Thursday, June 24, 2010

Thailand again - the islands

So far we have been to Ko Phi Phi, Ko Tao, and lastly Ko Pha Ngan.

Ko Phi Phi was verrrrrry touristy. No locals besides those working in the tourist industry. It was a bit pricey, but GORGEOUS. There was a spit of flat land with beach on either side that contained all the buildings, and on either side were huge towering limestone mountains. Mike and I rented kayaks one day and kayaked out of one bay to Monkey Beach. We did see one old monkey while we were there. It was nice since there were only a few other people. We spent our time there constructing a person-sized car out of sand. Other than that, just relaxed, ate some good food, and went to some crazy beach bars at night that had people spinning fire batons, hot rope jump (i.e. a burning rope) which both Mike and I tried, and fire limbo. It wasn't as dangerous as you would think, somehow. A bit hot though. Spent 3 days there total.

At Ko Tao we stayed in a very remote cove that you had to take a 4x4 truck over crazy roads to get to. It was really nice, and we stayed in a bungalow with a hammock out front that overlooked the bay, beach and beautiful blossom trees below. Spent our one full day there on a snorkeling trip. The snorkeling was surprisingly very good, almost (but not quite) as good as that in Oz. The coral was beautifully and brightly coloured, yellows and oranges and blues. Lots of fish. One bay had a lot of old waterbottles and some garbage, which was sad. But lots of cool rock formations to swim through.

At Ko Pha Ngan, we spent our first few days at Bottle Beach, which is a remote beach up North that you have to get to by boat. It was a perfect beach paradise. We stayed in a nice bungalow by the beach and spent a lot of time relaxing an reading. Mike participated in nightly soccer games with the locals (my toes had raw blisters from wearing fins, so I sat out). We were very sad to leave, but decided to head south to get in the full moon party spirit. Mike threw his back out this morning, just before we were going to catch a truck into Haad Rin, which is the town where the Full Moon Party is. (Yes, the other recent option to get out of Bottle Beach is to take a 4x4 truck over some very steep, bumpy roads. Not so pleasant for Mike's back...) Fortunately they dropped us off at a clinic in Haad Rin, and I was lucky enough to find cheap accomodation near to the clinic and the beach where the party is. Don't worry, Mike is still able to walk around and he got some pain killers from the clinic. It was pretty good timing, as we will just be laying on the beach for a few days before heading back to Bangkok!

This will probably be the last post of the trip...the full moon party is on the 26th, so we are looking forward to that! The day after we catch transport back to Bangkok, where we spend one more night before our flight home!

Thanks for reading!!

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