All the moons at Koh Phangan
Trip Start
Jun 14, 2008
1
60
93
Trip End
Jun 20, 2009
Ko Phangan,
Thailand
Saturday, February 7, 2009
Our first port of call was the so-called party beach Haad Riin where full moon parties normally happen. It was practically deserted, so we got sweet digs with a swimming pool for a fraction of what we had been paying in phi phi. The streets of Haad Rinn were clean, orderly and quiet, a bit more how I expected the town of Phi Phi to look
On the boat
. After Phi Phi was hit by the Tsunami they had a chance to rebuild the island in a less chaotic manner, but we heard corruption and illegal building put paid to that notion, leading to the repeat of over development which we witnessed during our visit. A real shame because the place is probably going to become less and less attractive to tourists.The rain thwarted our beach plans our first full day in Haad Rinn, so naturally we made a bee line for the pubs. We ended up having a great night with one of our hotel staff members, Khun, a 26 year old from southern Thailand. It was really interesting to get a local insight. She said she moved to Kophangan to enjoy the freedoms the lifestyle on the island offers. Her parents are conservative and woudn't approve of her wearing western style clothes, seeing boys etc.. She told us about the corruption on the island, builders ripping off farangs (foreigners) who set up pubs or restaurants there. Worse stories about sons of officials who commited murder, but were out dancing at the full moon party next week because the right palms had been greased. It's endemic.
It was interesting to get a sense of how farangs are viewed by Thais as well. It's understandable why they might have a poor perception of some of us. I have a huge ambivilence towards how cheap everything is, because I can't help thinking off whose back are we enjoying this. There are alot of tourists who seem to just use the place like a giant playground with no rules as well, not to mention to sex tourists. Anyway after much serious discussions we lightened up and headed to the beach for a (quarter moon?) party. The music was rubbish but that didn't stop Emmet from challenging a very spritely local to a dance off
wet day in Hadd Rinn
. Not sure if the snaps do the spectacle justice!! The next day we decided to take our lives into our hands and rent mopeds. The roads in Kophangan are notoriously dangerous, with over 300 deaths a year. In the short time we were at Haad Riin, two foreigners had fatal accidents. Of course we didn't find all that out until after we'd handed our bikes back in!!! All in one piece I might add!! It was pretty much like being on a rollarcoaster the climbs and dips were so steep and curvy. Needless to say Emmet had a ball driving it whilst I clung on for dear life on the back. Liam rode with our English buddy Mark who we had hooked up with on the boat over. We visited a nearby waterfall which outside of the rainy season had been rendered to a mere trickle.
Our next stop on Kophangan took us North to Bottle Beach. Now this was defintiely what I had in mind when I pictured beaches in Thailand. It was small, lined with a few beach bungalows and restaurants. We got a great little place 1 min walk from the beach for a princely sum of 4 euro each. Paradise. The next few days were spent wiling away the hours in the sun, sea and pub. The staff in our resort were great and put on a seafood bbq one night which was delicious. There was also fire twirlers, a bonfire and fireworks to keep us entertained.
There was time for one last beach before we headed to Bangkok and onto Cambodia. We hit Haad Yao on the west of the island. It was way busier than Bottle Beach, but a change of scenery was good. Again we got great accomodation, right on the beach front, also with a swimming pool so I could get some laps in
The gang at Fubar
. (Token attempt at training for our Everest Base Camp trek. Who am I kidding?!) The beach was fairly narrow and totally taken over by restaurants with tables, chairs and loungers out the front. We supped beers and watched the pretty lights in the bay all evening before retiring to our respective bungalows. Next morning we were facing into a hellish 19 hour journey to Bangkok and it lived up to its expectations!
Travellers Tips
We stayed in Delight Resort on Haad Riin - was 700bht for a double room, private bathroom. Really nice rooms, swimming pool, good location, great staff. Prices go up to 2000bht for the room for a night during moon party season and you need to put down hefty deposits then as well. Ferry / food / drink prices all go up as well.
Fubar does great food and plays good music.
Bottle Beach we stayed in resort number 2 - we paid 450 bht for a bungalow 1 min walk from the beach - in their garden. Really nice, great value. We found it the nicest place to eat of all the resorts as well. Our friend paid 300 bht for the blue beach bungalows on the left end of the beach. Rustic but looking out onto the water. Depends on what your after I guess. It was expensive to travel from Haad Rinn to Bottle Beach, but I think all travel on the island is - we paid 300 bht each.
We paid 330 bht each to get a car from bottle beach to haad yao (our resort organised it - really long bumpy car ride!) More expensive in Haad Yao than Bottle Beach
