Ko Tao
Yay our first of the paradise islands! Ko Tao is a really big on diving and the majority of the people here are looking to do just that though there are still people like us who don't dive.
Our first guest house here is on the beach!! its a bit old and decrepit with holes in the floor but you know what its a little bamboo hut on stilts with a grass roof, a little en suite toilet and shower and a balcony. There is nothing between us and the sea except sand, at night the sea comes right in and you go to sleep to the sound of the waves- its just perfect!!
The guest house we are staying at also has its own bar/restaurant which did the most amazing Thai food. The best massaman curry i had in my entire time in Thailand. And although i didn't know it that was my last taste of proper Thai food, in the islands is very expensive and is no where near as tasty as in the north.
We spent that afternoon walking along the beach, (white sands, sunshine, palm trees just what you expect from the Thai islands) and playing in the sea.
The next day we set about exploring. walking to the top of the island there is a look out point where you can see Koh Nang Yuan its a cluster of three tiny islands connected with sand bars. There are day trips out to the islands but the set up there is a bit funny, the islands are let by the government to a chap who has built a resort on one of them and charges others to visit. we admired it from a distance.
we then headed right the way back down and across to the south to a little cove where the water was really clear and we could see lots of fishes swimming around our legs. very nice!
We were to spend two nights on each island, so now it was on to Ko Phangan.
Ko Phangan
So this is the home of the famous full moon party. We arrived two days after the party having spent the full moon on Ko Tao. We did however stay in the Hat Rin area (cliff top bungalow this time!) which has two beaches and the party is on one of them. Thinking that the party beach would be a bit of a mess we headed out to the other one. Its only a ten minute walk between the two and was a big disappointment, this was not a particularly nice beach the tide line was covered in rubbish. God only knows what the other beach looks like!
Ha well the other beach was pristine! the sand was finer, the sea clearer and the whole place was really clean despite having had thousands of revellers there two nights earlier! They really make a big thing about cleaning this beach and anyone who arrives at Hat Rin pier on the day of the party has to pay an extra 100B towards the clean up.
The beach was busy that night there are bars with the fire dancers, its amazing to watch them throwing these flaming batons up into the air and catching them again. To keep people drinking at their bar they lay on games such as jumping through a ring of fire and the giant flaming skipping rope. There a stalls lined up all along
the beach front selling buckets, which will be a small bottle of a spirit of your choice, a can of pop and a can of red bull all mixed together in a small bucket.
Our second night there it was really quiet and the town seem deserted, we later found out that there was a big party at another beach further round the island. There is nothing much of traditional Thailand here its all set up to cater to the hoards of younger tourists looking to party. The food is mostly western and if somewhere does do Thai its not so good. We found somewhere that did a really good full English- run by an Englishman of course!!
The one element of Thai culture that does thrive here is the massage parlours! So as there was nothing going on in town we treated ourselves to full body oil massages. it was really relaxing even though somewhere a baby started crying in the middle of it (bit random)
We did attempt to walk about the island a bit but got a bit lost and ended up back in town, so we had a snooze on the beach instead. So two nights here and it was off to Ko Samui.
Ko Samui
The biggest of these three islands. And it was another beach hut for us, in Bo Phut in the north. It used to be a small fishing village and the main street (if you could call it that) is made up of shops converted from the old fisherman dwellings.
Once we were all settled in we headed down to the south to go to see the Grandfather (Hinta) and Grandmother (Hinyai) rocks. These are naturally formed rocks that are shaped like male and female rude bits (keeping it clean you never know who is reading!!)
On the way back to Bo Phut from there we went to Lamai, this is not as popular with the tourists as Chaweng its considered to be Samui's 2nd beach but there we found a fantastic rock bar with nobody in it and we were allowed to pick our own music DVD's Yay great place, fantastic place!!
The following day we took a boat out to Ang Thong National Park, a cluster of islands just off Samui. On our first stop we went sea kayaking now i must admit that i had been really looking forward to this but in reality i hated it. I just do not have the upper body strength to keep the kayak going in the tidal waters around the islands. My life jacket was way too big, when sat down it hooked over my ears and i was convinced on numerous occasions that we were going to be swept out to sea!! agh i was really useless!! once we got back to the beach we had a little swim and checked out the monkeys, they had white rings around their eyes and looked permanently startled. We wondered up to a bit of a view point and had a look- all really nice.
The next stop was a green tidal lagoon. really really beautiful. its sits in a ring of cliffs and is fed by underwater tunnels that are too small for boats or divers to navigate. we saw some fantastic fish in there, an enormous blue one and a sea snake and clams- all sorts of stuff. you cannot swim in the water here.
Back at the beach again we made an attempt at snorkeling but with a boat load of people trying the same most of the sand had been disturbed and we didn't do very well getting out to clear waters, as it was we had spent so long spotting critters in the lagoon it was time to get back on the boat.
Back in Bo Phut we ate at a french restaurant, there is quite a heavy french influence here for some reason and the food was fantastic!!
so with our two nights on Samui it was time to head back to the mainland.
Yay our first of the paradise islands! Ko Tao is a really big on diving and the majority of the people here are looking to do just that though there are still people like us who don't dive.
Our first guest house here is on the beach!! its a bit old and decrepit with holes in the floor but you know what its a little bamboo hut on stilts with a grass roof, a little en suite toilet and shower and a balcony. There is nothing between us and the sea except sand, at night the sea comes right in and you go to sleep to the sound of the waves- its just perfect!!
The guest house we are staying at also has its own bar/restaurant which did the most amazing Thai food. The best massaman curry i had in my entire time in Thailand. And although i didn't know it that was my last taste of proper Thai food, in the islands is very expensive and is no where near as tasty as in the north.
We spent that afternoon walking along the beach, (white sands, sunshine, palm trees just what you expect from the Thai islands) and playing in the sea.
The next day we set about exploring. walking to the top of the island there is a look out point where you can see Koh Nang Yuan its a cluster of three tiny islands connected with sand bars. There are day trips out to the islands but the set up there is a bit funny, the islands are let by the government to a chap who has built a resort on one of them and charges others to visit. we admired it from a distance.
we then headed right the way back down and across to the south to a little cove where the water was really clear and we could see lots of fishes swimming around our legs. very nice!
We were to spend two nights on each island, so now it was on to Ko Phangan.
Ko Phangan
So this is the home of the famous full moon party. We arrived two days after the party having spent the full moon on Ko Tao. We did however stay in the Hat Rin area (cliff top bungalow this time!) which has two beaches and the party is on one of them. Thinking that the party beach would be a bit of a mess we headed out to the other one. Its only a ten minute walk between the two and was a big disappointment, this was not a particularly nice beach the tide line was covered in rubbish. God only knows what the other beach looks like!
Ha well the other beach was pristine! the sand was finer, the sea clearer and the whole place was really clean despite having had thousands of revellers there two nights earlier! They really make a big thing about cleaning this beach and anyone who arrives at Hat Rin pier on the day of the party has to pay an extra 100B towards the clean up.
The beach was busy that night there are bars with the fire dancers, its amazing to watch them throwing these flaming batons up into the air and catching them again. To keep people drinking at their bar they lay on games such as jumping through a ring of fire and the giant flaming skipping rope. There a stalls lined up all along
the beach front selling buckets, which will be a small bottle of a spirit of your choice, a can of pop and a can of red bull all mixed together in a small bucket.Our second night there it was really quiet and the town seem deserted, we later found out that there was a big party at another beach further round the island. There is nothing much of traditional Thailand here its all set up to cater to the hoards of younger tourists looking to party. The food is mostly western and if somewhere does do Thai its not so good. We found somewhere that did a really good full English- run by an Englishman of course!!
The one element of Thai culture that does thrive here is the massage parlours! So as there was nothing going on in town we treated ourselves to full body oil massages. it was really relaxing even though somewhere a baby started crying in the middle of it (bit random)
We did attempt to walk about the island a bit but got a bit lost and ended up back in town, so we had a snooze on the beach instead. So two nights here and it was off to Ko Samui.
Ko Samui
The biggest of these three islands. And it was another beach hut for us, in Bo Phut in the north. It used to be a small fishing village and the main street (if you could call it that) is made up of shops converted from the old fisherman dwellings.
Once we were all settled in we headed down to the south to go to see the Grandfather (Hinta) and Grandmother (Hinyai) rocks. These are naturally formed rocks that are shaped like male and female rude bits (keeping it clean you never know who is reading!!)
On the way back to Bo Phut from there we went to Lamai, this is not as popular with the tourists as Chaweng its considered to be Samui's 2nd beach but there we found a fantastic rock bar with nobody in it and we were allowed to pick our own music DVD's Yay great place, fantastic place!!
The following day we took a boat out to Ang Thong National Park, a cluster of islands just off Samui. On our first stop we went sea kayaking now i must admit that i had been really looking forward to this but in reality i hated it. I just do not have the upper body strength to keep the kayak going in the tidal waters around the islands. My life jacket was way too big, when sat down it hooked over my ears and i was convinced on numerous occasions that we were going to be swept out to sea!! agh i was really useless!! once we got back to the beach we had a little swim and checked out the monkeys, they had white rings around their eyes and looked permanently startled. We wondered up to a bit of a view point and had a look- all really nice.
The next stop was a green tidal lagoon. really really beautiful. its sits in a ring of cliffs and is fed by underwater tunnels that are too small for boats or divers to navigate. we saw some fantastic fish in there, an enormous blue one and a sea snake and clams- all sorts of stuff. you cannot swim in the water here.
Back at the beach again we made an attempt at snorkeling but with a boat load of people trying the same most of the sand had been disturbed and we didn't do very well getting out to clear waters, as it was we had spent so long spotting critters in the lagoon it was time to get back on the boat.
Back in Bo Phut we ate at a french restaurant, there is quite a heavy french influence here for some reason and the food was fantastic!!
so with our two nights on Samui it was time to head back to the mainland.
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