Life's a Beach

Time is seriously running away with me, I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post! I'm going to have to do a very brief recap of the last few weeks otherwise I'll never get up to date.

So, Koh Tao was a cool little island best known for it's diving and laid back attitude. Not having any idea of which island was best for what, we just thought we'd start with Koh Tao and work our way round from there, only realising on the ferry over there that the famous Full Moon Party was happening on Koh Phangan the next day. The ferry that dropped us off in Koh Tao also went onto Koh Phangan and it was extremely busy, no doubt full of people heading to the party who had already pre-booked tickets and accommodation, so wisely or not we decided to give it a miss. It was actually pretty nice being in Koh Tao when most travellers were in Koh Phangan because the island was pretty quiet and relaxed. The change in atmosphere was apparent the day after, however, when bruised and battered crowds swarmed from a heaving ferry. I can't remember exactly how many people seemed to suddenly appear on Koh Tao but it must have at least doubled, and of those, several had remnants of neon body paint on their hair, skin and torn clothes. We even saw one guy who looked like he'd been through a combine harvester... Without exaggerating his had bandages on every single limb and resembled a loosely wrapped mummy. I speculated that it must have Full Moon related injury from some of the various stories I overheard about the raucousness of it all, but it equally could have been a completely innocent occurrence (unlikely). We spent about five days on Koh Tao, two of which were spent completing our advanced Scuba Diving course and the rest just exploring the island.

Although not quite as lively as it's neighbour, the beach did get quite busy at night with everyone sitting on beanbags or cushions facing the sea to watch either the sun set or various fire performances including the famed flaming skipping rope.

Whilst negotiating fares for a taxi from the ferry, we met a Danish couple (Camilla and Jarrich) who we explored Koh Tao with and ended up travelling with to a few other of the islands. We were told that Mango Bay was one of the best beaches on the Island so we decided to hire scooters and venture over. We were warned that the roads were not great, the hills were pretty steep and that the bikes might not be able to cope, but we were up for the challenge. Our crude and basic map managed to get us most of the way, but for some reason it didn't show a way to actually get to the beach and the roads in places were alot worse than we had anticipated; resembling dried up cracked riverbeds. After having to jump off the bikes every 10 minutes so that they could safely navigate a steep hill, and climbing up in the sweltering heat to re-join the boys at the top we were exhausted and wanted nothing more than to jump into the sea. Eventually we found a promising looking road, parked the bikes and climbed down about 100 steps to reveal what looked like a hotel closed for renovation. In the distance we could see what must have been Mango bay (photo above), but between it and us was about 100 meters of large boulders on a steep hill and the sea to the left of it. We couldn't swim across as we had phones and cameras with us, so we tried to tackle to rocks. After scrambling across for a little while we decided that it wasn't a very good idea, as we didn't want to drop our stuff into the sea so we decided that the boys would take our stuff back to the bikes and try to find the road, and Camilla and I would swim across and meet them there.

Well, we definetely had the better deal. The water was great and when we got the the bay we managed to borrow some masks from some Danish boys - thanks to Camilla - and swim around watching the fish. It wasn't until we started getting hungry and thirsty that we realised the boys had been gone rather a long time, and that we didn't have any money, or means of going anywhere. We were just contemplating swimming back across and going in search of them when we saw Jarrich swimming over. It turned out that there was no road to Mango Bay at all and they had just been driving back and forth for over an hour. How people got there at all is beyond me! But anyway we had to swim back the way we had come, and ascend all those stairs again to get back to the bikes.

The next time we wanted to explore the beaches we decided to get a taxi boat. It involved far less exertion, which was preferable in the unforgiving sunshine, and we got to see a lot more of the island.

After we had finished our diving course, and we had been to our second (but much smaller) lady boy cabaret show, we moved on to Koh Phangan opting to stay on the quieter northern side.

Mae Haad Beach was supposed to be one of the more beautiful beaches as it had a sandy causeway leading over to a tiny island off the coast called Koh Ma, so we stayed there. It was pretty quiet, and didn't offer many dining options, but we did get to witness a joint beach wedding on Valentines day!

 Koh Ma at Night

 The causeway to Koh Ma was only 'walk-able' when the tide was low, so by the time we had visited, we had to wade back.

Above: Origami birds made from reeds for the weddings.

Below: Paper umbrellas and flowers hung from the trees.

The beach near us was pretty good, and the water was deep enough for swimming but that didn't stop us from having a nosy at what else the island had to offer. Here are a few shots from the other beaches;

 Bottle Beach: This was an absolute mission to get to! The options were to get a taxi boat or to hike, and thinking that we might enjoy the exercise we chose the hike... I had severely overestimated my fitness level in the heat and it took much longer than expected. However, the beach was (almost) worth it, it was pretty quiet, no doubt as a result of the transport options, and we managed to meet up with Kate and Matt who we first met in Chengdu, China! (They cleverly opted for the taxi boat and we snagged a lift back.)

Kate and Matt were on the last few days of their travels and so were 'living it up' a little more than usual. No one asked if we were staying at the hotel when we went through to visit them, so the next day we came back and helped ourselves to the pool and towels!

Next it was on to Koh Samui, known for its lush resorts and sandy beaches. Having stayed on the quieter side of Koh Phangan we decided on the touristy area of Koh Samui and it was packed (although we would later find out that this was nothing compared to Phuket).

Two days on Samui was enough (especially as it pelted down with rain all afternoon on the second day). We went to yet another Cabaret show this time with Kate and Matt lazied about on the beach, and then headed for Phuket.

Unfortunately this was probably the worst bus journey we have had during our whole trip. Not because it was uncomfortable (the buses in Lao are the top of that scale) but because not only were our bags searched through and turned upside-down but the staff were frighteningly aggressive towards us to the point where had we actually believed the police would have been on our side, we would have called them.  We did get to Phuket in the end, but the result of this was that I was insistent on getting a bag that could lock.

We got dropped off in the Old Town, and I don't think many other tourists stay there for more than a day mainly because it is about 20 minutes away from the beach and there isn't a whole lot to do. It didn't matter to us though as the room we found was far better and far cheaper than any place on the beach would have been. It was then easy enough to hire a scooter and travel to all of the beaches on the island rather than just staying on Patong Beach, which was more rammed than I have ever seen a beach before. There were about three rows of deck chairs and umbrellas stretching the entire length of the beach and although the sand was beautifully white and powdery you could hardly see it through the throngs of people. Needless to say we saw it, and decided to bike to a more remote spot. I realise now that I was so appalled I didn't even take a picture!

Also the main reason for us to stay in the Old Town was because the office that we needed to pick up our passports from was nearby. The DHL office proved to be a little difficult to locate, but after a boiling morning of scooting around and asking, we eventually found it and thankfully they had our brand new shiny passports sitting waiting for us. Now that the important stuff was done, we could relax on the beaches and wait for our package.

Staying in one place for more than a couple of days is sometimes quite refreshing as it allows you to get to know the area, and what it has to offer. We had to hang around to wait for a package to be sent from home containing Justin's Kite Surfing kit and a few other bits and bobs that we thought we might as well get sent alongside. So we had over a week to explore Phuket and the Old Town and ended up getting into a routine which involved breakast at the same place every day (Gallery Cafe which served the biggest doorstop wedges of French toast ever! And the best smoothies such as the passion fruit, lemongrass and ginger) the renewal of our bike (as we were never sure what day the package was going to arrive and consequentially how many days we would want the bike for) and a trip to one of the beaches or other points of interest.

Spot the tiny Hermit Crab!

After the package arrived though we were more than ready to leave. As Justin's kite surfing stuff was coming in it's own bag he would be sending his backpack home and putting all of his clothes into the bigger kit bag. Not wanting to be outdone (and not forgetting the experience we had had less than two weeks previously) I decided to also send my backpack home and controversially bought a wheelie suitcase. It is a little bigger than my backpack, and quite considerably larger than the size of some peoples ridiculously small travel bags, however, travelling next to Justin makes it look like a vanity case. Some of the looks we have been getting are priceless and everytime we stop to ask for directions or get into a taxi we always get the jokes and questions about why we have so much stuff. And that's just from the locals, I don't think other travellers have ever seen anything like it. Justin basically looks like he's carrying a dead body. But actually, even though the suitcase needs carrying up stairs and over the beaches when we arrive by small boats, in my opinion it is better than the backpack in so many ways and to be honest I don't care that it does sometimes look slightly silly (I tell myself).

So once we had sent all our excess belongings home, we set of to explore the beaches on the other side of the island, and headed for Koh Phi Phi.

It was yet again a very beautiful island although it turned out to be quite a bit more expensive than we expected. We ended up getting cheap accommodation with one of the dive shops for 500 Bhat which was basically a room up some treacherously steep wooden steps with a double bed and a fan. The bathroom was outside. It looked OK but it turned out to be a sauna during the day. The fan just blew around the hot air and even with the door open no breeze would go through the room. It turned out to be more than worth it though as the next day we had our best dive ever, and saw the most sealife so far including reef sharks, moray eels, cuttlefish and sea snakes.

Our last stop in Thailand was Railay near Krabi which had beautiful rocky structures rising out of the sea similar to the landscape in Yangshou, China or Halong Bay, Vietnam.

Several long tail boats came to collect passengers from the big ferry to carry them to the beaches and we arrived just as the sun was setting.

Amidst the expensive and luxury resorts we managed to find a reasonably priced room in a hotel on the East side of Railay which was not so much of a beach but a mangrove swamp. It only took about 10 minutes to walk to the West beach though which was beautiful and from there we kayaked to Ton Sai beach and Pranag cave beach.

A spot of rock climbing, a spicy beef salad and a few more curries concluded our stay in Thailand and after three days in Railay we headed for Malaysia!

That boat trip was the wettest and most annoying so far. We boarded the boat from the East side of the island, and as the tide had gone out the ground was muddy and swampy. A concrete path had been laid which although slippery was essential in allowing us to reach the boats through the gloop. The only problem was that about 100 meters along it met the water, and you had to wade through for about 20 meters to get to the boats. Normally this wouldn't be an issue but once the water met the path, the muddy shore dropped away either side leaving a narrow slippery tightrope of a path for you to juggle your belongings across. I was petrified of slipping and dropping my camera into the sea but thankfully I made it only the boat in one dry piece, only to have that remedied by the waves crashing over the side of the boat on the journey and soaking me to the skin. Nothing was damaged though, and after one night in Krabi town we caught the bus to Penang, Malaysia.