...they both somehow contributed to an amazingly sunny and eventful trip to the Thai islands!
Before our trip, Abbie and I had allocated about 10 days to explore some of the hugely popular paradises in the south of the country. The greatest stress about it? Picking the right ones! We knew we would be on the island of Ko Pha Ngan on February 7th for the Full Moon Party (I will explain THAT in detail in a bit) so we planned to check out one other island before as well. We finally decided on Ko Chang, because it was “easily” accessible from Cambodia. Oh yea, and it has tons of elephants – sold!
While travel guides and locals claim that Siem Reap to Ko Chang is an uncomplicated, relatively short journey, we found it quite the opposite. After a tuk-tuk, taxi, on-foot border crossing, tour bus, and local bus with old men selling raw meat on strings, we still had not reached our destination and at that point it was too late to get a ferry to Ko Chang anyways. We found a random hostel in the little coastal town, downed some Thai noodles, and fell asleep in our cocoon sleeping bags (set aside for the more gross hostels) anxious to arrive the next day.
All was glorious the next morning with a couple beers and a beautiful ferry ride to the island. We found our hostel effortlessly (unheard of) as it was basically in the ocean on one of the main beaches of Ko Chang, White Sands beach. While the location was stunning and you could not ask for a better view, the room was a bed. Yes, a bed. Nothing else. Not that we needed much else because we were beachside 16 hours a day, and I guess you could say I got great sand exfoliation on my entire body during the night...
No one lied when they told us that any island you choose in Thailand is simply stunning. The clear water, yellow sand, and jungle-green mountains carrying the backdrop all merge to provide scenic, picture-perfect views no matter where you look.
While the main activity was therefore sun-soaking on the beach, we happened to fit in a few other things as well. Ko Chang is a relatively small island, but on the southern point is a small fishing village called Bang Boa, which is a beautiful dock full of shops and great seafood restaurants. We enjoyed some scallops and shrimp, Thai style, while looking out over the bright blue water, next to fishermen pulling in exactly what we were eating! We also heard that elephant trekking was popular on the island, and instead of riding elephants in the north of Thailand, we opted to do it on the beautiful island as it was much less touristy. Once at the elephant sanctuary, Abbie and I hopped on one elephant for a little ride through the jungle. We were having enough fun, but didn’t realize we would actually get to swim with them during the final part of our tour! Off came the seats and saddles where we were carefully placed before, and we rode bareback into a watering hole with the other elephants! We didn’t know that they were into dunking either until we were fully submerged underwater and had to figure out a way to climb back up the massive mammals. Never in a million years did I imagine myself actually side-by-side to elephants in a lake in southern Thailand. The experience added a little swing in my step and I could not stop smiling the rest of the day.
Bang Bao Fishing Village
The positive elephant energy was greatly needed as we approached the next leg of our journey. We booked an overnight train from Bangkok to Koh Pha Ngan so that we could make it to the Full Moon Party and also have a few more days on the beach. On our way to Bangkok from Ko Chang to catch the train, I received an email stating that the train was full…no worries, we will just catch the next one or get another class bunk, right? WRONG. Once at the train station, we were informed that there were no more trains or buses for the next 7 nights! The travel fiasco ensued and we spent the next three hours in a hole-in-the-wall travel agency, booking flights and ferries and asking the agent all kinds of questions. I think we annoyed her enough because she ended up selling us quadruple-the-price one-way slow ferry tickets that she told us were round-trip fast ferry tickets. Being ripped off is as common as noodles in this region, and I knew it would happen multiple times, but it doesn’t minimize my frustration in the least! Tired, sunburnt, and defeated, Abbie and I accepted our loss and hit the streets of Bangkok for some yummy street food and beer before our flight the next morning.
Once we finally reached Ko Pha Ngan we were ecstatic to find that our bungalow was a perfectly simple wooden shack overlooking the beach. The owner was a sweet, motherly Thai woman who cooked the best Thai food we have had on our trip. The only downside were the hand-sized spiders we encountered in our bathroom…
Ko Pha Ngan is the ultimate backpacker destination for one sole reason: the Full Moon Party. (And the beaches are awesome too!) One of the biggest parties in the world, FMP draws around 25,000 people every month during the full moon. We stayed on the island for 4 nights, and met so many young people in our hostel and on the beaches – it was a blast! The night of the Full Moon, we bought neon paint and went to town drawing temporary tattoos on each other with people from our hostel. The party itself was a jumble of fire shows, clubs, bars, black lights, dancing, and buckets – all on the beach! Everyone purchases a bucket and chooses their alcohol and mixers for the night, dancing to different beats that the various clubs along the ocean provide. Check that off the “bucket” list – ha!
Our next journey was from the south to the north...to a city called Chiang Mai. My favorite of the trip so far, so will update you on our adventures there oh-so-soon!
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