" I Ordered Green Curry Two Hours Ago!"

---

We have just left the island of Ko Bulone. It all began quite stressful as when we arrived on a minibus at the pier of Pak Bara to get the boat to the island, ticket touts were on us straight away. They asked if we'd booked accommodation and when we said 'no' they lost interest and walked away. That seemed odd as they usually try to get you to book accommodation through them and then sell you a boat ticket too.

We asked at a few agencies about accommodation and they all said 'full, whole island full'

So that's why they weren't keen to sell us a boat ticket. We spoke to people who had just left and they seemed to think there would be somewhere available once we got there and, if not, there was always a tent on the beach. Not again!

We made the decision to go anyway and see. It was the right decision, when we got off the boat we asked at the first place we came to, they had a bungalow but it wasn't that nice but I was tempted to take it for one night at least. Better than a tent or worse still the beach all night!! While they were cleaning it Stan went off to look elsewhere and soon came back. He'd found a cute little bungalow for 600 Baht, that was 100 Baht less in one of the best locations of the island 2 minutes walk from where I was stood waiting right then. Instantly we took it and rejected the first one.

This was the island we'd planned to spend 2 or 3 weeks so to get a really nice place at a good price was a bonus.

We spent the next 6 days lazing on the beach, snorkelling in the sea and walking the nature trails across the island. The island is so small it can be walked across in all directions in less than an hour, there were 4 bays three of which had bars and bungalow resorts and the fourth was home to the fishing community of the island.

There were no roads,mainly dusty pathways where coming across a 3ft monitor lizard sunning itself was a daily thing and just one 3 foot wide concrete pathway which served as the main highway up a steep hill and across from the villages to the main beach area where the speedboat boat landed. An odd motorbike would pass along the road and if you were lucky you could find one with a side car attached and get them to carry your luggage up and over the hill.

Occasionally if the tide was right you could jump on a longtail boat to take you to Panka Noi Bay which was on the other side of the island. This was the option we'd taken and probably why we'd managed to get some accommodation while others were searching on the side the speed boat had dropped them



We tried out most of the little restaurants around our bugalow, all serving Thai cuisine and some offering an excuse for Western food. The biggest problem was that everything took so long, it wasn't unusual to wait over an hour for your meal to come and they never came together, you could be finished eating before the other person's meal showed up. Quite often there would be a very varied menu but only one person cooking and one serving with anything up to 30 customers all wanting something different.

Added to this they worked in a snail like fashion, which wasn't really surprising considering the heat. One evening a table of four Germans were dining in a restaurant, three had finished their meal but the fourth person called over in exasperation to the 'waiter' and said "I ordered green curry 2 hours ago, is it ready yet - please?" To which the 'waiter' replied "It's coming" The other occupants of the restaurant looked on in sympathy then carried on their waiting game. It really didn't pay to wait until you were actually hungry to go out for a meal here. By the time it did come you'd have drank 4 Chang beers and were ready to eat the serviettes- if there were any!!

Having said this,though, the island was a wonderful place to just take life at a slow pace, take stock of your life and forget your worries. It was very pretty with lush green vegetation all around and from our bungalow veranda we could while away an hour or two watching the slow world of the local people go by.

We also bumped into our friends again, Martin and Les who we'd met on Ko Muk and Ko Sukorn so spent evenings with them over a beer or two.

There's only so much laying back one can do so after 8 days we decided to leave for pastures new

---

Photos

Watching the world go by
Children on the school run.

Coconut Bar.
The islands 'Night Spot'

Green and red lizard
Look hard

Comments

[Ryan]

Gorgeous!
Hi Woolley's! Looks like you're having a fantastic time! I'm really enjoying following you guys on your adventure! It's been 6 years since I was in Thailand, hoping to make it back within the coming year though. I'm just curious, what was the name of the place you stayed in Ko Bulon? The little bungalow you stayed in for 600 baht/night? Looks perfect!

[Still Crazy]

Bulon
Hi the bungalow operation was called Ban Sailida but I don't have any contact details we just showed up. You need to get a longtail from the speed boat to Panka Noi bay and just walk up the small hill. It's right there but they're often full. We just got lucky