Travel Story «Arrival in Kho Pha Ngan and Aisling/the Ace's BDay»

Thailand | 0 Comments 07 March 2006 - Last Update 14 March 2006

Hello All, 

I think you can see a pattern emerging here; we are having too much of a good time to actually sit down at a computer and write about it a consequently our updates have become less detailed and less frequent, but don't despair. I, Grainne, will fill you in on our first couple of days in Kho Pha Ngan. 

So we left Koh Samui on Tuesday morning, March 7th and arrived in the idyllic paradise (according to reports we'd heard) of Koh Pha Ngan at around 11am. The boat trip over took about 45mins and was a smooth crossing. However the one thing that we noticed was that despite the sea breeze it was still extremely warm and our fellow sailors were all blond-tanned-gorgeous-teenage-scandanavians. The ironic thing is that apart from the Thai people these seem to be the only other types of individuals we've seen so far in Thailand, and although we all feel a little overwhelmed at the sheer number of attractive people here we seem to be meriting a lot of stares and glares ourselves, we're not sure why. Aisling/'The Ace thinks it's because we're still so white that they can't help be be attracted to the general direction of the "light", in fact the Ace is so fully convinced of this theory that she went off and got herself a bit of a rose hued tan/slight sunburn to offset the stares while the attention has been slowing down it's still there so we're still not sure what's wrong with us. (Answers on a POSTCARD please)

So we arrived into the oppressive heat and glare of the sun and tried to make our way to a guesthouse that had been recommended to us. The ferry dropped us off in Haad Rin (not the main town on the island but the base for most other backpackers) and we tried to make our way up the main "road" (it would probably be more accurately described as a dirt track or a boreen) to the accommodation. Initially we were annoyed because of the sweltering heat, the fact that the accommodation seemed to be too far away from the beach and some people were struggling with their backpacks (I won't name names but it wasn't me, despite what my parents think I hardly brought anything with me at all). So the question was whether on today Aisling's birthday, by the way, we would stay in this less than lovely palce for one night and try to find somewhere better the next day, but we decided to keep going, reasoning that we would just be prolonging the inevitable. We're lucky we did, after a prolonged search of a bout 10-15mins we came across the friendly bungalows, right on Sunset beach (yes for those of you who remember the soap of the same name, we now reside on Sunset Beach). So we got one bungalow (detached room) with air conditioning and hot water for just over 3Eurs each a night. Delighted our search had finally ended we went for a bit to eat and a walk along "our" beach. Immeadiately we were struck by the differences between Koh Samui and the section of Koh Pha Ngan we had seen. Kho Samui has lovely beaches but it is just the same as any European sun resort, but Koh Pha Ngan is definitely a Thai variation, the beach we saw was not nearly as nice but still it was at least clean and free of vendors asking you to buy a sarong or a handpainted duvet of an elephant meditating, every fifteen minutes. 

So after our initial feed and exploration we retreated to our new home for our now ritual, daily nap and to prepare for the birthday celebrations. After reviewing some guide books for Koh Pha Ngan and some debate we decided to head to Sunrise beach where the full moon party is always held, and we knew the half moon party was due to be held that night. We asumed that this would occurr in the same place, it does not. Emily "bartered" with a taxi driver to get us a fare of only 3EURS altogether to get there, on the way home we realised the walk would have taken us 3MINS (Trust No-One who comes up to you with "free advice'' or unsolicitated offers for directions people, if they're smiling at you it's very likely they're laughing at how easy you are to rip off - Though one nice Thai gentleman in Koh Samui came over to advise us how to swim when the current is so strong). 

Much fun ensued after we had reached our destination, bascially "sandbuckets" containing various concoctions were imbibed. However because of my aversion to red bull I stuck to the local beer and that is why I have been charged with the task of descibing this day to you. There we were sitting on the beach at 1am drinking from a pink bucket and watching fire dancers strut their stuff, while the waves lapped gently to the shore as if in time to the loud brash music, so just like a night out in Templemore or Bandon really. Aisling rang in her 26th year in great spirits and singing patriotic tunes, we made our way home with the aid of a map and a kind local who lit the way with a cigarette lighter when the pipes in the middle of the main road became difficult to traverse in the dark, at about 3am (the aged need their sleep). Then we took turns in our hammock, marvelled at the beauty of our view and made promises to get up early to go to the beach (8am before the soon got to hot and the beach got to crowded.)


We arose the next day too late for breakfast/brunch/lunch, but nobody was much in the mood for eating anyway. Aisling treated us to a light snack having lost a bet the previous evening in relation to health predictions, and we headed to the beach, where I believe everyone slept again (I did at least). Headed home soon after for dinner and a more sedate evening.

And then there was Thursday which I believe will be covered by someone else, good times so far in Koh Pha Ngan.

All the Best,
Corcaigh Abu,
Grainne