Hey all, here’s the first vlog (video blog) for Here Comes The Planet! We’re filming little bits and pieces and cutting short episodes as we go. They will almost always lag behind the blog entries as they take more time to produce and our internet access is sporadic. At the moment it’s just us talking to camera and taking some footage of the scenery. Not sure what else we’ll end up doing with them, but I’m open to feedback and suggestions. 🙂 Hope you enjoy!
I purchased a pre-paid SIM card for us to use while we’re traveling. We only plan to call or send texts in emergencies, and while we’re in places where we don’t need it, I usually have my phone on flight mode to save on power. We’re checking the internet often, so email and Facebook are the best ways to reach us. However, if you want to get in touch with us via phone or text messages, there are a couple of options.
GO-SIM have a free SMS service for all of their numbers via their website. We’ll switch the phone on to check messages periodically. If you use this service, keep in mind we can’t return messages, and you’ll need to identify yourself so we know who is messaging us. Go here to send us a free text message:Â http://www.gosim.com.au/free-text-when-abroad.htmlÂ
If you want to call or text, our number is +44 7937 676336. Although we don’t get charged for incoming calls, I don’t know how reliable the service will be or whether we’ll have the phone switched on very much. If you need to call us, it may be better to pre-arrange it via email if possible.
Keep in touch! 🙂
First post for me, finally! Before we left I was busy sorting out work and house stuff, and on the trip I’ve been working on the video part of our blog (or, you know, busy being on holiday), so I haven’t had much time for actual writing.
We’ve just spent five days with my family at the Panviman Resort, on the Thong Nai Pan beach in Koh Phangan. The resort itself is set on a hillside overlooking the ocean, and is nothing short of amazing. Apart from beautiful rooms, it has a tremendous buffet breakfast and a cool infinity-edge pool looking out over the ocean.
The ocean water is clear and beautiful, and as warm as a bath. The beach was exceptionally clean. There were no rips and it was very salty and buoyant, which made for great swimming.
I always thought I’d have to go somewhere expensive, like the Bahamas, to have the scenery that you sometimes see in James Bond films – like the beach in Casino Royale. Yet there I was on one of the best beaches I’ve ever seen, drinking large bottles of beer for less than $3 AUD.
We would all go to the Beach Love cafe every day for happy hour, before finding somewhere for dinner. The food has been the highlight for me so far – consistently fresh and exceptionally tasty.
It is very quiet in Thailand at the moment – they’ve only just entered their high season, and it has yet to get busy. Panviman is situated on a more secluded and upmarket part of the island, so the few people that were there tended to be middle-age or older, and were mostly relaxing. There wasn’t much night life to speak of, so it will be a nice contrast to see other parts of the island where the demographic is younger.
Yesterday we said goodbye to my family and headed to Mae Haad on the western side of the island. As well as finally getting to see some sunsets, the snorkelling is supposed to be really great, and that’s what we’re aiming to do next.
Initially we were a little disappointed by the beach here – not as clean and the water isn’t as clear. I think we were always going to be a little disappointed since we started at such a beautiful spot! However we chatted with one of the locals who operates a diving shop, and he said that past the initial seaweed, the reef and area around the small Koh Maa island is a great spot for snorkelling, so that cheered us up.
After a dip in the pool and some fancy cocktails, Amanda opted to nap while I went out for dinner. I went back to a place we had previously visited while exploring, and had a very delicious curried fried rice with pork dish.
There was a family seated across from me with a very loud gentleman who sounded a lot like Jeremy Clarkson. It made for an entertaining dinner, listening to him praise the toilets here in Thailand. They have a water hose with a spray nozzle to clean yourself after you’re done, as the pipes here aren’t designed to have toilet paper flushed through them. There’s a little bin next to the toilet for throwing away the toilet paper after you’ve dried yourself. “It’s great, you feel so clean afterwards!” He enthused. “I should sell the idea to Greece – I’d make a bundle!” For anyone who hasn’t been to Greece, they have the little bin – but no water sprayer. Thailand’s toilets are definitely a lot better! Later on after I was finished with dinner I went up to him and said I completely agreed about the toilets – he was so delighted he shook my hand, and as I walked off he turned to his family and said “See? I told you!”
After breakfasting and blogging, we’re about to head out for snorkelling. Unfortunately I didn’t end up bringing a stills camera with me, as I’m intending to buy one when we go back to Bangkok. So there won’t be any underwater shots like the last time I was on a reef. We’ll just have to be extra descriptive in our posts! 🙂
Yesterday we used the Panviman taxi to get to Mae Had, on the north west side of the island. Getting around Thailand has been very easy so far in that everyone is happy to arrange taxis or ferry tickets for us. The road between resorts, though, was pretty hairy. Half was dirt road with large potholes or big lumps of rock sticking up out of the road. There isn’t much traffic, but what there is seems to mostly consist of farang (foreigners) without helmets. After seeing friends come off their scooters in the Cook Islands years ago and discovering that travel insurance doesn’t cover you if you aren’t riding with a helmet, I’m always surprised to see people going without. I guess a lot of people don’t bother with travel insurance… in which case I’m even more surprised they don’t err on the side of caution.
We didn’t book before we got to Mae Had Beach Resort http://www.maehaadbay.com/ and ended up paying a bit more than the rate we’d seen on Agoda. Next time we’ll just book ahead. The resort is very nice, although not quite as fancy as the last place. After we inspected our room and marveled at the truly enormous shower head and the phone by the toilet (?!) we went for a walk along the beach. It’s nowhere near as clean here – there are bits of rubbish along the beach and slightly murky water, plus lots of seaweed. The people on the beach look more like backpackers and there is a dive centre that has lots of people coming and going. We asked about snorkle hire and it’s about $2 an hour.
We walked back and had a cocktail at the hotel’s outdoor bar and chatted to the barman, who knew quite a bit of English. Then we went for a swim (according to the website it is the largest pool on the island), lay around for a bit then went back to the room. I managed to go to sleep mid afternoon and slept til about 5am – a champion effort! Totally forgot to have lunch or dinner. Possibly the first time that has ever happened.
This morning was delightfully cool, at least until the sun was on us, and we had yet another buffet breakfast. No omelettes made to order, sadly, but I did get to try dragonfruit for the first time. Very pretty as well as being quite tasty. A little like watermelon but looks like white kiwi fruit in a bright pink skin.
This morning we’re off to snorkle, apparently once you get past the seaweed there’s reef. I am not looking forward to squealing like a little girl every time the seaweed touches my legs. I can’t stand not being able to see what’s going on in the water. I’d like to claim this goes back to my childhood when I stood on a fishing hook at Budgewoi, but I fear I’m actually just a wuss. I wish I’d brought my reef walking shoes, not just for getting out to the reef but also for getting across the hot sand. No one else seems to mind but I end up leaping across it in a sad, ungainly fashion, arms flailing and muttering ‘ooh ooh ooh ooh!’ the whole way.
Anyhow, fingers crossed that today will be free of personal injury and we’ll spot some pretty fish. Wish us luck!
Please let the internet not swallow my post for the 10th time today!
In no particular order:
‘Beach Love’, where we have happy hour drinks every night before finding somewhere for dinner. That red lantern in the front created quite a bit of entertainment as we watched every dog on the beach pee on it in succession. There were other lanterns, mind, but this one was where it was at as far as the dogs were concerned.
Nothing says ‘ostentatious’ like giant gold letters on a rock.
Our usual table at Beach Love. I tried to speak a few words of Thai to the waiter only to discover he was from Myanmar and didn’t speak Thai. Typical!
A bit of dawn photography shennanigans. Look at me being all wistful and suchlike.
Luke enjoys a plate of delicious treats from the breakfast buffet. ‘Breakfast included’ is one of my favourite phrases ;-).
Sorry about the tiny photos, it’s on my list of Things To Learn About WordPress.
So what else have we been up to? A couple of massages, which probably doubles the number of massages I’ve had in my life. I wrote some postcards today, one of them to my dog. We’re leaving here tomorrow, which is sad because this is the lifestyle to which I’d like to become accustomed, but it’s probably a bit early for retirement and I’m keen to experience a different side to the island, something a bit livelier.
I’ll leave you with some Engrish spotted at the beach.
Here Comes The Planet 