Island Hopping

For the holidays, we had a week off of school so we planned a trip down to the islands. We had heard great things about Koh Phangan and Koh Tao, so we booked our flights into Bangkok on Christmas day, figuring it would be a short hop, skip and a jump over to the nearby islands.

Boy, were we wrong.

When we finally researched the bus/boat schedules out of Bangkok to the islands, we discovered that the logistics were all off – we arrived in BKK at around 10 a.m. but the buses (which were actually 9 hours long) didn’t leave until 9 p.m. Awesome. Well done, team. But mai bpen rai, we hung out in an upscale mall downtown for the day, feasting on Western treats and finally made our way to Koh Tao.

Photos:

Tanote Bay

View from our bungalow.

We went on a snorkeling tour our second day on Koh Tao which was… affordable? It was cheap and as a result, we BOTH got seasick thanks to the less-than-sturdy vessel and potent diesel fumes. Let’s just say we were eager to dive into the water at each stopping-off point. The (questionably seaworthy) boat took us around the whole island, stopping 4 or 5 times, so we got to see the perimeter of the beautiful island. Plus we saw sharks! Our hilarious guide didn’t tell us until AFTER we saw the sharks that they were harmless and expected to be present. What a riot. So after I nearly hyperventilated when I saw two 3-foot long sharks, it was a hoot when he asked us if we lost a leg and chuckled uproariously. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Koh Tao

Small island by Koh Tao that our tour stopped at for a few hours.

The next day we took off for Koh Phangan. Two days earlier, upon calling our hotel to confirm our reservation, I discovered that – despite two previous conversations that ended with confirmations of our booking – we had no reservation. No room. No nada. This on Koh Phangan, during the busiest time of the year. After 4 or 5 failed attempts to find a room, miraculously, a bungalow place which had been booked back in November had a cancellation, and we were given a room for 3 nights! The fact that we needed a place to stay for 4 nights, we rejoiced and made our way to Royal Orchid Bungalows.

The bungalow was in Mae Haad, which is just a beautiful sandbar away from Koh Ma, which you can see. There were beautiful beaches within walking distance, and we loved the friendly staff and fellow bungalow-ers. One night we stayed up with one guy from the staff and a bunch of people staying at the resort in the bar/beach. We got to meet so many people from all over the world and we had a great time there. I was so sad to leave!

What we saw when we stepped out of our bungalow.

Sunset at Mae Haad.

Sunset

All bungalows should come equipped with swings.

View of Koh Ma

View from Royal Orchid's bar and restaurant on the beach

Maya Bar aka my happy place

Just chillin.

We also went on a (much more legitimate) snorkeling tour in Ang Thong National Marine Park, which was amazing. Neither of us got seasick (the much more, ahem, solid boat may have explained the doubling in price from the previous snorkeling excursion) and the staff was helpful and informative about the marine life we saw and the park.

Then the Muay Thai fight! [Muay Thai = Thai kickboxing, national sport of Thailand] We went to this "stadium" to watch seven fights. The fighters progressed in age as the night went on, and the first fight consisted of two 6-8 year-old boys beating each other. I'm not going to lie, it disturbed me a little bit despite my efforts to withhold judgment and to avoid imposing my cultural norms. But beyond that, it was certainly an interesting experience and I enjoyed watching the crowd react to the fights just as much as the fights themselves. Muay Thai is rife with tradition and significance, and each fight opens with elaborate rituals and dancing. All told, it was a good experience that provided much food for thought.

Last but certainly not least, New Years Eve! Koh Phangan is home of the in/famous Full Moon Party, which is one of the biggest parties in the world, and the island was completely and totally booked for the occasion. We decided to go and check it out, a once and a lifetime thing, you know. We ended up having a complete blast with the other 30,000 people who attended the all-night fiesta on the beach. There was great music, dancing, fireworks, fire dancing (indeed), fire jump rope (many injuries were sustained by participants, it seemed) and scenery. When we finally left, we were still homeless (recall our inability to find shelter) and so we ended up sleeping in a restaurant. Classy, I know.

The next day, it was time to get back to reality. We began our 32-hour trek back to Chiang Rai, which involved a boat ride, another 9-hour bus ride, killing another 14 hours in Bangkok and finally, a flight home. During this time we hung out in Lumpini Park (the only place we could think of that would be open at 6 a.m., which was roughly around the time we got in to Bangkok after our bus ride, just in time to wait for our 8 p.m. flight), where I fell asleep on a park bench and was scolded by a police officer. I am now a vagrant. Great.

Ultimately, it was a fantastic holiday trip and a New Years Eve to remember!

Sawasdee bpii mai! Happy new year!

Ali