Thai islands - the true meaning of paradise

Trip Start Dec 29, 2003

Trip End Ongoing

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Flag of Thailand Koh Phan Ngan and Koh Tao, Thailand
Wednesday, January 7, 2004

White sands, simple bungalows steps away from blue ocean waters, hammocks, incredible snorkeling/diving, it's all TRUE, Thai islands really are paradise on earth. After having sped down here from northern Thailand on 2 back-to-back 12 hour overnight buses, and a 4 hour ferry ride, I finally arrived on Koh Phan Ngan, an island off the se coast of Thailand. My original plan was to only stay here for a day or two, check out the infamous full moon party (10,000 plus people showed up!), then head out to some islands off the sw shore of southern Thai. Well, I ended up meeting some British kids who had been staying at a quiet beach on the northern end of the island for the past 2 months! They told me it was the best beach on the island, pretty secluded and nothing to do but swim, laze on the beach, read and just plain relax. I took their advice, hitching a ride on the back of small truck to the northern end, then hopping onto a longtail boat for 15 minutes to "bottle beach." Oh yeah, it was exactly what i was looking for. Bungalows right on the ocean, no electricity except for a generator that runs between 6-10pm, no tourist shops, convenience stores, etc. Furthermore, the incentive to stay at the beach was that the round trip transportation (boat and truck ride) cost about six US dollars, a lot by thai standards. Sooooo, that meant once you arrived, you stayed put. Really paradise. It was the type of beach where people came intending to stay for just a few days, but then ended up staying for weeks on end.

boat ferry

The only excursion i made was to go to the full moon party. DON'T go, except for maybe the experience. It just wasn't what I was looking for, 10,000 plus people raving on the beach at back to back bars blaring their own type of music (mostly techno/trance...crap), half the people tripped up on ecstasy, hookers constantly hitting on you, and guys pissing in the ocean every 10 feet. Just a disgusting scene. The only cool part of the night was my 1hour 4x4 ride across the middle of the island to get to the party from my beach. It was crazy getting there, the road was in terrible shape with landslides and deep ditches eroded away the whole way. The roads were really steep too, which didn't help the fact that we had SIXTEEN people packed onto the bed of this small truck. It was insane, but these people apparently have done it many times before (make more money per trip), and I wasn't about to try to navigate maze of dirt road through the middle of the woods in the dark. Though it was scary as hell at times, it turned out to be a pretty cool journey. The jeep didn't come back until 7am the next morning... i was ready to go home at 1am.

Ended up staying here for 5days, then heading to another island just 2hours by ferry away. A guy i met recommended that i take a diving course there, 4 days for really cheap and some of the best diving in the world. I couldn't resist. Diving is by far on e of the coolest things i've ever done in my life. As close to flying, swimming like a fish, walking on the moon... as i'll ever get. I've been snorkeling many times before, but diving opens up a whole new world. Life down there is unreal, the colors and animals that exist just blew my mind. If you get the chance, do it!

Off to Malaysia, where i've heard you can actually get better Indian food than in India!

ourse there, 4 days for really cheap and some of the best diving in the world. I couldn't resist.