Island Hopping
Trip Start
Feb 05, 2008
1
41
70
Trip End
Ongoing
Phuket,
Thailand
Monday, June 16, 2008
Koh Phayam 5/25 - 5/29
First stop Koh Chang on the Andaman side. Er, maybe not. Upon arriving at the boat dock in Ranong at the ungodly hour of around 6:00 a.m. after a barely tolerable night bus ride from Bangkok, we learned there would only be one boat that day, departing at 2:30 in the afternoon. Let me tell you, there is f*%# all to do in Ranong. There was a girl from Russia, Julia and an American fellow, John who resides in Ranong, teaching english, was heading to another island an hour further out, Koh Phayam. Given the boat doesn't stop at Koh Chang on Sundays. Okay change of plans. John showed us around town while we waited. There was nothing to see.
Upon arrival on the island, we would head to the west side where John said it would be great. Keep in mind, it's now low season. After a 70 baht moto ride from the dock, we found deserted 'resorts' all of which had that ugly black or green wind fencing up, blocking the views. Most of the resorts were closed. The beach was a mess with litter everywhere. John and Julia stayed anyway. It was back to the other side to a a cool little resort called PP Land for me. A beautiful modern bungalow cost $10 a night and the kitchen put out some great food. Good thing 'cause there's really nowhere else to eat. The island's population is about 200, three of whom are farang, including Paul, a Belgian fellow and the first P in PP Land. It was four days of chilling out.
Claudia
I finished a book. The swimming was great. Warmest water I've ever been in. No rain. Lots of mozzies. Total cost 2,700 baht, all in, beers and all. Not quite $85--for four days! Koh Phangan 5/29 - 6/2
It would be a full day of travel...boat, minibus, big bus, and ferry. I had hooked up with Claudia. We would arrive at Koh Phangan somewhere around eight p.m. so rather than deal with the hassle of trying to find something, especially on the island where everything is more spread out, we bought one night in a bungalow for 400 baht at a place called the Power Beach Resort. It included the taxi ride there, which has a 100 baht per person value. Not bad, even if the place was a bit of a dump. Seems that's how they get their business. The little resto had a few people in it and we met a couple of cool guys from Sherwood Park, Adam and Brennan. Now we are in tourist land and food prices are a touch high. Our tab for the night was 800 baht--beers and dinner for two. Email runs at 3 baht per minute or roughly $6 an hour. Compare all this to PP Land.
Motorcycle Diaries
Do you know what happens when you downshift from second to first on a moto while driving up a 20% grade with a girl on the back? Stupid! We rented a moto so we drive up to Haad Rin to find a bungalow. We splurged on one at the Phangan Bayshore Resort--800 baht per night (400 each), with pool and esentially on the beach. Haad Rin is a great beach. Good swimming. Sunny every day and not too crowded.
The luggage hold
The smashed tail light cover only cost me a thousand baht. Haad Rin is a bit of party town, most famous for its full moon parties. There wouldn't be one during our stay (I was quite alright with this) but there's a party every night down the beach. You can go all night. I did once, until about 6:30 a.m. This allowed me to get some great sunrise pics. Claudia went every night. That's pretty much Haad Rin. Lazy daze on the beach, swimming, cold beers and mediocre food, all at higher prices. The beach on the sunrise side is top shelf. We stayed an extra day before heading to Koh Tao, an island known more for its diving (and nightlife). Claudia had been the first time she was in Thailand in February and wanted to go back. I had heard from others it was worth checking out. It's only an hour away on the high speed catamaran, 10 bucks.
Koh Tao 6/2 - 6/5
Koh Tao is deffo a diver place. More dive shops than massage places! There are two main beaches, Haad Sairee and Mae Haad (where the boats land). Three nights, three different bungalows--long story. We met Nole and Jeff and his sister Mary from Vancouver. We'd first met them in our resort on Koh Phangan. I ran into Roberto from Chile again. He told me about Haad Yao on Kho Phangan--I was heading back there after these few days here and based on his recco would probably go there. The Haad Sairee area had a little more to offer than Haad Rin on Koh Phangan in terms of food. I wasn't too impressed with the bar scene there, although I had one pretty good night in a place that sits right on the water called the Lotus Bar. Good tunes and a fun crowd. Ran into a couple from Canada I had met back in Nha Trang, Vietnam.
Julia from Russia
Mozzies were bad here at night too. They are little buggers that like to bite you around the ankles and the bites are itchy as hell. I would leave on the morning of the 5th, back to Koh Phangan. Claudia would stay on for a few days before heading back up to BKK and home. I was excited about getting back to Koh Phangan and exploring the west and north sides of the island. I didn't really much care for Koh Tao and the travel culture there. The beach sucked too. Reefs close to the shore and really low tides during the day made swimming pretty much impossible. I took the early boat, 9:30. Funny thing. The tide was so low. Everybody had to get up and stand towards the back of the boat so they could back out without dragging bottom.
Back to Koh Phangan. 6/5 - 6/12
A full week maybe split between a couple of beaches was in the offing. Time to chill out. Roberto told me some good things about Haad Yao. That'd be my first stop. The first thing I did was rent a scooter for the week, 200 baht a day. I left my pack at the rental shop while I went riding up the west coast in search of my new home. Haad Yao was about 20 minutes up the road. There are cool bungalows and cafes and shops all along the way. I liked the feel of this part of the island and especially Haad Yao immediately. I checked the place Roberto told me about, JB Huts, up on the hill, a bit of a ways from the beach with fantastic views and only 250 B. Not bad. I almost took it but decided to keep checking. Next I checked Haad Son Resort. 500 B for a bungalow that looked like a room in the Four Seasons Hotel. It had great common rooms and a pool. Hmmmm. I did't really want to spend that much. Next door was a place called High Life Resort (use your imagination--the answer is yes, if you are so inclined.), 350 baht a night, best view yet, amazing pool also with a view, great common areas with good music pouring out of the speakers that were located everywhere and easy beach access. I took it right away. And I stayed the whole week (I added a day actually). I had thought about hitting Bottle Beach in the north, only accessable by boat for a night or two but, naaah. I had the scooter so I could get anywhere in a matter of minutes anyway.
It was a great week. Within a couple of days there was a small group of us hanging out: Dani from Berlin, Genz and Erik from Sweden, Che from Oz and Jude, a Brit who's stopped in for some r & r after having worked in Sudan for a year.
PP Land
Most days we'd get together in the evenings at Haad Yao Bungalows Beach Bar (since 1989). Tong and Charlie were incredibly good hosts. The Singha was always cold and the food was alright. Prices weren't too bad either. Haad Yao also came with a couple of crazies who'd been hanging for months: Dimitri a Russian and alleged opera star from Moscow who was having wife/Thai gf/passport/visa troubles--he was waiting for money (I heard him sing one night and the rumour could well be true.) and Alan a ne'er do well former rocker, older than me who just lives here for the winters I suppose and drinks and smokes and sometimes plays the guitar. Dimitri always wore some new device around his neck, cell phones, flashlights, knives, anything that would hang from a string. He was always stoned and always said 'Kop Kun Kah' (Thank you). Crazy but harmless and exceedingly funny. The two of them made pretty good social conveners. Days were spent walking the beaches, frisbeeing, bombing around the island on my scooter, having good Americanos with milk at Tricky Cafe in Thong Sala, the island's working town that unlike Haad Rin has a great local feel and some very good eating--both street food stalls and restos. I had one of the best veggie burgers ever at JJ's just down the road from my place. The seafood was always good. I had a massage every day! There are still four or five beaches I didn't get to. I'll have to go back next year.
Phuket 6/12 - 6/15
I had to fly out of Phuket International Airport on the 16th which left me only four days including travel time. I reluctantly decided to blow off Krabi and Kho Phi Phi. (Next visit I guess.) I caught a 12:30 boat out of Phangan and landed up in Phuket Town at around 10:00 p.m. It's a dumpy place, just like everyone had said. Apart from some decent eating at local greasy spoons, there isn't much good you can say about the place. I headed to Kata Beach, opting for the 'quieter' of the resort areas that line the west side of the island early the next morning.
Again, there are loads of accomodation options in the 500 baht plus or minus range. I found a good one, Palm Cottage where I would be the only guest occupying a bungalow. TV, hot shower and fridge with two bottles of water per day were included. I rented a scooter here too. Kata, Karen and Patong beaches are all really nice with powdery white sand, big waves and warm, warm water. Kata was the chillest with a cool little rasta bar on the south end. Karen beach where the main road separates the hotels from the beach is kinda dead and Patong is reminiscent of Waikiki on steroids. All of these resort areas are heavily populated with bars and bar girls. Patong is warp factor nine. It rivals and perhaps even beats Patpong Road in Bangkok relative to its kind of activity. It's a circus and worth checking out. Not cheap. Here the touristas have big money and three or four bucks a beer is still well under what they pay back home. When you are accustomed to paying no more than two bucks, it's a bit much.
The cops like to get their piece too. I drove through a checkpoint on the way into Patong one night and received a three hundred baht fine for not having a driver's license. I had to go to the police station straightaway to pay it. Doing so enable me to continue driving without a license until midnight. Good thing here I was wearing a helmet. Otherwise it would have been another 500 baht.
I did manage to find some great restos where the Thai eat up on the highway that cuts through town up from the beach. Mostly I just hung around lamenting my imminent departure from Thailand. One night I spent part of my evening in a small bar near my bungalow and got chatting with one of the girls. She has a fledgeling bakery business going back home in a city somewhere up Laos way. Too bad she has to subsidize it with this sort of work. Her english was quite good, among the best I'd heard from any Thai. Interesting thing she told me was that they are taught that it was the French who taught them to be lazy, encouraging them to nap, etc.
I had to go back to shittown and spend the night so I could catch the first airport bus at 6:00 a.m.
PP Land
for my flight to Singapore. After 103 days it would be so long Thailand.
