The Gulf of Thailand islands aren’t actually dirty by any means. They are beautiful! Though I was told that during monsoon season, all the flooding rivers of Thailand and Cambodia which empty in the south into the Gulf of Thailand carry an untold amount of garbage and sediment, making the Gulf a little dirtier that it normally is. My dive instructor on Koh Tao said that when out diving once during monsoon season a baby stroller floated by, obviously brought to Koh Tao by currents after being swept from somewhere by floods. Okay, so enough facts and information, let’s get back to the good stuff like beautiful beaches, scuba diving, sunshine, and other positive island things. So far I have been to five islands in the Gulf of Thailand (Phu Quoc in Vietnam, Koh Rong in Cambodia, and Koh Tao, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan in Thailand) and each of them is very different from each other. Koh Rong is a newbie on the bloc and is so undeveloped and pristine. Phu Quoc is a teenager where is has rows of accommodation on the main beach and in town but nothing outside of it. It is not built up like Koh Samui but I believe it is wants to be a busy and touristy as Samui is. Samui is the most visited and built up island out of the Thai Gulf Coast isles. It has a huge supermarket called Tesco that is like a Wal-Mart with KFC, Diary Queen and other shops in the complex. I did visit Tesco when I was in Lamai (a town and beach on the east coast of Samui) and a random thing happened to me in the TV section. I was looking at memory sticks, turned around and the TV was showing scenes of Whistler in the summertime. It was a promotion video of Canada with all scenic shots from all the country but of all the places to watch such a video starting with where you live. Koh Tao is the chilled out island, full of divers and snorkelers. Koh Phangan has quite, secluded beaches but also boosts Haad Rin which is home of the Fullmoon parties but on any given day is a party in itself. The Fullmoon party is on the 19th so I will let you know how that goes as I am going with the Dutch gals, Sieske and Sanne. Koh Tao, Samui and Phangan are part of the main attraction for tourist to Thailand as pretty much everyone you meet travelling in Asia has been to at least one of them or are planning on going to them.
Oh and I out on Khao San RdSince leaving Bangkok, I went to Koh Tao first for seven days, Koh Samui for three and I will be on Koh Phangan for seven days before heading to the west coast. My time on Koh Tao was awesome. I love that island! Firstly because I learned to scuba dive there and that was just so much fun, and secondly because the island just has such a chill vibe, probably due to the nature of scuba divers who are pretty chilled out party people. My scuba diving course was amazing and I had the best time. I am now an open water diver and am seriously thinking about doing my advanced open water in Malaysia or Indonesia. The course took four days and we did four open water dives at White Rock, Mango Bay, Southwest Pinnacle, and 3 Rocks. I also did two fun dives when the course was over to Chumphon Pinnacle and the Twins. Those two dives were the best dives with the Twins having the best visibility and marine life with a Blue Spotted Stingray, nudibranches, moray eels, and all different kinds of coral and fish. I spent the rest of my time on the island chilling out by lying at the beach and exploring some sights. I walked to Shark Bay and went snorkelling one day but failed to learn that the sharks live in the middle of the bay not on the sides which is where I snorkelled so didn’t see any shard. I also learned that my waterproof camera is not so waterproof as it took in water. Thankfully it dried out and still works with water damage to the LCD screen but the main thing it works. I also met up with Ingrid, who I spent Christmas in Vang Veng with, and we did yoga two nights on a platform overlooking the beach. Diving in the morning and yoga at night is a great way to spend a day.
From Koh Tao, I took a ferry to Koh Samui and stayed on the south end of Lamai Beach. Lamai is a smaller town, versus Chaweng to the north, and is full older Europeans and families. My bungalow was a couple hundred meters up from the beach in a pretty garden and it suited me just fine. It was only a 20 minute walk in was into the Lamai town so after spending the day at the beach, I would walk in for cheap street food and shopping. It was nice to be able to do some shopping, especially as I thought I was going to have to buy a new camera, and have some modern conveniences available but Samui is too touristy for my likings. Even what are supposed to be the quieted beaches are still wall to wall resorts and beach bars. After Samui , I took the ferry o Koh Phangan and caught a share taxi and than a longtail boat to Bottle Beach (Haad Khuat) on the north part of the island. Bottle Beach is one of the prettiest beaches on the island is nestled in a cove with only four resorts on it. Longtail boats arrive with day trippers but staying here is definitely the way to go. The beach is white sand with green water and all I did was cycles of swimming and reading and sun tanning. Life is good when you all you have to do are those three things all day. From Bottle Beach before I headed to Baan Tai Beach on the south part of the island to be closer to Haad Rin and the Fullmoon party. I met up with the gals at our bungalow and we hung out at the beach and checked out Baan Tai that night. Not much too see in Baan Tai other than a 7-Eleven and some restaurants so the next night after a beach day, we walked 1.5 hrs into Haad Rin to check it out, do some shopping and figure out the fullmoon party. The day of the full moon party, after wasting the day at the beach, we got ready and headed by shared taxi in around 10pm. There were thousands of people on the beach and it was definitely one big party. The gals and I lost each other but all made it home safe and sound and each of us had a fun night. I am glad that I went to the party but it wasn’t the best party I have ever been too. Maybe it was because I lost the gals or because there was just too many people there or maybe I am just getting older but in the end I am glad I went as now I can say been there, done that and got the full moon tank top. After the party, I slept all day on the beach and took the very crowded night boat to the mainland and than a morning bus to Krabi. Krabi is the access point to Railay Beach (infamous for climbing), Koh Phi Phi (home of beach from the movie “The Beach”) and Koh Lanta, which will be my next three destinations before Malaysia. The middle point of my trip has come to pass and now I only have eight more weeks left in Asia. Still lots more to see and do in that time frame and I know it will fly by. Well, I hope this finds everyone happy and healthy. Love to all xoxox
Bottle Beach
Bottle Beach
No comments:
Post a Comment