Thailand Islands

• Niaandandrew's Profile
• About this blog
• Entry from Ko Phangan

Trip Start May 02, 2009 Previous
Entry Trip End Dec 03, 2009

  Ko Phangan, Thailand
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Finally Nia has let me construct the blog, so here we go. From our last blog we traveled 30 hours on bikes, buses, taxis and boats until we finally arrived in Phi Phi, an Island off the south west coast of Thailand. After arriving at the hideously busy Disney style town on the island, we knew where we wanted to stay but all of the boat taxis were quoting what we thought were silly prices so we decided to walk across the island to our beach fully loaded with our backpacks. Only after we started to walk did I realise that the view point was actually on the top of the hill and not on a peninsular overlooking the sea!! big mistake. We had previously read that the walk takes about an hour but this turned into a hard 1 3/4 hours walk over the hill/mountain and through the forest making our own path at times due to fallen trees etc. At one point we also stumbled across a house, with the owner insisting on pointing out his cannabis plantation before telling us where the path was. Eventually we arrived at the beach and checked into our bungalow which overlooked the sea. Nia took a few tumbles on the way down the muddy path to the beach and so now thought she had broken her ankle so we relaxed for the rest of the day and watched the world float by, ice on ankle. We spent 5 days in total based on this beach. On day 2 we tried to go to a nearby island (Phi phi ley) where the film 'The Beach' was filmed but due to the choppy waves and everyone in the boat (apart from the captain)fearful for their lives we turned around, only to go to another island which was just as bad. On the way to the island we saw a leopard shark in the water which is very weird as they are nocturnal animals!! The island was deserted as no other boats dared risk the waves and we went for a snorkel. The captain said jokingly that there lived a family of sharks by the rocks, so some of us went in search, but due to the bad underwater visibility we turned around. Back on the boat 2 of our friends said that they saw sharks, so three of us went back in the water armed only with snorkels and found them. As the visibility was bad it was quite a crazy moment as you could not tell how many there were (we think 3 though) and you would see one appear in front/behind/to the side of you and then quickly vanish!! Needless to say Nia stayed in the boat. Sadly our underwater camera broke - maybe it was not very waterproof after all so we did not get many photos.

The following day we attempted to go back to 'the beach' island, the waves were a lot calmer and this time we made it. For me the snorkeling to get to the ladder to cross into the island was better than the beach (Maya Bay) itself. We then stopped off at some other snorkelling sites and I had great amusement at throwing bread in front of Nia while she was in the water so that all of the fish came right up to her.

Whilst on the island we also went scuba diving. After much persuasion Nia agreed, well was forced, into doing a dive with the possibility of seeing sharks and Turtles, but unfortunately we did not see any, just lots of coral and fish, including 2 lion fish. Nia had some problems equalising on the first dive, which was made slightly harder as we were floated over by a speed boat when we were about 1 foot under, luckily the propeller was not close enough to mince us!!!

From Phi Phi we made our way over to Koh Pha-Ngan on the East coast. There was a bit of confusion as to where we were to get picked up by our guesthouse owner but after waiting 1 1/2 hours we made our own way there!! We once again had a beach hut with good offshore snorkelling, however as we did not have a view of the sea from our cabin we changed resorts and stayed at Moon Beach Bungalows which were quiet, secluded with a small but nice beach and a bay great for swimming, our bungalow had fantastic views across the bay and we felt very relxed and at home which was great after a few weeks of fast-paced travelling.

We went Scuba diving whilst we were on the island at Sail Rock. There was a small chance that we could see whale sharks but unfortunately we were not so lucky but the dive was amazing with beautiful coral, some unusual fish including a blue spotted ray, and we went the deepest we have yet.

We also tried wake boarding (WakeUpWakeboarding) whilst on the island. Basically this was like water skiing but on a snowboard rather than skis. Jamie the instructor was great and we both managed to get up and move around behind the boat. I even attempted a jump after being in the water for 30 mins. Needless to say I fell over!!! We really had a great time though despite being unable to move the next day. Even the Thai massage we had on the beach didn't help ease the aching muscles! Also it was around this time when my flip flops went missing. When you go into a shop in Thailand it is customary to take off your shoes outside the door, and on this occassion somebody had exchanged my new flip flops for a smaller, skankier, almost identical pair which I am now using instead of buying a new pair out of principal.

On our final day on the island we had a cooking class with Tummy at the Haadlad Prestige Resort & Spa. This was a great day and we learned to cook four Thai dishes. Tummy was actually an American chef but he had traveled 8,000km all over Thailand learning to cook Thai and is the only foreign chef to be granted a work permit in Thailand to teach Thai cooking. I recommend it if anyone is on the island.

Sadly it was time to leave Thailand as our visa had nearly expired so we made our way on the overnight train into Malasyia. We enjoyed our rest in Thailand however look forward to our next adventures with the Orangutans in Sumatra.

Hope you enjoyed the blog.

Andrew and Nia

Print this entry Share Ko Phangan hotels

Previous Entry