Koh Phangan: Island Paradise of Yoga & Man Bun

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Although we had planned and - atypically for us - even pre-booked travel and accommodations to come to this part of yet untravelled southern Thailand for weeks in advance, we almost did not get here. The day before we were to pick up our flight from Canada to Bangkok, we learned of the unprecented rainfalls that were creating disastrous flood conditions in the very area we were scheduled to arrive in five days. To substantiate the concerns, upon arrival in Bangkok we received a notice from Air Asia that our flight to southern Thailand had been cancelled because that airport was temporarily closed as the roads from it were not passable. So a bit of a dilemma ensued. But after a few inquiries we were told that the weather seemed to be improving, then Air Asia offered to reroute our flight to another airport in the south, and we decided to stick with our original plan.

What a great idea that turned out to be, for we discovered - along with evidence of the recent flood damages in recovery - a very laid back island with countless beautiful beaches, gentle rolling hills and endless well maintained, wide highways that make for great biking, with not nearly as much traffic as we are accustomed to driving in, and consistently courteous and patient drivers. All in all an awesome place to scoot around on a bike, and we put on quite a few miles doing just that as we explored the island.

Ko Phangan definitely has a lot of spiritual energy, as revealed by the numerous yoga teaching, teacher training, and healthy living detox centres on the island. Definitely welcome energy and a whole lot of bonus points in my world! I ended up spending five days immersing myself in a one of a kind Yoga University Campus / Spiritual Centre on the island, while Stan stayed back at the hotel and practiced his breathing and meditation exercises, as you will note on the attached photo.

So here's the Koh Phangan talley: friendly people, not a high rise to be found, stunning beaches, great biking roads, an endless variety of excellent inexpensive Thai restaurants as well as a good variety of only slightly more expensive multi-cultural food offerings, and a wealth of yoga course offerings and spiritual energy. What's not to love?

And about those man buns . . . they seem to be this decade's replacement for the dread locks of previous years. A new look for a familiar laid back, soul searching, free spirited culture we have always felt quite comfortable in, that definitely has an ageless feel to it, as the demographic is entirely diverse here.


Yep, we'll be back here again for a longer stay. Three weeks was not near enough. Love you Koh Phangan! And to think we almost did not arrive. Obviously we were destined to find this place on the planet.

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Photos

Lovely People
Its not difficult to become friends when people are so warm and open. Here we are saying goodbye to Yah, owner of My Hut, from whom we rented our motorbikes while on the island. I also got to jam a couple of tunes with her son, and am now Facebook Friends with her husband. A simply lovely family.

Sunset Cove Stellar Oceanfront Pool
Because so many guests had cancelled their reservations at this beautiful family run resort due to the January monsoon rains, we had this space almost entirely to ourselves the three weeks we were here. Incredible.

Buddha, Surat Thani, Thailand
I captured this photo from the ferry as we were leaving mainland Thailand en route to Koh Phangan.