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Published: October 17th 2008
Conquering the Thai islands
Days 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 45, 47, 48 - Lots of beach days!
We left Bangkok to go to Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand to begin our island journey. This was a change of plans, as we intended on going in and out of a western island call Phuket. We felt that it would be easier to start east and make our way west (good things flights are cheap!). This plan all worked out well, with a good number of island days ahead of us!
Leaving Bangkok was also made easy by an unusually consistent rainfall, which made us happy we were out of there. There were no problems with our flight to Koh Samui, a larger island on the east side. To our joy, we arrived in Samui on a sunny day. Day 36 of our trip provided for some easy travel and even a little beach time at the end of the day. Since our hotel was on Chewang Beach, the largest of all the beaches in Samui, we spent the first day and evening lounging around this beach. There were many exciting things
These are real colors
No wonder people love the Thailand islands...this is Samui!going on, including long happy hours, our first introduction to fire throwers, buy and set off fireworks (Tim was happy) and lots of music. Most exciting, however, were the many Thai ladies willing to do some laundry. So finally, over a month into the trip, we dropped off our laundry (versus doing laundry in hotel sinks) and anticipated some fresh boxers!
The next morning was a little overcast. The best plan, therefore, was to rent a jeep and drive around the island, checking out all the various beaches, waterfalls, and other areas of interest. In Thailand, however, they drive their cars on the left (wrong) side of the road, opposite the States (also the steering wheel was on the wrong side of the road, meaning Vic had to shift with her left hand…not easy!). Also, most cars are manual. Thanks goodness Vic’s family is from England and she knows how to drive a stick (and she grew up in West Virginia and knows how to tackle the crazy roads)! A little tough at first, but for the second time on the trip (drove a stick shift in Santorini), she saved the day and was able to drive Tim all
around the island (again)!
We started by trying to find a waterfall in the middle of the island. This led us out of the jeep and into some trails. After a few misdirections, we were able to find the waterfall. Since we thought the waterfall must be bigger, we followed a Thai man’s directions (by pointing with his thumb) up what must have been his own path creation. We were apparently the only ones who dared to go up it, since we didn’t see anybody else, and did we mention the path was vertical, helped by pulling ourselves up with ropes tied from one tree to the next (in flipflops too)? We climbed for about another hour, now we are in the midst of a jungle trek, without even paying for it!! We still couldn’t find the top. For future reference, when climbing a mountain in search of a waterfall, go towards the sound of water! We did find the top, but had walked several hundred yards beyond where we needed to go. It was hot! Definitely time to head to a beach. We were able to drive to a secluded beach on another part of the island. It
was very nice and refreshing after the hot walk through the jungle.
Day 38 was another travel day to another island. This time we were off to Koh Phangan. A smaller island, it is well known for its all-night full moon parties in a city called Haad Rin. These can be huge, crazy parties. Unfortunately, or fortunately for old man Tim, we were not on the island during the full moon. So we opted to stay in a more secluded beach on the north part of the island. The hotel had a daily speed boat that picked people up on Samui and transported them to the resort as it is very difficult to get to by ferry and car. We had three nights in Phangan, so we did the usual check out the beach and pool on day one for the new island. We had a nice dinner in the “village” (consisting of about 10 restaurants/stores including a place called “Mr. Handsome’s sandwiches- we love you long time). We found a tiny place where everyone seemed to know everyone, Thai and ex-pat alike. This was a nice start to our time in Phangan. The next day we wanted to
check out some other beaches. We rented kayaks and made our way around the Gulf of Thailand (this may be a little dramatic) to another beach (Bottle Beach) which was only accessible by boat. It was a tough ride, as there were some strong winds. We were certainly tired when we got there. It made for sitting on the beach and swimming in the Gulf quite enjoyable. All this work allowed for a lazy pool day the next day, as we relaxed by the pool after a late morning Thai message. It certainly worked out the kinks on Day 40 and after our kayaking adventure!
To wrap up our time in Paneng, we decided to make our way into Haad Rin to see the important surroundings of where this famous monthly party is held. First, however, we needed to find a way to get to the beaches of Haad Rin. Our options were limited to a long tail boat (wooden boat that carries four to eight passengers, powered by an engine that spins what looks like a fan in the water at the end of a long pole, great for getting the boat around rocks, through shallow waters, and
on to beaches) or a car taxi. We negotiated with both and the best deal was the car taxi. Because the roads are so bad and it takes a long time to travel by car on the island, our taxi driver would stay with us once we got to town. The driver was a indeed...Mr. Handsome!! He owned the sandwich joint, laundry service, and a taxi company. Handsome was a very nice man who did an excellent job on the tough roads of the island (not paved, like back roads of West Virginia- except worse). After an hour’s drive we got to Haad Rin. There are two beaches within walking distance. We started our evening by going to sunset beach. You guessed it; there was a very nice sunset. We then checked out sunrise beach and the city. The beach and city were very interesting, with lots of bars on and off the beach, music, big screen televisions, and much more. You can definitely see why many backpackers and others flock here during the full moon for the all night parties. We had dinner in the city (finally our first spicy thai meal!!) and made our way back home, another
hour drive back to the resort.
We left Phangan the next morning, Day 41, for Koh Tao, a big diving island further north. We did not have any reservations but we had a general idea of where we wanted to end up. Checking in later at the Koh Tao resort, we had a nice beach day and dinner on another larger beach across the island. There was more parties on the beach and lots of fire throwing, apparently the best beach entertainment option on the Thai islands. The next day we were scheduled to do a long tail boat for the full day. We met our captain bright and early in the morning and he was all set to show us some great snorkeling waters. We spent the next six hours moving from one bay to the next, jumping in the water with thousands (maybe more) of fish. There were all different kinds of fish (even some small shark!) and beautiful coral. At the end of the day we were very pleased (and incredibly sunburnt) with the boat trip. Wrapping up our eastern island travel and moving on through Phuket the next day, we had a light evening on
the beach…you guessed it…watching flame throwers!
We were off to the west islands of Thailand. Our plan was to fly from Samui to Phuket. It would be a full travel day, which was good for Tim as he had his first case of travel flu. We were not certain about the amount of time or which islands we would visit. This day was primarily a travel day. We crashed in Phuket and made plans to go to a smaller island very early the next morning. Off to Koh Phi Phi, we did not have hotel reservations. The ferry company, however, was very helpful. We had an idea of where we wanted to stay but wanted to talk to the resort directly. The ferry company connected us with a travel agent at the pier. We were skeptical, but after calling the resort on our own, the travel agent had a much better deal. So we were on our way for an interesting four days on the western island of Phi Phi (and Tim was feeling better).
Phi Phi was severally impacted by the Tsunami of 2004. It was still noticeable by a significant amount of construction still going on.
Also, the Tsunami evacuation signs and towers were a terrible reminder of the tragedy. A beautiful island and well worth the visit. Tired from the hard days on the east Thai islands (and Tim still not a hundred percent), we decided to take it easy. Day 45, our ninth day on the islands, was a bit overcast. We decided to walk through the jungle to the Phi Phi city center. This was an interesting hike, with lots of tsunami evacuation signs, interesting bugs, and barefoot thai boys running by us up the slopes as we panted. This jungle trek took around an hour. The city center was very busy. There were lots of dive shops, resorts, restaurants, and bars. We climbed to a hill in the middle of the island where there were stunning views of the two main beaches around the city center. This was especially interesting, as they had a picture of the same view directly after the tsunami. It was a little unreal to think about. We hiked down back into the city and pampered ourselves with six dollar pedicures (they thought Tim’s feet were very amusing) and a nice dinner, we hailed a long tail boat
Senior picture
Quite a hike for a self photo... to bring us back to the resort. Traveling the long tail boats in the evening is interesting, especially on a dark windy night. We made it back after about a forty minute ride.
The next day we wanted to explore some of the other beaches and islands nearby. We rented a speed boat for the day. It was amazing as these were significantly faster than the long tail boats. Shocker. We were able to explore other parts of the island including Phi Phi Ley, a beautiful nearby island with several bays, one of which is famous because a Leonardo DiCaprio film, The Beach, was filmed on and around the island. The waters and sand and scenery really are stunning, even with the tons of tourist boats coming in and out. We also saw Monkey Beach, appropriately named because of the monkeys that hang out on the beach (we were not able to get to the beach and feed them because it was low tide), and Bamboo Island, a gorgeous uninhabited beach island north of Phi Phi. Our final day in Phi Phi we took a snorkeling trip in the morning -this was no ordinary trip although, as it was
This was not the scary rope path
But we didn't want our family members worried by taking pictures of the real rope path. titled “shark seekers.” We headed off in the morning with a group of seven, dropped anchor, and snorkeled to an area with less coral and more interesting fish. After about five minutes we spotted our first shark. We did this for about an hour, seeing several sharks at various sizes. There was nothing threatening, but still very exciting to swim with the sharks. Back to the resort, we were able to hit the pool for several hours before the rains decided to interrupt us late in the day. We cleaned up for a nice last supper in the Thailand islands, watching Jaws on the local cable channel nevertheless.
So which area of the Thailand Islands are better? Is it the east islands or west islands? Actually, they are both great. You should consider making the trip. Thailand is tropical, economical (you can stay at some great places for cheap!), and friendly. We were happy to spend so much time in Thailand. Of course, if you are a diver, its fantastic. This trip made us think about getting certified, well maybe…any rate, thanks to all of those (especially Phil and Katherine...) for all the great advice.
We move on
to Cambodia to visit the ancient temples around Angkor. This will be a quick stop as we make our way through southeast Asia. Take care and have a wonderful week!
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Gary O
non-member comment
Awesome
Just got caught up on your blog and all the pictures... amazing. As I sit here waiting for yet another bottom out of the market, budget cuts, campaign hell - I can't help but think it was divine intervention that sent you two as far away from here as possible when you did. You're missing a really spectaular fall - that's about it. Hope you're having a blast!