Ko Phangan Part 1: No moon, no crowds, no worries.

There comes points in a long-term travel trip where you feel you need to take time out and just relax for a few days. While travelling is somewhat like a holiday, it involves far more effort, sweat and poor nights of sleep, especially in South East Asia.

I had spent the last few days in Bangkok doing little other than eating, drinking and shopping. But the capital is a tiring place. Sure, my hostel was peaceful and friendly, with free tea and powerful AC. But the moment you walk onto the main street there are taxis and people and food stalls and tuk-tuks and dogs and motorbikes. It is tiring, despite being tirelessly enthralling.

The very busy street outside my hostel.

I needed some beach time, and eventually I decided to go to Koh Phangan, the second largest island in the Koh Samui archipelago which sits just off the coast in the Gulf of Thailand. It has beautiful, golden beaches; warm, crystal-clear seas; swathes of pristine tropical jungle; and a developed but not overdeveloped tourist infrastructure. It looked and sounded incredible.

Koh Phangan is a little bigger than this tiny island, and has a few more amenities too ;) 

However, the island’s primary attraction for many is the infamous, (lunar-)monthly, hedonistic Full Moon parties, when up to 20,000 young people congregate on Haad Rin Nok (Sunrise Beach) for an all-night party of cheap buckets (of alcohol), freely-available drugs, and dangerous fire games, stopping only when the sun rises over the sea the following morning.

Whilst I could understand the appeal of Full Moon, I would not have been able to tolerate the hyper-inflated prices, and so I was glad that I arrived three days after the full moon. The island felt distinctly quiet, but there were ample people to befriend over a beer.  

The parties kept going.

The island turned out to be so addictively fun that I stayed six nights, though with views like this, I am amazed I did not stay longer.

One more amazing day travelling, one more beach, one more (alcoholic) drink...

To reach the island, I had to take an overnight train journey from Bangkok to Surat Thani, the nearest major city to the islands. I still find sleeper trains so much fun: they're novel; more comfortable then buses; and save on accommodation costs. What's not to like?

I do need to decide to go to sleep on them earlier than I do, as my stop is invariably at some insultingly-early time in the morning. This time, my train was scheduled to arrive in Surat Thani at 06:38, and my alarm set for 06:15, yet I was still up at 01:00 reading. It was a rough morning, not helped by the coach assistant waking everyone up at 05:30, despite the fact that the train was delayed by an hour...

I feel my face says it all when I woke up that morning.


From trains to buses to boats, I disembarked from the train and had only thirty minutes to wolf down some breakfast (Pad Thai, of course) before I was frogmarched onto a bus for an hour's journey to the pier. From there it was a ninety minute boat ride, via Koh Samui, to Koh Phangan.

My sleep-deprived disgruntlement was soon however sent to the back of my thoughts as I stood in the fresh air, squinting through the strong sunlight at the scenery surrounding the boat. Just to warn you, it was all very blue, and no amount of editing can make it any less overwhelmingly blue.

I could not understand why nearly everyone else was sat inside the catamaran, thereby depriving themselves of these amazing views.


Eventually the boat docked in Thongsala, the main town on Koh Phangan. I dodged swiftly past the cloud of touts offered overpriced taxi rides to the beach resorts, and walked down the long pier where I found sensible drivers offering half the price I'd previously been quoted. There was also a 7/11 just off the pier, which made me exceedingly happy, as I could grab some cold water and a steaming hot bao before the sorgnthaew ride.

I already approve of this island!

Ready to go, I headed onwards to Haad Rin along a fairly horrendous road that seemed to have found every single hill possible between the two towns. Pulling into the town, the minivan stopped outside a school, and the driver pointed to an alleyway which I should walk along. Bemused, but aware that the town was far from large, I followed his directions, and a few minutes found myself in the centre of Haad Rin. 

No moon, no crowds, no people at all.

As you can see, the town was dead. Most of the hostels and bars were closed, or the staff were nowhere to be found. I walked down this road anxiously looking around. Would there be anyway open for me to stay at???


As it turns out, I needn't have worried. The main reason for the resort's desolation was that it was only 11:00am, which for a party town like Haad Rin is the equivalent of 05:00am. I eventually found a hostel where I could get a private single room (no dorms available, annoying!) for 350B. Resigned to a mediocre room in a mediocre hostel, I agreed, if only so after eighteen hours of travelling I could take a shower! 


Refreshed I went in search of the original attraction of this part of the island; Haad Rin Nok or Sunrise Beach.

This could have been the most beautiful beach I've ever set foot on, if it wasn't for what was just out of shot.

Sadly, despite the beach's potential, it has been severely overdeveloped with shops, stalls and ugly concrete hotels tumbling onto the beach.

This 7/11 isn't quite what it seems. Note the logo if you can; it is a pachydermic impostor. 

However, I still found the beach appealing, perhaps because in spite of the development and the influx of travellers its handles each month (the Full Moon party is held on this beach), it was still striking beautiful, and remained one of my favourite beaches on the island despite some fierce competition, which I will cover in the next post.

I need to include a token 'row on boats on Thai beach photo'. ;)

After I had paddled from one end to the other, and had a brief swim out as far as the swimming area allowed, I went in search of the town's other beach, Haad Rin Nai (Sunrise Beach), which ran along the other shore on the peninsula which the resort straddles.


I was not particularly impressed.

I headed back to the pretty beach.

En route, I took the opportunity to explore the small town of Haad Rin, Despite being crammed full of bucket-stalls, neon-vest-stores, and western-style-restauarants, the town had a scruffy charm to it. I also relished a chance to eat cuisines other than Thai or burger, and found myself some fairly authentic hummus and falafel (authentic as in it tastes like what I buy from Tescos). I did feel bad for not buying local food, but it is difficult to find local food in Haad Rin, as a sizeable minority of the residents, if not the majority, are economic migrants from Myanmar and Nepal. So a lot of the 'Thai' food on offer is not being cooked by Thai people. Basically, I am justifying my guilty, Middle-Eastern-style meal.

7/11s are everywhere on this island.

Nom nom! 

I wiled away the remainder of the day in the sea or napping on the beach (which even in the sun was cooler than my room), and then when night fell I went in search of food and people. Hostel was as empty as it was hot....

I found a restaurant perched overlooking the beach called the Rock which served decent Pad Thai but not-so-decent garlic bread, so I passed my evening admiring the view and bemoaning the lack of people around.

At 10:00pm I had given up and headed back to my room, but decided it was too early for sleep so I grabbed my Chromebook and set out for the beach, thinking I could sit somewhere with a beer and some shisha, and blog for an hour or two in a beautiful setting.

My view from where I was sat on the beach.

Unbeknownst to me, I had again been pre-emptive in dismissing this town. By around 10:30pm the beach bar I was at was full, and shortly after fire breathing started up at the next beach along. More and more people were congregating on the beach, and the atmosphere was getting lively. I befriended a Quebecois Canadian, had a few more beers, and then headed onto the bar with the fire shows.


The next thing I remember is attempting fire limbo.

Thankfully my poor senses of co-ordination and balance knocked me out well before the flaming limbo pole was anywhere near injuring me. But I continued drinking and cheering on the Canadian guy who remained in the running, and shared in his commiserations when he came second to a teenage girl who obviously had no spine or bones at all.


By this point, I was fairly drunk, so I wandered off to return my laptop to my room and fetch some 7/11 toasties, but I got a little confused apparently, as I fetched the toasties first, and then fell asleep eating them in my room.



...


The following morning I woke up with cheese and ham stuck to my forehead, and distinctly felt worse for wear. It didn't help that my room was roasting hot. Even showering I was sweating, so I had to drag the fan into the bathroom, and have it pointed at me on full in order to cool off a little.


I had decided the previous night to check out of my hostel. I needed to find people to socialise with, and every hostel in Haad Rin had been emptied after Full Moon as people moved onto other islands or to cheaper, better beaches on Koh Phangan. I decided to emulate the latter, and checked out of my hostel, before heading off to vegetate and sit out my hangover (why do I mix beer and spirits? Dear Lord, why???) back at the Rock restaurant.

It is hard to feel grumpy when you have this view.

Feeling better, I headed off by taxi to a hostel I had found on Baan Tai beach, which stretches along the southern coast of Koh Phangan. I was of course ripped off by the taxi again, because I again paid in advance. NEVER BELIEVE THEM WHEN THEY SAY YOU HAVE TO PAY MORE BECAUSE THERE ARE ENOUGH PASSENGERS. You inevitably subsidise the fares of locals who get on just around the corner.


So annoying!


The sorgnthaew dropped me off on the side of the main road, and the driver directed me down this side road.

After several wrong turns, I found my hostel, and the beach it looked out on. It might have not been quite as postcard perfect as the previous one, but my hostel sat on the beach, and there were actual people staying in the hostel aside from me. Perfect!

The beach just steps from my new hostel, At Beach Bed & Bar.

DSP




Useful Information:

• Getting to Koh Phangan:
• Ferries run to Koh Phangan from two mainland cities: Chumphon and Surat Thani. Chumphon is further north and therefore closer to Bangkok, but further from Koh Phangan than Surat Thani is. Prices are roughly the same from each port, though Surat Thani may be a little cheaper. 
• I chose to go via Surat Thani as the sleeper train times were more convenient and matched up better with ferry departures.
• My 13h sleeper train (AC, top bunk) cost 678B (£13.16) direct from the station.
• The day ferries and speedboats to Koh Phangan depart from Donsak, an hour's bus ride from the train station in Surat Thani.
• The Lomprayah catamaran takes 90 minutes to reach Koh Phangan from Donsak, with a stop on Koh Samui.
• To Koh Phangan, the ferry costs 550B (£11.00) and is obviously overpriced. To return to the mainland from Koh Phangan costs 650B (£13.00).
• Getting around Koh Phangan:
• Sorgnthaew open-seat taxis are easily found along the main routes east and north.
• Drivers meeting you at the pier demand inflated prices. Instead, walk past them and down the pier to the island. Behind the island 'station' there are sorgnthaew waiting which offer reasonable prices.
• Expect to pay around 100B (£2) for a transfer to the southern or western beach resorts. Baan Tai should be reachable for 50B. For north/east resorts, expect to pay more, especially if travelling alone to a less popular beach.
• Some of the beaches are not accessible by road, so water taxis (small longtail boats) serve them instead. Take a sorgnthaew to the nearest beach, and then ask at the beach.
• Be wary of drivers charging you more because there are not enough occupants, but then once you have paid extra, driving around the corner and filling up their vehicle with local passengers. Avoid this by not paying in advance.
• Accommodation:
• My next blog will cover most of the resorts on the island in more detail. I chose (mistakenly) to base myself in Haad Rin, which out of Full Moon season is dead and accommodation empty.
• I (over)paid 350B for a single room with fan at Same Same Guesthouse, which was stiflingly hot and unpleasant.
• Food and Drink:
• Local street food is not available in Haad Rin, so you're restricted to restaurants which push up costs. However, outside of Full Moon season, there's a fair amount of competition which makes prices competitive. I had falafel, hummus, pita and a mango shake for 100B which is reasonable.
• Watch out for 7/11s which have inflated prices all over the island but they are especially high in Haad Rin.
• Alcohol is fairly cheap with lethal buckets costing only 150B, and beers start at around 80B.