arrived at a little beach front resort named Mac's Bay. We checked into a simplistic bungalow litterally
fifteen feet from the crashing waves and immediately decided we had made the right decision in leaving Koh Samui. There was no one on the white sand beach, the water was a clear aquamarine and palm trees hung over the ocean. Heaven. On the taxi over, we met a couple who decided to stay at the same place and incidentally got the bungalow next to ours. Jezz from Australia and Anna from Sweden became our new friends. The next several days were spent a stone's throw from the ocean; soaking up the rays, laying in our hammock on our balcony and eating at the local restaurant. We rented a motorbike one day and drove further north and checked out some more beaches and drove through the tropical surroundings. As we headed south to the party town of Hat Rin (where the Full Moon Party would shortly be held) we had difficulty making it up the steep hills on our powerless motorbike. After a few times of litterally beginning to roll backwards half-way up the hill, we decided that Meghan would have to get off and walk up the hills so that the bike could make it up. We got the
funniest looks from people. We finally made it to Hat Rin and walked around the town. Young party-enthusiasts milled throughout the streets waiting for the party of a lifetime that would be occuring in two nights time. Amid the hundreds of people in the streets, Mike spotted a friend from home (the same one we ran into in Vietnam). After a good dose of what Hat Rin would be like in a few nights, we decided to return to our sanctuary. We met up with Jezz and Anna and had a few drinks with them that night. The next two days were spent undoubtebly on the beach and in some anticipation of the hyped-up party that would go down in two nights. The Full Moon Party occurs every month on the full moon on Koh Phangan, believe it or not. It is said to be the biggest beach party in the world, with as little as 6,000 (in low season) to 15,000 partygoers in high season. Trance, or techno music, blasts from hundreds of DJ's lining the beach while people dance throughout the night and into sunrise. The night had finally come, we didn't set our expectations too high because
we didn't want to be disappointed. The two of us and Jezz and Anna made our way down to the beach a bit before 11pm. Young travellers filled the streets, music blasted from every bar and buckets full of alcohol were quickly being consumed. It was chaos. We made ourselves comfortable in a bar covered in glow-in-the-dark paint and began the celebration. Time quickly flew by and before we knew it, we were getting in a taxi and the sun was rising. We had a great time at the Full Moon Party and enjoyed the craziness that it had to offer. The next day was spent enjoying the amazing beach that we would be leaving tomorrow. We fell in love with Koh Phangan, it was our dream of a tropical paradise.
The next morning we got another boat, with Jezz and Anna, to the island Koh Tao. Koh Tao is small, tropical island that is renowned for its amazing snorkelling and scuba diving. We arrived on a rather ordinary day and checked into a quaint hotel. We decided to make the most of the afternoon and go snorkelling. The four of us walked to a nearby beach and went
snorkelling. We were disappointed at the dead coral and the sporadic fish that were dully colored. All we really saw was hundreds of black sea cucumbers. We knew that Koh Tao had more to offer than this unrepresentitive beach and signed up for a dive the next day. We woke up the following morning to pouring rain and were unsure if we would be able to go diving. However, the divemaster ensured us that we would still be going and that it should still be a good dive. So sure enough, we went out to sea on the rough and choppy water. After an hour on the stormy sea, we came to a spot in the middle of the ocean, called Chumphon Pinnacle, where several other boats were anchored. We suited up, jumped into the water and made our way down into the ocean. Our divemaster, Wat, lead us around the underwater pinnacle and showed us hundreds of colorful fish. We then saw what we had come here for, about a dozen Black Tipped Reef Sharks. These astonishing creatures, about 6 to 8 feet in length, swam swiftly and gracefully through the water. They never came too close to us
where we felt alarmed, but we knew that at any minute they could change their paths and quickly attack. After an extremely satisfying forty-five minute dive, we climbed back into the boat and made our way to our second dive spot, White Rock. This dive was a shallower dive and therefore, the coral and fish were much more colorful and vibrant. We swam through schools of brightly colored fish, saw two stingrays and swam above orange, blue and purple coral. After our great two dives were over, we met up with Jezz and Anna and enjoyed our last day of island life and our second to last day in Thailand.
The next day was a boring day full of travelling back to Bangkok, where we were flying out of the following day. When we arrived in Bangkok, back on Koh Sanh Road, we excitedly found our pad thai and spring roll cart and devoured our favorite, cheap dishes. We bought a few last souvenirs and indulged in our last Chiang beers. Before we jumped on our plane the next morning, we treated ourselves to one last Thai massage and were off to Australia: the Land Down Under.
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Erin
non-member comment
WoW ok you guys are definitely living the life!!!!! These pictures definitely define ultimate beauty!!! Best of luck on the rest of your adventures.