Posted by: Jenn
Oooooh man...where to start, where to start. If our past few days haven't been the definition of luck not on our side then I don't know what is. Seeing Mr. W and MB off started the descent. It was so hard to tell them bye after such a great two weeks that I ended up getting sick. As soon as they left I came down with a mad cold. A throbbing head and an unblowable nose made for a rough two days. Mr. W and MB left on the 8th leaving Jonathan and exactly nine days left in Thailand before flying to India. We wanted to spend those last nine days doing something spectacular...of course. Our first choice was to go diving in the Similan Islands. Welp, can't really dive with a congested head...good job Jenn. So that option was shot because we didn't want to make our way down there (opposite direction from Bangkok where we fly out of) and then not get to dive because I still can't breath. There's not much else to do there but dive. Plan B was to head to Anthong National Marine Park to camp and see an amazing string of 42 islands with emerald green beaches. So that's what we went with.
We left Phuket on a bus/ferry combo after I was feeling a little better and headed for Koh Phangan, the jumping off point for the national park. We never book our hotels in advance because you never know what you are going to get. We also never book with the people passing out fliers on the pier because they are usually overpriced and better deals can be found. So when we arrived in Koh Phangan at 7 PM we lugged our bags all over carnation trying to find a room. To our surprise, the scarce rooms off the beach were more expensive than the beach front resort-like rooms that the tout was offering on the boat ride over. Discouraged, tired and frustrated, Jonathan finally rented a moto-scooter to go hunt down a room in a different location while I watched the luggage. He returned about half an hour later, room key in hand. Despite all our hard work and searching, the room was a dump. It was late, we were hungry, and a lot of the good deals were taken because it was half-moon festival time on the island (huge party that Koh Phangan is known for that happens on the half-moon). The half-moon party or full-moon party is why most backpackers hit up this island. Anyways - the room would have to work for the first night.
We didn't realize it was half moon party time until we got on the island; so we thought we should stick around for the party on the 12th and then head to the marine park. This meant we needed a room for two more nights so we could do the party on the 12th, sleep in and then leave for the marine park on the morning of the 13th. After a rough nights sleep on a hard bed we trudged through the muddy sand down the beach in the pouring rain to find a better room. We price checked about 10 places before finding a beach front bungalow with a pool, free wifi, a monkey and two adorable puppies. Sounds like heaven right? As soon as I stepped into the bathroom a huge brown thing scurried across the mildew stained tile floor. Well hello mr. cockroach...now DIE! So the room wasn't that much of an upgrade, but the pool, wifi, puppies and beach front doorstep were.
Oooooh man...where to start, where to start. If our past few days haven't been the definition of luck not on our side then I don't know what is. Seeing Mr. W and MB off started the descent. It was so hard to tell them bye after such a great two weeks that I ended up getting sick. As soon as they left I came down with a mad cold. A throbbing head and an unblowable nose made for a rough two days. Mr. W and MB left on the 8th leaving Jonathan and exactly nine days left in Thailand before flying to India. We wanted to spend those last nine days doing something spectacular...of course. Our first choice was to go diving in the Similan Islands. Welp, can't really dive with a congested head...good job Jenn. So that option was shot because we didn't want to make our way down there (opposite direction from Bangkok where we fly out of) and then not get to dive because I still can't breath. There's not much else to do there but dive. Plan B was to head to Anthong National Marine Park to camp and see an amazing string of 42 islands with emerald green beaches. So that's what we went with.
We left Phuket on a bus/ferry combo after I was feeling a little better and headed for Koh Phangan, the jumping off point for the national park. We never book our hotels in advance because you never know what you are going to get. We also never book with the people passing out fliers on the pier because they are usually overpriced and better deals can be found. So when we arrived in Koh Phangan at 7 PM we lugged our bags all over carnation trying to find a room. To our surprise, the scarce rooms off the beach were more expensive than the beach front resort-like rooms that the tout was offering on the boat ride over. Discouraged, tired and frustrated, Jonathan finally rented a moto-scooter to go hunt down a room in a different location while I watched the luggage. He returned about half an hour later, room key in hand. Despite all our hard work and searching, the room was a dump. It was late, we were hungry, and a lot of the good deals were taken because it was half-moon festival time on the island (huge party that Koh Phangan is known for that happens on the half-moon). The half-moon party or full-moon party is why most backpackers hit up this island. Anyways - the room would have to work for the first night.
We didn't realize it was half moon party time until we got on the island; so we thought we should stick around for the party on the 12th and then head to the marine park. This meant we needed a room for two more nights so we could do the party on the 12th, sleep in and then leave for the marine park on the morning of the 13th. After a rough nights sleep on a hard bed we trudged through the muddy sand down the beach in the pouring rain to find a better room. We price checked about 10 places before finding a beach front bungalow with a pool, free wifi, a monkey and two adorable puppies. Sounds like heaven right? As soon as I stepped into the bathroom a huge brown thing scurried across the mildew stained tile floor. Well hello mr. cockroach...now DIE! So the room wasn't that much of an upgrade, but the pool, wifi, puppies and beach front doorstep were.
We didn't do much after we moved hotels, as the weather was iffy. We spent most of the day catching up on the internet and preparing for India. The next day, half moon festival day, we had a nice lunch in town and just spent the day relaxing by the pool and beach. The party doesn't get going until about midnight so after dinner we decided to wander down the beach to a more happening hostel to try to meet other travelers to go to the party with. Going alone wouldn't be as much fun as going with a group. Looooong story short, when we got the "happening hostel" it wasn't so happening. We played a game of pool, neither of us able to get into party mode, and then decided to walk home. Hopefully the half moon party was lame...we wouldn't know.
The next morning we had left wide open so we could catch up on sleep from staying up late to party. Up and at'em early because we went to bed early, we decided to rent a motorbike and explore some more of Koh Phangan. This was a good day. The weather stayed sunshiney and the beaches were nicer than the side of the island we were staying on.
The next morning we had left wide open so we could catch up on sleep from staying up late to party. Up and at'em early because we went to bed early, we decided to rent a motorbike and explore some more of Koh Phangan. This was a good day. The weather stayed sunshiney and the beaches were nicer than the side of the island we were staying on.
Once back in town we finally booked the marine park tour. This in itself was a process, as we wanted to stay the night in some government run bungalows in the park. Tourist agencies in town don't book the bungalows for you because they are government run, but the only way to get to the park is through a one day tour. We finally found a lady who sold us a special two day tour. We would take a ferry to Ko Samui and then take a large tour boat that runs every day to the park, stay the night, and then take the large tour boat back to Ko Samui and then another ferry from Ko Samui to Ko Phangan. With the normal tour you take a speedboat directly from Ko Phangan to the park and tour the islands then come back the same day. We were excited that someone could sell us something that would work with what we wanted to do. We went and stocked up on food supplies and water, as we heard the restaurant on the island is very pricey.
On the way home from the grocery store this pulled up next to our motobike at a red light...
We woke up on the 14th at 6 AM to head for the pier. The ferry took us to Ko Samui where we found the tour boat waiting. Nice - so far so good. We arrived at the park and talked to government run bungalow visitor center, praying that they had an open bungalow. They did! Now all we needed to do was confirm that the tour boat would be back the next day to take us back. We talked to the tour boat director person and to our dismay he said he was 80% sure they would not do a tour the next day due to predictions of bad weather. Seeing that we had already bought a boat/bus ticket headed for Bangkok on the 16th for our flight on the 17th we couldn't afford to risk getting stuck on the island an extra day. We were pretty disappointed that after all we had done to book this "special tour" it wasn't going to work out. Good thing we stocked up on camp food... However, we were on a beautiful island, so we sucked up our disappointment and continued the one day tour.
We hiked up to a spectacular overlook. The hike was treacherous but it was so way worth it.
We hiked up to a spectacular overlook. The hike was treacherous but it was so way worth it.
The tour boat then took us to another island where we hiked to an emerald green lagoon.
We got to snorkel on this island too (not in the lagoon). The visibility was probably the worst we have had so far and the reef was so shallow that it was hard to swim over. Jonathan spotted a sting ray though, so that was cool.
We boarded the boat again and it took us back to Ko Samui where we would catch the ferry back to Ko Phangan. The tour agency we booked through assured us that the tour would be back in time to catch the evening ferry - just like she assured us the tour runs everyday... The ferry was long gone by the time our tour boat arrived at the pier. Jonathan and I looked at each other and just laughed because we really didn't think one more thing could go wrong. We were forced to spend the night on Ko Samui. Luckily we found a room fairly quickly right next to the pier. Once we got settled we laughed at the situation again. We did all of this instead of just taking the direct speedboat from Phangan to the park and back in one day...
The next morning we caught the 11 AM ferry without any issues and once back in Koh Phangan we made our way back to our beach front bungalow that they were supposed to be holding for us. Wouldn't that be the icing on the cake if I told you that they had given it away and we didn't have a place to stay? Well, fortunately they held it and we did have a place to stay. :-) We spent the rest of the day hanging out on the beach soaking up the sun.
The next morning we caught the 11 AM ferry without any issues and once back in Koh Phangan we made our way back to our beach front bungalow that they were supposed to be holding for us. Wouldn't that be the icing on the cake if I told you that they had given it away and we didn't have a place to stay? Well, fortunately they held it and we did have a place to stay. :-) We spent the rest of the day hanging out on the beach soaking up the sun.
The next day we caught a ferry/bus combo to Bangkok. We arrived in Bangkok at 3:45 AM...yuck! Once off the bus and after sweeping past the hords of tuk tuk drivers (yes, even in the wee hours of the morning they swarm you) we made our way back to Khao San Road...in the rain. It's funny how a place you have been to only twice for a few days feels homey - I guess because it is familiar and nothing ever is when constantly changing cities and hotels. We booked a room at a hostel we stayed at before and crashed. The next morning (actually it was noon when we got up) we had a hearty breakfast of Burger King and street Pad Thai.
We had wanted to do some more shopping because Khao San Road lends itself to that so easily but because of the rain we opted for foot massages instead. For $3.33 we got a 30 minute foot massage. It was wonderful.
Our flight leaves at 7 PM tonight for India so we are currently killing time in the internet cafe hoping the rain slows down so we can grab our bags and head to the airport. Leaving Thailand is bittersweet. We have spent so much time here and have enjoyed every bit of it but we have to move on to see what another part of the world offers. We are nervous but very excited about India. We have heard some really good things and really bad things and multiple people have told us that visiting India will change our lives. Stay tuned for our first post on India - I'm sure it will be culture shock for us, as well as you!
I don't want to leave you thinking that we are being whiny babies - I know, we are traveling the world. But it is hard work, as nice as it sounds. Planning and hoping everything works out as planned can be tiresome, because most of the time plans fall through and you have to learn to roll with it. But I think, if all we have to complain about so far is a few plans falling through the cracks (i.e., we don't get to stay on this pretty island, instead we have to stay on this other pretty island), then we are doing pretty darn good.
I don't want to leave you thinking that we are being whiny babies - I know, we are traveling the world. But it is hard work, as nice as it sounds. Planning and hoping everything works out as planned can be tiresome, because most of the time plans fall through and you have to learn to roll with it. But I think, if all we have to complain about so far is a few plans falling through the cracks (i.e., we don't get to stay on this pretty island, instead we have to stay on this other pretty island), then we are doing pretty darn good.