In which I hit the beach
Passing Koh Samui, on the way to Koh Phangan
After a wonderful week in Pai, I knew the time had come to head south and spend some time on the islands in the Gulf of Thailand. The decision of which islands in particular was a frustrating 2-day process where I weighed pros and cons as well as the affordability of plane, train and bus tickets. Koh Lanta and Koh Phi Phi on the west coast came highly recommended, but I really had a good vibe about Koh Tao and wanted to check that out. So, that finally decided I boarded a minibus from Pai, drove to Chiang Mai, flew to Bangkok then rode the train south to Surat Thani, at which point I took an hour long busride followed by a 2.5 hour ferry trip to Koh Phangan. Needless to say that after 30+ hours of travel I was KNACKERED and just wanted to check in somewhere and check out.
I’d befriended a French girl, Eve, on the train and she decided to come with me to KPN. This was great as it meant we could split the accommodation and each save about 300TBH a night. I feel kind of bad about how things went with us: Somewhere along the way to KPN, I developed what I can only assume was some kind of food poisoning. My right side hurt like a bitch, both on my front and back. I was popping painkillers like TicTacs, and once we were at the resort, I realized that not only did I have a headache, but I think I had a mild fever as well. I was insanely antisocial and had very little patience for trying to speak simple Franglais. I just wanted to be alone and chill. It didnt help that neither of us really liked the beach we were at, Haad Yao.
Sunset @ Haad Yao, Koh Phangan
The resort itself, Ibiza Bungalows, was simple and clean with a lovely beachfront that Ive yet to find matched anywhere else. The trouble is that there was nowhere to chill. The bar at the hotel was never open, and the only ambient noise was from a giant 40+” screen tv in the dining room. If you wandered down the beach things got a little better: your choices were Barry Manilow and Celine Dion type offerings, or a really bad Thai karaoke. A friend had highly recommended this place in particular, and I just cant help but think that during the Full Moon Party time, this beach goes off, but otherwise? Its all old people in Speedos and young couples with even younger (screaming) children. I left after three days (I would have left after 2, but I was trying to recuperate and make the Best Of Things).
Koh Tao came to my rescue. From the moment I set foot on the ferry I knew it was going to be different. I was able to spend the journey between islands sitting on the edge of the boat with my feet dangling over the edge. Seasickness? Bah! What seasickness?
When we got to KT I could tell the island was made for me: where KPN had a gauntlet of taxi touts yelling “taxi, miss!” in your face, here I was able to get a free ride from Mae Haad to Sairee Beach with the Big Blue Diving School (Id hoped to be able to dive, even though I knew my asthma would be problematic. In fairness, I told them of this and they sent me off in search of a clinic to be tested at which I never found, which worked out well as I just wanted to chill and not have the routine of dive classes, studying and homework. Next time!).
My Koh Tao condo, top left.
Id arrived on the last night of a weekend-long Underwater Festival, a fundraiser for the Save Koh Tao campaign. Id also made the mistake of taking the afternoon ferry in. These two things meant that nearly every single accommodation on the island was booked solid; I was really happy with myself for calling ahead that morning and booking a fall-back room at the Blue Wind Resort — it ended up being where I stayed for six nights!
Sairee Beach
The beach itself wasnt that great; longtail boats cluttered up the beach and holiday-makers had the really bad habit of treating the beach like one gigantic ashtray. Boo! But, everything else about the place was fantastic: loads of backpackers, great food, nice beachfront bars, good touristy shopping. Everything that I expected to have on KPN but didnt was there. It made me very happy.
Giant, glowy jellyfish. Awesome!
The first night I was there I made friends with the women in the bungalows next to my room: Katerina from Sweden (by way of Holland) and Paula from the Canary Islands (by way of the UK). We were all of a similar age and personality, and it made for a lot of laughs and nice dinner companionship! Katerina and I checked out the all night festival that went on the first night together. The dancefloor was decked out with massive blacklight jellyfish (yep, was totally obsessed with them), seahorses and pufferfish. The music was ok (mostly trance and techno; Ive heard better) but a couple of Songerm and Coke buckets and we were out until at least 4am. Good times!
One of the beautiful coves I snorkelled in on Koh Tao
The rest of the week was pretty chill. I spent one day on an around-the-island snorkelling trip (where I completely burned my back, oops), the rest of the time I spent with my nose buried deep within Stieg Larsson’s Millenium Trilogy (you were right, Bex — it’s like literary crack!) while working on tanning my belly to match my now well-coloured back. I was so chilled and relaxed by the time I left Koh Tao, it was almost as hard to leave there as it was Pai.
What made my leaving even harder was the lovely morning rainstorm that blew into town the night before my ferry was to leave. It hadnt rained the previous week Id been in the islands, and Mother Nature made up for this oversight with considerable aplomb. Roads were overflowing, my room leaked, I wondered how on earth could the ferries possibly be running? But running they were. I was told that the Lomprayah Catamaran, aka the Barf Boat, was “unsinkable” and so they were never, ever, not in a million years cancelled. And so they werent. I boarded the ferry, took a seat in back, put on my headphones (to block out the inevitable yakking of other passengers) and held my menthol inhaler (like Vicks, but cheaper) at the quick and closed my eyes. Id taken a SeaLegs the night before, and a Dramamine 30 minutes before boarding so I was well medicated… and thank god, as it was the LONGEST two hours of my life. People were seriously sick, and it was relentless. The sea was rough; at times the catamaran was going sideways to the shore. Just sheer insanity. I couldnt get off that boat fast enough. But I did it, I made it to Chomporn ferry landing in one piece, my breakfast firmly seated at the bottom of my stomach. After that, the 8 hour bus ride to Bangkok was a walk in the park.
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Wow! Nice pictures! Makes me want to visit Thailand.
DB´s last blog ..consequently…
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