We took the ferry from Koh Samui to Haad Rin, the site of the infamous full moon parties. It was a steaming hot day (as always) and we all had big bags to drag or packs to carry – except for Charmaine with her sore shoulder. Sledge carried her bag and his everywhere we went, which was extremely kind of him.

The ferry ride was about an hour, then we walked through Haad Rin to the other side of the headland where we caught a taxi boat to our destination, a couple of beaches up. The place we were heading is a little legendary amongst our friends. Luke and I had not been there before but Nicolette had, and our friend Ben was already there. For years people we knew had been going there to chill out and party. It’s a relatively quiet beach with cheap accommodation and only one proper resort. Few of the cheap places can be booked ahead – you just have to turn up and hope there’s room. Due to a miscommunication about whether or not others had booked, Charmaine had found one place that would take reservations and booked rooms for us, Lauren, Kupp, Toby and herself. The others wanted to wait until we got there. The place we had booked was set along the headland beyond the beach, with a string of bungalows perched along a boardwalk on rocks.

When we arrived on the beach we found that the place we were staying was at the furthest point from anything else and that end of the beach had the worst piles of rubbish. It didn’t look terribly inviting, but we hauled our bags along the sand then the boardwalk and check in. The managers, Peter and Demi, were a lovely couple and were the most redeeming feature of the property. Despite being only $20 a night, our rooms felt like poor value. There was no aircon (we didn’t expect any, fortunately), the floorboards were far enough apart to make dropping your phone onto rocks below a real possibility, there was no hot water – and no water pressure, the toilets were flushed by using the bucket that was under the tiny shower hose, which meant waiting ages to get enough water to actually properly flush. I wish I’d taken a photo of the bathroom, but I only got one of the bed.

The mosquito nets had holes, the window had no glass or flyscreen and the taxi boats zoomed past all day and night with their incredibly loud motors. But none of these things mattered hugely or were terribly unexpected. The one thing I had trouble coping with was the hardness of the bed. It genuinely felt like a board with a blanket or two thrown over it. I sleep on my side normally but couldn’t because it was so hard – but my back was sunburned pretty badly so lying on my back was painful. It wasn’t a great start!

On the up side, the deck where we ate breakfast (and then spent half of each day lazing and reading) was quite lovely. It had a view of the beach and many fish swam around the rocks below.

 The food and drinks were cheap and Peter and Demi often came and sat with us and chatted. In fact my favourite evening on Koh Phanang was when everyone else went out for dinner and I stayed back and had a long talk with Demi and heard about her life and how she’d ended up in Thailand. Up until that point I’d not been particularly charmed, but talking to Demi was lovely and I started to see why people I know liked hanging out in such a chilled place and getting to know people from around the world. There seemed to be many nationalities there, mostly people a fair bit younger than me. I think that I probably would’ve loved a place like that ten years ago, but on a short holiday where my goal was to be comfortable and relax, it wasn’t really what I was looking for. Also, Demi said that the place was in decline, with rich people buying up property and plans for development, along with richer tourists ruining the scene.

We did a couple of things while we were there. On our last day, for a special birthday lunch, we went to a place called ‘The Sanctuary’ at a nearby beach. It was a yoga retreat that excelled in pretentiousness but had a good restaurant with two menus, one with healthy but normal food, and one with a special diet for people who’d been fasting and having enemas. It was entertaining to watch the crowd – so many rich hippies! – and laugh at the menu items. My fish tacos were delicious!

After that we walked over the hill to the next beach where there was a day party happening. Gentle electronic music and about 100 people, all swimming and dancing and having fun. It was a very pleasant way to spend an afternoon, but I couldn’t help wondering what happened to all the rubbish at the end of the day. If our beach was anything to go by it was just left where it was.

I can totally see what about this place appeals to people. It’s cheap, the crowd are interesting and young, there’s no sense of commercialism and the water is beautiful – pure aqua and super warm, with few rocks or seaweed. There was something in the water that did bite or sting though – we never really figured out exactly what it was, whether spores or bugs, but nearly everyone felt it even though it left no mark. After a few days the lack of aircon didn’t matter and I got used to the Indian-style seating (those triangular pillow/cushion things) and never feeling very clean, but I think it just wasn’t the right time for me to enjoy a place like that. It’s the kind of place people go to escape reality and party, whereas I was on a short timeline and wanted a comfortable bed and things to do. A few of us decided we’d rather book somewhere nice in Koh Samui, so Luke found an Airbnb place online, and after our four nights were up, we took a taxi boat then the ferry and headed back to the bigger island, waving goodbye to the larger part of our crew.

The last photo is of is the rock where the taxi boats pull up at our accommodation.  Somewhat precarious!

Before I start, thanks for all the comments and reads, my apologies for not replying for a week. Going back to work was like stepping into a tornado but now I have a long weekend to catch up on the trip before all the details disappear from my memory.

The next destination after Bangkok was Koh Phanang, which is a small island south of Bangkok, and north of the larger island of Koh Samui (‘koh’ means island). Here’s a map for those who are interested (I always like to be able to visualise where places are):

Because it was Zane and Leah’s first big trip overseas, I thought it would be good to spend a night on Koh Samui before catching the ferry to Koh Phanang as Samui is bigger and livelier and worth seeing for comparison to Bangkok and the quiet beach we were heading to.

We flew from Bangkok via Bangkok Air and arrived at Samui airport an hour later. Samui airport is one of the world’s most beautiful. 

There are lush gardens around all the waiting areas and everything is open-air. There’s fish tanks in the bathrooms and it just feels so laid-back. The departure lounges for Bangkok Air also do free food including popcorn – my favourite! Anyhow, the trip was uneventful and Luke organised a couple of taxis to take us to our hotel for the night – the Chalala Samui Resort.

The place was nothing fancy, basic little bungalows with ensuites and aircon, a pool, bar and restaurant right on Chaweng Beach (if you’re curious, I think it was about $40 AUD a night). Sorting the rooms took a bit of time but then we all jumped straight in the pool and set about enjoying the happy hour prices at the bar and relaxing in the sun.

I relaxed a little too hard and got my first and worst sunburn of the trip while lying on a lounger reading a magazine. It wasn’t awful, but it made sleeping on my back a bit difficult for the next few nights. Samui was such a lovely change from the rush and pollution of Bangkok. We sat in the lukewarm pool, drank cocktails and began planning a future, mid-winter trip back. I could do it every year, just to lie in the sun, swim and relax. The Chalala was at the northern, quieter end of Chaweng so it was an easy walk down to the strip of shops and bars but far enough away to be quiet.

In the evening we walked down the street to see a ladyboy show at Stars Cabaret – the same place we went last time with Luke’s family. The songs were good but the show felt shorter and I was extremely disappointed when no boys were dragged onstage to dress up and perform (last time Luke and Brendan went up and I laughed so hard I cried).

After the show we crossed the road and walked down to the Ark Bar to see what was going on but it was very quiet, with people lying on loungers watching a fire twirling show and not a single sax solo to be heard. We did laugh at the fact that the song playing was ‘Apache’, as Luke had been tormenting me with it before we left home and then there it was, playing at the trashiest resort on the island.

Luke, Kupp and a few others hung around but Charmaine and Toby and I walked back along the beach to the bungalows for an early night, trying not to break our ankles falling into the dozens of pits left by hotel staff when the umbrellas for beach restaurants are taken in for the night. Always take a torch if you have to walk home after dark!

In the morning Nicolette took the lead for the next part of the journey and we packed up our gear and headed to Big Buddha Pier for the ferry. I only just noticed the guy in this photo checking out his own muscles. Stay classy, Samui!

Next up: Koh Phanang!

We arrived in Bangkok to friends, champagne and our beautiful suite at Lebua. All very welcome after several hours delay at Ho Chi Minh airport. 

When we arrived at Lebua nearly everyone was there already. Lucas had arrived a few days earlier and Nikki, Leigh, Andras and Nathan had already arrived, with Mel flying in later that evening. We had a celebratory bottle of Mumm (thanks guys!) before having a couple of drinks at the sky bar then heading to bed. We’d originally planned a big night out, but after the trip to the hospital then the travel delays, most of us were quite tired. 

  
We had five nights at Lebua but not too many expeditions planned as we wanted to enjoy the luxury hotel experience and all the food and drink on offer. However we did do a few things.

Top of my list was a trip to Chatuchuk Markets. All the people who were interested in going gathered in the lobby and we had about three carloads of people. Two took Ubers and Mel and Lauren caught a taxi. Unfortunately the taxi did the classic Bangkok manoeuvre and took Lauren and Mel to a jewellery store on the way, and the other Uber got a bit lost. We all managed to rendezvous at the markets around opening time though and then spent a good few hours browsing in the stifling heat and eating lots of coconut ice cream. So delicious!

  
I bought a bunch of stuff and took advantage of the DHL branch in the market and posted home most of my purchases. 

Apart from a trip to the MBK mall, the only other thing I wanted to do was Art In Paradise, a 3D exhibition. Luke and I went on our own, since everyone else had other activities to do that day and we were heading to the airport at midday to meet Zane and Leah and the exhibition was on the way. As you can see, it was lots of fun – and there was hardly anyone there so no waiting.

  
   
 
I was mildly pleased with myself for making it to the hotel gym several times (which I’d also done in Hoi An) especially since the gym at Lebua is lovely and there was rarely more than one other person there. Trying to balance out all the food we’d eaten was probably pointless but it made me feel slightly better about all the gluttony. Lebua offers a five hour breakfast that covers five cuisines (Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Western and Thai) with the Western component covering everything from cereal to a leg of roasted ham. 

   
 
They had raspberry and chocolate cronuts with green tea icing. It was amazing we made it out alive. I’m a trifle concerned about getting on the scales when I get home but that’s a problem for Future Amanda. 

The only thing we did at Lebua that we hadn’t done before was have a drink at Distill, the bar inside the dome on the roof. Luke had read about their ‘ice cocktails’, drinks where the ice cubes were made of juice and other flavours, so as they melted the cocktail was altered rather than diluted. I ordered a cheese plate as well and got to visit their cheese room, which smelled amazing. The guy who ran it seemed super pleased to have a visitor and let me try at least 12 cheeses before I picked a few for the plate. It was fun and educational – we all decided we liked the sweet Gorgonzola, so I must look for that in Melbourne. 

Bangkok was fun but so, so, so hot and sticky. Apart from being about 37 degrees each day, the humidity was very high and the general stink and pollution was crazy. I definitely won’t be coming back at the same time of year. 

Next stop: Koh Samui!

Seen at the markets:

My wonderful tailors, Aobaba.

Amazing produce at the outdoor market.

Street scene. 

Lantern making workshop.

Street lanterns.

My Son temple complex, about 40 minutes from Hoi An. If you go, go early to avoid crowds and heat. It’s like a tiny Ankor Watt.

Street Food

Bun Cha – my favourite Vietnamese dish!