Koh Pha-Ngan

So after Krabi, we headed to Koh Pha-Ngan.....Home of the world famous Full Moon parties in Haad Rin Beach at the south of the island. We were expecting a lot from this.

We arrived on the boat anyway, and didn't get collected, as we had come to expect from everywhere else. Instead, we just got the nearest taxi. He brought us up to our resort, Cookies Bungalows, on the west of the island. It was about 20 minutes drive.

It was dark, and the taxi man start bringing us up mountains and down little small roads. We had to trust he'd take us to Cookies....and he did. We pulled up to a quaint little place by the beach and checked into our shacks! There was a little restaurant that we had a beer or two before bed, and checked the place out. It seemed like a relaxing place with a lovely view.

Next morning, we checked the place out more thoroughly. This place is absolutely gorgeous! The view was honestly the nicest one I've ever seen! For example, check out the view from our room or the view from the restaurant. This is my favourite place in Thailand by far!

The food here is really good too. They do a lovely fruit salad with yoghurt! Nicest thing I've ever tasted. The bill gets paid weekly here, so they basically get your shack number, and ad things to the tab until Friday, when you settle the bill. Everything here is so relaxing. They have little cushions that open up into mini chairs that you sit on the floor on. Its definately a place I'd come back to. However, we ended up leaving Cookies after a few days. The girls found a big tarantula sized spider in their cabin, and we found a huge lizard and a rat in ours. I would have been happy enough to stay but majority rules and we left.

We went about a mile down the road and came across an English pub called The Masons Arms. It was basically a road, with jungle each side, then a clearing, and then this pristine acre or two with nice grass, a red brick footpath, and then a big white English pub that stood out like a sore thumb. We went in and had a few beers, while looking at our maps to see if we could find somewhere for the night. It was already after 8, and pitch dark so our chances were dwindling by the minute. We rang a few places but everywhere seemed booked out...mainly due to the 10,000 travellers converging on the island for the Full Moon Party in a few days!

Luckily, we got talking to someone at the bar who happened to know soeone renting houses literally across the street from this pub. She had 3 spare chalets, which can hold 2 people in each! Perfect! We had a look at them and they were really nice. This would be our home for our remaining time on the island.

The chalets were next to a beach....I call it a beach, but it was in actual fact just where the sea met the land. It was nasty. There was a foamy substance on the edge of the water, and dead fish, conoms, bits of rubbish, tin cans etc all washed up. As I walked further up, I could see another resort. I went in for a look and was promptly confronted by their guard dog. This was the middle of the day, and he start barking at me quite aggressively. I decided to leave.....

So, we went over to the Masons Arms every day for food and drinks and got to know the staff there. They were really friendly, and used to take the piss out of my accent. I ordered a sprite every time I went in, and they found it hilarious in my Dublin accent! So every time I walked in, I'd hear "Sproite! Sproite!" from one of the Thai bar staff! It was funny!

One of the barmen showed us where to go for Thai Boxing matches, as there was an Irish guy, from Bray, fighting in his first fight the next night. He drove us there, for free. The locals in Thailand are actually really friendly and nice people. It was not what I was expecting. In saying that though, the taxi folk are the opposite! An absolute pain in the hole!!

Oh, and another thing. The place is full of guard dogs, so don't go walking around after dark or they'll attack you! Vicious little buggers!! Mself and Christy went for a walk and got barked at (not bitten), the girls got cornered by 2 sets of dogs either side of a bridge they were walkign across. They had to climb up it to escape! Another girl we met got bitten while sitting on the beach. They just went for her for no reason!! Crazy! She had to get tetnus injections and a few others. Thank god for mopeds, otherwise we would have been stranded.

Photos here.