| More paradise (Ko pha-ngan - September 2nd) Much has happened since the last update. I have left Railey and arrived at Ko Pha-Ngan, the famous full moon party island on the east coast of thailand. It was a bit sad to see all my climbing friends leave, but in the end, I was the only one left over. So it was time to go. Good thing was, that it started pooring with rain on Saturday (after we finished our last climbs) and it kept on raining all through the night. A strange thing. It stopped raining when I started climbing two weeks ago and it started again when I was done with climbing. Talk about good luck! So on Sunday morning (it stopped raining for a little bit) I was ready for my journey to some other part of thailand. I could've easily stayed another week in Railey, but I had to go see some other place as well. The thing with travelling in Thailand is: it's really easy, but you should not try to stay in control of it. You buy your ticket, and sit back and let it happen. To get to ko pha ngan I first took a long tail boat, then I was directed to the happy tours office, sat there for a while, then 10 minutes in a van to the bus station, waited a bit again, then in a van to surat thani (two hours, we were promised a big bus, but oh well), then waited two hours in some back alley office, then a van again (two minutes) to a big bus that took us to the ferry pier in about an hour, then onto the ferry (two hours) where me and two south africans were approached by this guy who was selling rooms in the Harmony resort. We decided to take the rooms so after the ferry, we were put in a car there and finally, about 12 hours after I started my journey, I could put down my bag and get some food. It was not a bad trip, just a bit long with much waiting. Now, the place I'm staying in is absolutely magnificent. It's right on the beach, with very nice bungalows. It is set between big boulders (rocks) and has a pool. Especially at night it looks beatiful. I decided to go for the bit more expensive room which has a hot shower (warm) and a rock inside the room. I can jump out of bed and go bouldering!!! (climbing on low rocks). The first night after we had some food, I went back into my room. Backpack was on the floor and when I lifted it, three!!!! cockroaches ran away. That was a bit of a bummer (the room looked so nice and safe). But luckily I haven't seen them since. There's hardly anybody else staying in the resort, which is nice because the thai staff (I don't know all their names yet, but Mama cooks and Et is the guy we met on the ferry, there are also two girls and a family with two little kids. the place is owned by an english man named steve) has lots of time to talk to you. Soon it'll start filling up though. The full moon party is september 10th. The resort is about a 40 minute walk along the beach away from Haad rin. The place where these big full moon parties take place. I'm there right now and it's really touristy. It seems that everything is building up towards the big event. People are starting to come to the island. Everybody asks you: are you here for the full moon. I don't quite fit in, because I leave before the full moon. However it is really nice to absolutely do nothing for a week. In railey, with all that beautiful rock around, you almost feel guilty if you don't get up early and climb. I read a whole book yesterday, just lying in a hammock (I just bought my own today, so I'm keen to try it out). The sunset here is almost better than in Railey (because you watch it by yourself, not with many others) and the weather is great. One big storm yesterday, but it just lasts for about half an hour. This morning I bought a necklace from Dee and G (the two southafricans). They make their money by selling home made jewelery and hats. Really nice stuff and it feels good to give money to people you sort of know. Today, a group of people is supposed to move into some of the rooms. We'll see how that is. I'll be here until Saturday and then, on to bangkok to meet Marja and Marnix. Right now, it's time to try out my new hammock and I'm almost ready for another nap............... |
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| Harmony Beach |