After spending one night on Ko Samui, the four of us headed to Ko Phangan, a nearby island, site of the Full Moon Party. On the way, Knut got into a fight with a taxi driver who tried to rip us off, and then initimidated other taxi drivers who wanted to take off. The taxi driver ended up pulling out a dagger from his taxi, and Knut had to be restrained by Jean Philippe. We were glad to get off the island.
On Ko Phangan, we checked in to an overpriced hotel near the water, then headed down to Haad Rin, the downtown area, for dinner and drinks and a look at the beach. The night life here is very good, particularly because Full Moon Party, a world-famous monthly all-night party with between 8 and 30k people, is taking place on the 9th (when I leave for Bangkok and on to Beijing). However, it is quite expensive and, like Ko Samui, very developed.
Today, we decided to have a more authentic beach experience by taking a ferry to Ko Tao, the smallest and northernmost island in this area. Once we reached the island, we hired a taxi driver to take us to a snorkeling/diving beach that Jean Philippe had read about in Lonely Planet. This particular taxi ride involved sitting in the bed of the driver's pickup truck--something that we've gotten accustomed to here--but this ride was particularly unusual because it involved a lot of tight turns on steep slopes of unpaved roads. Still, the views from the peaks were spectacular, and I managed to get one good shot on the way back.
The beach itself was not much to speak of given the standard for this area, but the snorkeling was fantastic. There was an enormous coral reef with colorful fish and crabs, and a small rock island that we could jump off of into the warm water. Ivo and Jean Philippe went diving again, and we all got our fill of lying on the sand and relaxing.
Tomorrow, I will leave early in the afternoon to take a ferry to Ko Samui, where I have an evening flight headed for Bangkok. On Friday, I have a morning flight to Beijing. I'll write more once I have some good stories and pictures to share from China.
Today, we decided to have a more authentic beach experience by taking a ferry to Ko Tao, the smallest and northernmost island in this area. Once we reached the island, we hired a taxi driver to take us to a snorkeling/diving beach that Jean Philippe had read about in Lonely Planet. This particular taxi ride involved sitting in the bed of the driver's pickup truck--something that we've gotten accustomed to here--but this ride was particularly unusual because it involved a lot of tight turns on steep slopes of unpaved roads. Still, the views from the peaks were spectacular, and I managed to get one good shot on the way back.
The beach itself was not much to speak of given the standard for this area, but the snorkeling was fantastic. There was an enormous coral reef with colorful fish and crabs, and a small rock island that we could jump off of into the warm water. Ivo and Jean Philippe went diving again, and we all got our fill of lying on the sand and relaxing.
Tomorrow, I will leave early in the afternoon to take a ferry to Ko Samui, where I have an evening flight headed for Bangkok. On Friday, I have a morning flight to Beijing. I'll write more once I have some good stories and pictures to share from China.
No comments:
Post a Comment