Koh Phangan

Dreamland resort

For the last few days we have been staying here in Koh Phangan. Basically we've just been on holiday. We've not done much, just sat by the pool, overlooking the beach, eating in the restaurant every night. Yesterday we took a day trip out on a boat to visit another beach (bottle beach), which was probably the nicest beach we have seen round the world. We also snorkelled a bit and then went to some waterfalls (the King's favourite apparently) but they weren't very impressive as its the dry season so they were dried up. Jemma jumped off some more rocks and I sunbathed for a bit. We are staying in a lovely resort recommended to us by our friend and we have a big room, with a bathroom, air con, satellite tv, a fridge... the resort also has a big pool on the sea front and a really nice restaurant. We have had no cause to leave the resort except to go for a little walk. Alas, we cant stay here forever (starting to get bored already), so e have booked tickets to go to Bangkok tomorrow on the train and the journey will take about 20 hours in total.

Koh Phangan is known for its beaches

Photos of Koh Phangan

Last few days on Koh Tao

Our longboat to the Japanese gardens

We are so relaxed here, it isn't really travelling, its like being on holiday. We have a bungalow on the beach, dozens of cheap, delicious restaurants to choose from and lots of souvenir shops and bars. It isn't rowdy like Koh Phi Phi, but really relaxed, which means we have stayed here longer than most. We are paying £3.50 for our accommodation, and never pay more than £4 for a meal, so we are doing well on our budget too. During the last few days we have been to the Japanese gardens twice to snorkel (an amazing snorkelling spot, consisting of three little islands joined by sandbanks, where the water is crystal clear, and the big fish swarm around your feet as soon as you step in). 

Japanese gardens

There are even cleaner rass in there, like the ones you get at foot spas that like to nibble your dead skin. It really is a snorkelling Mecca – the best snorkelling I have done in my life. We have been out to the Japanese gardens twice, the first time we hired a long boat (just me and Jemma) which cost about £4 return and took about 15 minutes. The second time we went with Lisa (Jemma's friend), who had recovered enough from being ill to join us for a day's snorkelling. We have had some amazing food, Mexican, Thai curries, English breakfasts, chocolate ice cream milkshakes, pizzas.... and we have had good company (Lisa for 5 nights, Tony for two). After the day we spent with Awesome adventures, we went back for another English breakfast (super beans) as they were so amazing. We also had a Thai massage (Jemma chose the oil one, but I chose the head, neck and shoulder one thinking it would be relaxing but it was actually extremely painful and I wished I'd had an oil one). I think I'll have another one in Chang Mai where its cheaper, but not a Thai one this time. It has been a lovely holiday and we are going to be sad to leave. Tomorrow we are taking a boat to Koh Phangan, just in time to miss the full Moon Party, which we both decided against going to in the end. Koh Phangan is meant to be really quiet (well, in the secluded area we have chosen), so it is going to be a few days of relaxing, before heading off to hectic Bangkok!  

Our beach (just outside our bungalow)

Koh Tao day 2 – an amazing day. This is what round the world trips are all about!

On our second day on Koh Tao, we got up at 7.00, checked out and got a taxi to the main town where the diving shop was. We told the woman (Jemma's brother's friend), that I'd decided against diving, but that Jemma would still do an intro dive. We had breakfast in the cafe attached to the shop (best breakfast ever – 'super beans on toast' = toast, topped with crispy bacon, cheese, beans and Worcester sauce!) 

Breakfast of kings

and then Jemma got kitted up and went out for her dive whist I went out to look for new accommodation closer to the main town. After looking at a few places for £5 each a night, I settled on a 'cottage' by the beach for £3.50 a night. Very basic (you have to flush the toilet by tipping a bucket of water down it), with a fan, not air-con, but excellent location and no bedbugs – we were happy! After an hour and a half, I went back to the Goodtime Adventures office to meet Jemma after her dive. It was a really hot day and I couldn't wait to get in the sea to cool down. We decided to go on a trip in the afternoon with Goodtime Adventures, starting at 1pm, so we went back to our cottage, got creamed up and then came back to the office where we joined a small group of 6 other people. They gave us all flippers and snorkels and then we got onto a little speed boat with a boat master, diving instructor and climbing instructor and we had the most spectacular boat ride around the island, where they pointed out all the main spots, and even some of the other islands in the distance (Koh Samui and Koh Phagnan). After a while, we stopped at a snorkelling spot that was beautifully clear and the sea was gorgeous. We all jumped in and snorkelled for a while, seeing such an amazing variety of fish. One guy on the boat was having a diving lesson with the dive instructor at the same time. They told us nothing was dangerous, but that we might see reef sharks, which aren't dangerous, and also trigger fish which can chase and bite you sometimes but you just have to swim out of their territory and they leave you alone. After snorkelling, we all climbed back into the boat and sped along to another spot where we did cliff diving!

It was fantastic! The water was so refreshing and turquoise. The climbing instructor showed us how to climb up the rocks and we then got to jump off cliffs of 3metres, 9m and 12m. I was the last one to jump off the 3m because I found it hard to climb up the rocks (it was quite scary, often having to jump across gorges to get to the diving rocks). I was too scared to jump off the 3m (it doesn't sound that high, but when you're on top of a rock looking into the sea it is!) One girl couldn't do it and simply couldn't bring herself to jump. She spent the whole time on the edge fretting, with her boyfriend trying to coax her off. I went eventually, telling myself it wasn't even as high as a high diving board. It was fine, except for a little water up the nose.

The sea

 We then moved onto the 9m, which was a lot scarier, but I did it. I could really feel myself falling for a long time and screamed mid-air. I had a lot of water up the nose that time and clapped my teeth together slightly, which consequently made me think it might not be a good idea to do the 12. Jemma and all the others did the 12m (apart from myself and 2 other girls) and most people who did it said it hurt in some way, so I'm glad I didn't do it in the end. Jemma said she did the splits in the water as she hit the surface and the sea forced her legs into the splits which really hurt her hips. Some people did dives and somersaults, and in the end, as the boat was getting ready to leave, the girl who had been on the edge of the 3m, by now for over and hour, was finally coaxed down by the diving instructor and everybody clapped. It was an amazing experience, I'm really glad we did it and I would highly recommend it!

Iced coke with the sunset

After the cliff diving, we did some more snorkelling in an area renowned for sharks, and to our delight, we saw 5 sharks! 

We were so happy, it really rounded off our amazing day! We then got the speedboat back to the office on the beach and all had a complimentary beer/ coke whilst watching the sunset on the beach. It was a brilliant day. Once we'd had our drinks, we went back to the bungalow to get showered and go out for tea with Lisa in the town. As we were walking to the restaurant, we bumped into the Chinese guy, Tony who we spent time with in Penang and Langkawi. We invited him out for dinner with us and we had yummy Thai curry. It was the perfect end to the perfect Round the World day!

The sunset 

Koh Tao – Snorkelling Heaven

Sunset on the first night

After we checked into our bungalow on Koh Tao, we slept for the morning (not much sleep on the night boat) and then went out for an English breakfast at the cafe next door. We then went out in search of the snorkelling area, which meant clambering over rocks and through murky water. At first I was really disheartened, as the water looked really dirty and I spotted what I thought was a sewage pipe leading into it. Jemma had read on the internet, that the water in Koh Tao is dirty so you have to be careful in case you have any mossie bites that might get infected. Also, we have come to expect, as standard, that the water in the showers in the hotels will smell of sewage, either for the first few minutes of running the shower or for the full duration of the shower. We have been brushing our teeth with bottled water ever since our sink spat out brown water on Koh Phi Phi. I told Jemma that I had had enough of islands and couldn't wait to get to Bangkok. However, after a while more of walking and wading through the sea, we finally came to a bay with a few people snorkelling in it. As soon as I looked into the water, I could see huge fish around my feet, and the water was so clear! We immediately began to snorkel and were stunned by what we saw. Clown fish, trigger fish, parrot fish, every fish you could imagine. So many more fish than we saw on the Barrier reef! This is without a doubt the best snorkelling we have found on the round the world trip. We continued snorkelling for about 2 hours but then had to leave to go back to the bungalow because we had agreed to meet Jemma's friend from home, Lisa for dinner at 5.30. We rushed back, in the sweating heat, got ready and then walked the 4km into the main town (we regretted having picked a hotel so far out). Jemma really wanted to do a PADI diving course, but after my traumatic experience on the great Barrier Reef, I didn't want to do it. Thailand is one of the cheapest places in the world to get certified (only £200) but even so, I didn't want to spend that much money on something I didn't think I would enjoy. Jemma was very disappointed and didn't want to do it alone... to cut a long story short, we ended up signing up for a PADI course and paying a £10 deposit, with a company that Jemma's brother's friend works for. We then went to meet Lisa for dinner in town, who wasn't very well and had to go home early to lie down. We walked the 4k back to our hotel in the dark, with so many mopeds speeding past us (Koh Tao has too many mopeds). When we got in, I just couldn't rest with my decision to do the course, I was too scared and told Jemma I was going to pull out the next day and lose the £10. She decided to do the intro dive and not the rest of the course. Then we went to bed. As we were lying in our beds trying to get to sleep, Jemma came out with: 'I've been having really disturbing thoughts...' when I probed and asked what the thoughts were, a problem shared is a problem halved, she told me she was worried there was a murderer on the lose and that they might break into our hut. I wish I'd never probed. We hardly slept a wink that night, every time the fan made the curtain twitch, we thought someone was outside our window. We were terrified. It was the girl on the minibus' fault, who told us that she was worried the driver was taking us to the middle of nowhere to kill us and sell our organs. We left the bathroom light on and tried to go to sleep. As if we weren't scared enough, there was a power cut, and the fan and the bathroom light suddenly went off. I was convinced someone had done it on purpose in order to facilitate the murder. After a while, the fan and light came back on, and somehow we went to sleep, we didn't get much sleep though as the next day we had to be up at 7.00 to check out and go to the diving school.

Koh Tao Photos

Night Boat to Koh Tao

All aboard the night boat

We booked to go to Koh Tao with our hostel who hadn't even heard of Koh Tao. The receptionist rang up her travel agent and got us a 'nice price' through her friend, telling us that we would be taking a boat from Krabi to Koh Tao at 4pm and that it would go directly there. It wasn't until we got a map out and showed her the geography, and explained that it wasn't geographically possible to traverse Thailand by boat, that she conceded there must also be some bus travel involved. She didn't tell us when or how we'd get there, which worried us a little, but as I've said before, in Thailand you just have to put your faith in the travel agent that plans the route for you and hope for the best. We got up late on the morning we were leaving and hung around the hostel till 4. We went out for a late lunch at a Thai restaurant around the corner and went on the internet for a little while. The bus (truck) came to pick us up, as we have now become accustomed to, about 15 mins earlier than stated, the driver stuck a sticker on us saying Tao and dropped us off at another travel agents down the road. We waited there for a bit, before another truck came and bundled us off to another travel agents, where we boarded our final minibus, with around 12 other westerners all packed in. The journey took about 5 hours and there were some really annoying English girls on there showing off their scars where they had fallen off mopeds. They were adamant that they were getting their boat at 7pm at a different port from us but Jemma and I knew this was not the case and that the whole bus would be getting on the 11.00 ferry at a port further north (Chumpon). Sure enough, the mouthy English girls were proved wrong and we made it to Chumpon around 10.30pm, after a hairy journey in the dark, involving the driver being stopped and fined for speeding, and several horror stories being passed around amongst travellers about travellers that have died on buses and boats in Thailand. We got to the night ferry port and were greeted by a Welsh man from Port Talbot, who gave us all a ticket and told us to go onto the boat and choose a bed. It was a lot better than I had expected! I had read that it would be a glorified cargo ship with everybody sleeping on wooden planks on the floor, but actually, we all had bunk beds with a pillow and it wasn't too bad after all. We made friends with two Ozzie girls and sat outside with them on the deck under the stars as the boat chugged along towards Koh Tao.

Sat out on deck

I went to bed about midnight and woke up needing the toilet about 3am, with the boat rocking violently. I had all sorts of morbid images going through my mind and couldn't see life vests anywhere (no safety briefings given on Thai boats). This was made worse thanks to the story one person had told on the bus earlier about some travellers who drowned on a longboat in the middle of the sea between two islands because nobody knew it had gone out. I didn't want to risk going out on deck to the toilet with the boat rocking so violently, so I tried to drift back to sleep, but didn't really sleep again for the rest of the night. At 5.30 am I heard a cat miaow and looked across to see one sat on the bed next to me. There was also a resident dog on board. By now the boat had docked in Koh Tao but the Welsh man had told us all to stay on the boat until 7 because nothing would be open in the town until then. I got up at this point to go to the toilet and watch the sunrise, which was not that spectacular, but it was amazing to see Koh Tao for the first time. At 7.00 we got off the boat and wandered around a bit, before finding a taxi driver who took us to a remote part of the island that is meant to be good for snorkelling. He dropped us off at some bungalows on the beach (probably his friends) and I went to ask how much they were. Not content with paying £5 each for our own bungalow with sea view, I hunted around for a bit to find a better deal, but in the end we decided to just take the first offer as it was right next to a good snorkelling spot.

View from our first hotel

Phuket & Koh Phi Phi

Amber, Jemma and me swimming at Phi Phi ley

On the day we left for Koh Phi Phi, we were told we'd be picked up at 10.00, so we went down stairs, hurried our breakfast, and the truck came at 9.50 to pick us up. We had to leave our breakfasts uneaten and get onto the truck. We were then driven to a shop, where we were given a sticker saying Phuket and then we waited for an hour in this shop, sat in the heat. After an hour, another bus came, drove us five minutes down the road to another shop, where we had to get out an wait for another hour. After all of this waiting, a minibus came and finally took us all the way to Phuket. The journey lasted about 2 hours, and when we got to Phuket, the bus driver said he didn't know where our hotel was and wanted to drop us off in the middle of a long road with our big bags and let us look for it ourselves. Luckily, Jemma spotted the hotel before he chucked us off and we got dropped at the door. Phuket was so different to anything we have experienced so far. Very busy, touristy, westernised and with lots of people trying to sell you things. As soon as we got out of the bus we were offered another taxi. We walked into our hotel, which was directly on the beach and main street (in Patong). It was meant to cost about £40 a night, but we got it for £20 thanks to our friend Amber and her Thai bartering skills. Amber is Jemma's friend from Cardiff and we had arranged to meet her for one day in Phuket as she was just finishing a long stint travelling around Asia. The women in the hotel were very friendly and loved Amber; they told us she was waiting for us on the beach, so after we put our stuff down, we went out to the beach to meet her, where she was with her two friends. We then went for food together in a Thai restaurant, went back to room to get ready, and then went out for a wild night out with Amber in Phuket where we were introduced to the concept of drinking out of buckets for the first time.

Amber introducing us to buckets

They basically give you a bucket full of vodka redbull/ any other mixer, with a straw, and its cheaper than buying normal drinks. After a few buckets, we were well on our way and decided to go and see a ping pong show, which was an eye opener, and didn't just involve ping pong balls, but also live birds, fish and darts. After the show we moved onto another bar where we met the barmaid Sara, who latched herself onto us and wanted to come clubbing with us to the next club. The next morning, we were woken by amber saying she'd booked our boat tickets to go to Koh Phi Phi and we had two hours before the boat left to go and get breakfast. We ate a breakfast of garlic bread, chips and pizza, and laughed about stories from the night out, using pictures to aid our hazy memories. It was a really funny night! On the ferry to Phi Phi however, we felt the effects, with Amber having to go and be sick several times. We turned up in Phi Phi, boiling hot and hungover .

Breakfast the next day

We had booked a basic hut online, which turned out to be in a forest in the middle of nowhere, so we paid a man to wheel our bags for us. The man could only go so far, as the hill through the forest was so steep, so we then had to get a van to take us up the remainder of the hill. The hut was in the middle of forest, miles from anywhere. The reception had lost our booking, and it took an hour for us to sort it out, during which time we got eaten alive by mossies. We finally got into our hut about 5pm, which was very basic but ok. Went then went out for food, again thai curry, looked for new hotel, went back to hut, got ready, went out to meet Amber's friends, and drank buckets again. Jemma and I left early as we couldn't take the pace. As we walked back, the loud music boomed all around us, and I thought what a shame it was that such an idyllic island has been ruined by drunken gap yahs. Phi Phi really is in an idyllic setting – you can see why they filmed the movie 'The Beach' there. It has mountains coming out of the sea, crystal turquoise waters and is everything an exotic island should be. But, it has been completely destroyed by the hundreds and hundreds of shabby hotels, bars and nightclubs, that have been messily erected, haphazardly all over the place. It's dirty, ugly, loud and overpriced and it is such a shame. Phi Phi was one of the places badly hit by the Tsunami in 2004 and you can't really see any sign of that any more, although we did freak ourselves out a bit by watching videos on You tube, which wasn't a good idea, considering Phi Phi had another Tsunami warning the week before we got there. A friend told me not to go to Phi Phi, saying it was like a mini Benidorm. For me, it reminded me of a favela (the slums we saw in Rio). Ugly, tacky and overrun with drunken posh gap year students.

Our room on the first night

On our second day on Phi Phi, we swapped hotels and checked into somewhere that cost £5 more a night but had aircon and wifi. We had a very lazy day, walked along beach and saw most spectaular sunset of my life– I was extremely annoyed with myself for forgetting my camera. In the evening we went for tea at restaurant on sea front with ambers friend who's sister was on the X factor.

The next day, went for full English breakfast, and in the afternoon we went on a cheap boat trip to maya bay, the beach where they filmed 'The Beach'. We snorkelled in the clear waters and explored the area. Before returning back to Phi Phi for a slice of pizza, followed by another yummy Thai curry for tea. That night we noticed we had bed bugs. Amber's room was absolutely covered in them. We decided to check out the next day after discovering that the tap water was coming out brown.

We checked into new, even more expensive hotel, which had a nice view over the harbour but the shower water stank of raw sewage. Amber was leaving that morning to go to Bangkok and then home, so we met her for breakfast before saying our goodbyes. We decided that as we had really enjoyed the snorkelling that we should buy snorkels and hire a boat to go to the other beach (Long beach). We relaxed there, but didn't stay long as the water was no good for snorkelling and there wasn't much to do there. Amber had told us that we could walk up to a high point on the island and get a lovely view, although she had mentioned that it was a pretty tough walk. Having climbed up Machu Picchu we thought it would be easy enough for us. In the evening, we walked up to view point to see sunset – it was very hard, sweaty and the sunset was disappointing but the view was amazing. We decided to run back down to beach, to take photos of the sunset there after we had missed the opportunity the other night but alas there was no nice sunset. After the sunset we had tea at posh restaurant on sea front and walked around the town. We bought waterproof bag that we bartered the price down for and then went to bed.

More photos: Koh Phi Phi and Phuket

Thailand

Blogging in Thailand is really difficult. We are having such a good time, it is hard to find a spare moment between all the snorkelling, sunbathing, massages, nice food and socialising. Will try to update more soon.