Hello, we are now in Koh Phangan. We made it just fine to Koh Samui and have done a little island hopping since. Once we landed in Koh Samui we caught a taxi to Hat Bophut which is a little less developed and still has the feeling of a fishing village. You can certainly see the money that has been pumped into the island as the restaurants are all very modern and beautifully designed. This island is one of the most popular islands to visit by tourists. We headed down the beach to find the best place to stay and walked the whole stretch before catching a taxi back into town to stay at the first place we looked at. There's something to be said about booking place before you arrive. Oh well it's the adventure. The next morning we jumped on the ferry and headed to Koh Tao, this island is the most remote of the three islands in this area and is a scuba diver's paradise. The ferry took about 2hours and we made the quick 20min walk to Sairee beach to find a place to stay. We ended up paying the most we have all trip and booked the first bungalow we stopped at - I think we were all a little tired of the hunt and wanted to just drop
our stuff off this time. They were really nice bungalows and we had the best bed to sleep on of the trip thus far. The beach was beautiful though the sand was pretty course. They have tons of little restaurants and bars lining the beach and this great little cobblestone boardwalk that parallels the beach. We stopped in at Blue Wind for dinner one night and everyone sits on cushions around short tables overlooking the ocean. We played a rousing game of scrabble and then strolled the beach. The next morning we took a boat trip around the island and made about 5 stops for snorkeling. The first stop was at Shark Island and we each saw about 3 black tip sharks. They were about 2-3' long so they weren't intimidating at all. The coral here is amazing, nothing like I have ever seen before. The fish are the same as you see in Hawaii, so the coral is what people come to see. Our last stop was at a series of three islands that are connected by a sandbar. We hiked to the top of the one island and got a great panaramic view. The water is incredible here it's a light turquoise to royal blue and so clear you can see the bottom. Amazing. That evening we grabbed dinner and hung out on the beach, the different bars set out cushions on the sand with lanterns so it's really relaxing just sitting by the ocean. Today we caught another ferry to Koh
Phangan - this is where they have the famouse Full Moon parties. Tonight is a half moon party up in the jungle somewhere so we're going to check it out. Sounds like it's a pretty wild time. One thing we have all noticed is that there aren't many Thais here it's all Europeans, so we don't stand out too much like we did in Chiang Mai! We'll be here for a few more days and then will head to Bangkok on Sept. 11th. We're planning to do some more relaxing and head out to Anthong National Water Park in the next couple of days for some more snorkeling and kayaking.
Hello, we are now in Koh Phangan. We made it just fine to Koh Samui and have done a little island hopping since. Once we landed in Koh Samui we caught a taxi to Hat Bophut which is a little less developed and still has the feeling of a fishing village. You can certainly see the money that has been pumped into the island as the restaurants are all very modern and beautifully designed. This island is one of the most popular islands to visit by tourists. We headed down the beach to find the best place to stay and walked the whole stretch before catching a taxi back into town to stay at the first place we looked at. There's something to be said about booking place before you arrive. Oh well it's the adventure. The next morning we jumped on the ferry and headed to Koh Tao, this island is the most remote of the three islands in this area and is a scuba diver's paradise. The ferry took about 2hours and we made the quick 20min walk to Sairee beach to find a place to stay. We ended up paying the most we have all trip and booked the first bungalow we stopped at - I think we were all a little tired of the hunt and wanted to just drop 
our stuff off this time. They were really nice bungalows and we had the best bed to sleep on of the trip thus far. The beach was beautiful though the sand was pretty course. They have tons of little restaurants and bars lining the beach and this great little cobblestone boardwalk that parallels the beach. We stopped in at Blue Wind for dinner one night and everyone sits on cushions around short tables overlooking the ocean. We played a rousing game of scrabble and then strolled the beach. The next morning we took a boat trip around the island and made about 5 stops for snorkeling. The first stop was at Shark Island and we each saw about 3 black tip sharks. They were about 2-3' long so they weren't intimidating at all. The coral here is amazing, nothing like I have ever seen before. The fish are the same as you see in Hawaii, so the coral is what people come to see. Our last stop was at a series of three islands that are connected by a sandbar. We hiked to the top of the one island and got a great panaramic view. The water is incredible here it's a light turquoise to royal blue and so clear you can see the bottom. Amazing. That evening we grabbed dinner and hung out on the beach, the different bars set out cushions on the sand with lanterns so it's really relaxing just sitting by the ocean. Today we caught another ferry to Koh 
Phangan - this is where they have the famouse Full Moon parties. Tonight is a half moon party up in the jungle somewhere so we're going to check it out. Sounds like it's a pretty wild time. One thing we have all noticed is that there aren't many Thais here it's all Europeans, so we don't stand out too much like we did in Chiang Mai! We'll be here for a few more days and then will head to Bangkok on Sept. 11th. We're planning to do some more relaxing and head out to Anthong National Water Park in the next couple of days for some more snorkeling and kayaking.
1 comment:
Your trip is a dream. I can't believe that my family is so far away in such a tropical paradise. Are the places that you have visited sites that Laura and Mark visited when they were in Thailand or are they sites that are recommended by the visitors that you are meeting along the way?
I am trying to imagine being with you on the mountain top looking down into the crystal clear blue water. Oh my!
Continue to have fun.
Love, mom and dad
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