Blogs from Thailand, Asia - page 6

Ko Phi Phi is a neighbouring island to Ko Lanta where we have based ourselves. Back in 2006 and again in 2008 we visited Ko Phi Phi and loved it. Since then we've heard many stories about how much it's been over developed and so, until now, avoided returning. Being so close here, curiosity got the better of us and we decided to take a day trip and see for ourselves. Our 'taxi' arrived almost on time and got us to the pier at Saladan at 7.55am with five minutes to spare before the ferry was due to sail. The ferry was also only five minutes late setting off so quite a record in these parts! The journey was supposed to take an hour, however, as we sailed merrily along at break neck speed there was ... read more

There is only one regret I carry with our global travel lifestyle of the past decade: we cannot maintain an animal family member. Simply no pets allowed. We have considered it, but it is not viable when we are out of the country travelling five months of the year. I have had animal friends all of my life. Cats, rabbits, iguanas, turtles, fish, and dogs. Several dogs. Together, Stan and I had a wonderful black lab named Sam, who was part of our family long before our children arrived. We adopted him at four years of age, and he remained with us until he was sixteen. A short while later, we introduced two miniature schnauzers - Magic and Tuxedo - to our family, which now also included our two children. Our schnauzers each lived to be ... read more

We were certainly warned prior to our arrival that Koh Phangan was incredibly busy this year. This proved to be true. There were far more vehicles on the roads, far more scooters, and the vacancy rates were generally maxed out, so that during our time there about 97% of the island’s accommodation facilities were fully booked. Almost all of the tourists were from eastern and western European countries, or other countries whose inhabitants were attempting to escape the realities of war and political unrest at home. I cannot say I blame them, as I would likely make the same choice. Thankfully, I have never had to walk in those shoes. The busy-ness was never a deterrent for us. After three years of too much quarantine and too much solitude behind cold walls, we completely welcomed this ... read more

For all four of the pre-covid years that we have stayed on the island of Koh Phangan, formal yoga study was a driving force for our being here, as this is without doubt a yoga epicentre, with numerous yoga studios actively nurturing this culture. Our yoga courses had always set the tone and provided the structure for the day. Stan and I have together taken over 300 hours of intensive hatha yoga course studies in previous years here, and I have added other yoga philosophy studies as well. One might say there was a bit of obsession driving my studies, and this will be no shock to anyone who knows me. But the real surprise this year was to not follow that pattern. I stayed home, quite content to simply focus on my own daily practice, ... read more

I've just come across this blog now we're home and have good wi fi. I realised I never published it. So a bit out of order I'll publish it now. Also I had problems loading photos onto the blog " sailing to Phi Phiisland" I've now resolved the problem and have added more if you want to jump forward two blogs you'll find them. It's still my favourite island scenic-wise so well worth a look. ------------- +++++ ------- ++++++ --------- ++++++---------- Ko Lanta is one of Thailand's biggest islands but unlike Phuket, which has been over developed, Lanta has remained like ' Old Thailand' . Because of the size, to see it all you need transport. We hired a small car for one day. There's only really one road that goes down to the national park ... read more