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Published: July 18th 2009
Well, well, well it's been a while!! We haven't been able to update for some time due to the extortionate prices of internet usage on the islands so this is going to be a long one to bore you with!....
We left Kanchanaburi in the hope of getting straight down to Chumphon to catch the ferry to Ko Tao...note the word 'hope'! We knew it was a tough call but decided almost within the first couple of hours that it wasn't going to be possible. We ended up spending the night halfway down the Gulf coast at Hua Hin (the Royal Family's playgroud...apparently), after 3 bus journeys, a suicidal driver and alot of waiting around.
Hua Hin was an OK place, nothing really special in all honesty. Made more the fact so that we were itching to get down to the islands so even though Hua Hin had a pretty decent beach, we were more excited about finding some sort of paradise!
The next day we headed down on the train to Chumphon. Only 3rd class was available and so the next 6 hours or so were spent on a pretty crowded train next to the monk section
Phetchaburi to Hua Hin
Another view down another bus(we didn't actually know that monks are allowed to smoke, and we still don't know if they are allowed or not)! We arrived in Chumphon tired and weary and headed for pretty much the only decent guesthouse in Chumphon, with a couple km detour when we got lost (Lonely Planet is to be blamed once again!)
That night the damn grumblies returned (we'll blame some sort of ham and cheese bun I had from 7-Eleven!).
At 5 am we woke up to catch a 7am ferry to Ko Tao. Feeling worse for wear we survived the 2 hour boat trip (luckily the seas were calm that day...unlike later on in our trip!) As with alot of the speed boat ferries in Thailand most people prefer to sit on deck and as this boat pretty much had no locals on you can imagine how many tourists are on the deck trying to catch some rays. We met a Belgian guy and girl (Nisoise and Angela) and we have ended up travelling with them from Ko Tao to Phi Phi. When we arrived at Ko Tao we realised that we were pretty much in the middle of Thailand's second peak
Phetchaburi to Hua Hin
Funky roof complete with what we're guessing are disco lights??? season and we really felt it when it came time to find somewhere to stay. We had something in mind from Lonely Planet and we ended up walking about 3km's thru the midday heat (me with a dose of food poisoning) to Sun Lord Bungalows. The bungalows ended up on a rocky cliff with no beach so we decided to forget that (and the damn Lonely Planet guide) and just find anywhere for the night. We came to Blue Wind Resort which was right next to a nice beach and managed to get the last room going (even though it was a twin instead of a double)!
Ko Tao is a small island with rugged dirt roads so we decided to rent some motified scooters with off road tyres and hightened suspension which was great fun. Even though the place we rented from we heard from the internet that they charge you for non existant scratches and true to word the guy tried on my bike. After getting him to fish out the previous person's form from the last rental he dropped the price of the "damage" from 900baht to 500baht. That'll teach me for not checking the bike
Hua Hin
View from our guesthouse balcony over first with a fine tooth comb!! For anyone ever going to Ko Tao don't rent bikes from Sairee Star next to 7-11 on Sairee Beach The scenery around Ko Tao is amazing though with secluded bays and great snorkelling.
We also spent a few hours (and drinks) at a beach side bar complete with fire dancers who did all sorts of amazing things, including going through the crowd juggling and swinging ropes of fire! I swear the hairs on the back of my neck have been singed!!
After Ko Tao we headed to the next island on Ko Phangan in time for the world famous Full Moon Party, a montly booze filled party from sunset to sunrise. It was pretty interesting even though the amount of stories we've heard about getting drugs planted on you did put a dampner on things, but it was an amazing night with a 2 km stretch of beach filled with party goers, fire dancers, bars lined with buckets (a concoction of thai whiskey, coke and red bull), and good music!
Again we rented some bikes on Ko Phangan and the roads here are awesome! One of the problems we found with this
Hua Hin
Another view of Hua Hin
island was the lack of water and rain. We went to a waterfall but without the water, and during the hottest time of day we wouldn't have any water in the room! We were definitely praying for some rain, even just a little!
And it came once we got to Ko Samui. And it never stopped!
The 40 min ferry trip there was a rough one and it was Amy's turn to have the bout of food poisoning and after not eating for a few days she suffered at the end with some sea sickness.
We checked into a decent-ish hotel on the main strip of Chaweng Beach and rented yet some more bikes with the Belgians and tried to explore the island as much as possible in the rain.
Ko Samui is different from the other 2 islands (infact they are all different, with their own character and charm). Samui is the more commercial island, with every kind of tourist you can think of. But is was nice enough, even with the well needed rain!
We spent our evening at what became our favourite watering hole (Tropical Murphy's), and irish bar serving great steaks, beer and sport! We've
Hua Hin
The beach at Hua Hin got to say though since coming to the islands we've left the local food behind and have been eating nothing but western food!! Ah well, it's good for the grumblies though!
After Amys boat incident to Samui the four of us decided we would catch a flight out of Samui to Krabi on the other coast (Andaman Coast) and catch the boat to Ko Phi Phi. Now, we've caught a few buses and trains so far but none have been as scary as the landing we had in Krabi. The weather was ok, maybe a little windy but the pilot of our small propeller plane came in way to fast and possibly due to a almost flat looking tyre we noticed when we got on the plane one side of the plane bounced upwards on touch town and veered the plane to the left and almost off the runway! I've had a few scary landings in my life but this was the first time I actually used the word s**t on landing (landings are my favourite part by the way)and I don't think it helped Amy when she saw my face!
Gladly we made it ok in the
Hua Hin
Looking down the main pier end and after catching a bus (actually ended up changing buses a few times) to the ferry terminal we boarded our ferry to Ko Phi Phi. The seas were quite rough on this side of the mainland but the 2 hours wasn't as bad as the 40 mins to Samui!!
We found a place to stay on Phi Phi which was way above our budget but was decent enough with air-con, TV and hot water and next to the beach. Ko Phi Phi is a beautiful island but is still recoving from the 2004 tsunami that wiped pretty much everything out. The water supply is getting there but smells like sulfur and the beaches aren't as nice as they once were but it's a quiet little island with no roads.
The second night in we headed to the famous Reggae Bar. This bar came complete with a Muay Thai ring where customers can volunteer to fight other customers (with padding of course) for a free bucket of samsong and coke. After 2 women friends had a play fight Amy decided to practice her skills (she did some lessons a few years ago) so thought about having another go. After
Hua Hin
Fishing boats being paraded around the ring it turned out no one wanted to fight her so she ended up fighting one of the Thai waitresses who said she was no good!....she obviously knew what she was doing and as soon as it dawned that she wasn't going to wear any padding we knew Amy was in for a fight. The Thai woman was brutal but Amy held off pretty well and proved a good loser. The support for Amy was great though and the next day her leg was a little bruised, but to say you went a few rounds with a Thai boxer in full swing is something to write home about!
The final day on Phi Phi was spent renting out a kayak for a few hours where we paddled about an hour to Monkey Beach on the island. The beach was stunning (sorry we didn't take any pics as the camera would have got soaked!) There was still a bit of debris around presumably from the tsunami and there were a bunch of monkeys and we spent another hour having a rest. After we took the kayaks back we headed up the near vertical climb to the
Hua Hin
More fishing boats view point which gave us a rewarding view of the island and the narrow isthmus that separates the two bays.
Next we head to Phuket for a couple of days. Not sure what to expect there yet as every traveller that we have come across says there's nothing to it unless your a sex tourist. We have found out we are also going at the height of an Asian summit meeting, so security will be tight and hopefully there won't be any trouble there!
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dad
non-member comment
Nice report
Hi Dan Glad you're getting along ok n sorry for the bouts of sickness but it is only to be expected. Do you remember going to Phuket before? Its where we hired the red, white n blue jeep that I based our old Jakarta Landcruiser scheme on. I donr remember it being a sex resort though so maybe its changed. Take care on the bikes. I'm off to UK this week for 3 weeks. See ya. Luv Dad