That was the original plan. I was just lucky enough to get sick by having severe sinusitis accompanied by an ear infection which lasted for more than 3 weeks. Diving was off the table, nevertheless my sickness couldn’t stop us from enjoying our time on the islands. We decided to explore different islands in South-Thailand.
Koh Tao
Famous for its beautiful crystal clear water and perfect snorkling- and diving conditions for beginners. Ko Tao attracts Ibiza-ish good looking tourists, since it is all about seeing and being seen. We felt underdressed many times. On the very first day of our arrival, we saw many injured tourists whether it was their arms or legs in bandage. We wondered if it had to do something with diving or maybe traffic accidents? After asking around, we heard that it was quite unsafe to ride the scooter on the island. The roads are in poor shape with many steep ups and downs. Since many people drive when they’re drunk, you should be extra careful. So the island was famous for its scooter accidents and yet there we were, standing ready with one to discover the island. I trusted Farhang completely with it, since he was more experienced. When driving around it was indeed quite unpleasant; our scooter was not strong enough to go up the steep hills, so I had to get off often to walk up the hills and while the sweat was dripping off my forehead, Farhang was passing me by on the scooter the whole time (-_-). Talking about getting annoyed haha. Anyway, we found many beautiful hidden gems like the Koh Leuk beach and Mango Bay. Both belong to private resorts, but other tourists are allowed to swim as well (limited time though and no outside food/drinks allowed). The water at Koh Leuk beach was crystal blue, with perfectly high waves and you could swim and snorkel between many cute looking Nemos! Mango Bay was next and our scooter broke down just when we arrived there. We hiked down to the beach hoping it would start again after the engine was cooled off. After paying entrance, we suddenly found ourselves on a sort terrace of a resort having to pay extra for using parasols, chairs and extremely expensive food & drinks. And the funny part was that there was no beach. You could snorkel around the terrace or take an expensive taxi boat/swim to a beach 150/200 meters further which belonged to another resort. This place was exclusive and the deserted beach with its exotic surroundings were tempting, but we felt betrayed and were worried about our scooter, so demanded our money back. Hiking all the way up in the heat, hoping our scooter was good enough to go again. But nope. It was getting dark, our phones were dead and since no one was around, we started walking back leaving our scooter behind. We finally found a couple who was willing to drive back (as we told them there was no beach) and warn someone who could help us. After half an hour a scooter guy came, yeay! Farhang went along with him and I was left to wait. It was only couple of minutes later when I saw Farhang crossing by and laughing that our scooter wasn’t broken at all, but we just forgot about one of the safety locks. Seriously?
I will be very short about Koh Nang Yuan island and its famous viewpoint. Pretty beach, easy hike with a simply astonishing viewpoint! The beach and its colours look completely unreal from above as if it is painted or something. A real highlight in Koh Tao!
This island is somewhat bigger and much more developed. We rented a scooter again to get lost, enjoy nature and find beautiful beaches. My favorite one was the Full Moon Party beach which didn’t seem to look like a beach where parties were held. It was clean, not really crowded and the water/waves were just great! We weren’t really interested in the Full Moon Party itself. The whole concept is just outdated; couple of tourists organizing a party which is all about drinking buckets of alcohol to get drunk as fuck. What’s so fun about that?
Koh Phangan was really raw, calme and the atmosphere was just great! So if you are not into parties, there is still much to do on this island.
Krabi & Koh Phi Phi
We drove towards Ao Nang and Phro Nang beach. There wasn’t anything special about Ao Nang, so we skipped Phro Nang too and decided to go kayaking. For this we had to drive all the way to Tha Lane Bay. The journey towards this bay was extremely pretty and kayaking itself turned out to be pretty cool as well. For a first time experience it’s not the most easy bay to kayak, but hey it definitely was challenging and exciting. Once you get into the small lanes, the water gets calme and you have all the time to enjoy the amazing surroundings, the silence or should I rather rather say the beautiful sounds of nature?
On Koh Phi Phi we booked a boat tour for some island hopping. On that day we saw one of the most beautiful beaches, caves and snorkling points around; there are no words to describe Bamboo Island and Maya Beach. ‘The Ultimate Paradise’ are not even the right words to justify these pearls with their white, soft sands, beautiful palmtrees and crystal clear waters filled with colourful fish swimming around. Oh how I wish I could make all the tourists disappear and have it for our own…
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