30+31/05/2023 From Vietnam to Thailand
Two long travel days
The next two days were going to involve a lot of traveling.
In fact it was:
- Taxi from the hotel in Hanoi to Hanoi International Airport
- Flight from Hanoi to Bangkok
- Flight from Bangkok to Surat Thani
- Taxi from Surat Thani Airport to the hotel for the night
- Taxi from the hotel in Surat Thani to the bus stop in the next morning
- Bus from Surat Thani to Donsak Pier
- Boat from Donsak Pier to Koh Phangan
- Jeepney from the port in Koh Phangan to our hotel “Moonstone Studio” on the island Koh Phangan
What to expect
- 1 Koh Phangan
- 1.1 Watch sunset at the beach
- 1.2 Explore the island on a scooter
- 1.3 Have breakfast at Pure Vegan Heaven
- 1.4 Go snorkeling at Secret Beach
- 1.5 Get a massage
- 1.6 Go snorkeling at Koh Ma Beach
- 1.7 Watch sunset at 420 Club
- 1.8 Have breakfast at Sticky Island Café
- 1.9 Hike up to Bottle Beach Viewpoint
- 1.10 Relax at Bottle Beach
- 1.11 Watch sunset at Top Rock Bar
- 1.12 Visit a night market
- 1.13 Visit Than Sadet National Park
- 1.14 Check out the waterfalls
- 1.15 Relax at Haad Sadet Beach
- 1.16 Go to the jungle party
- 1.17 Party at the Fullmoon Party on the beach
- 2 Resumé Koh Phangan
Koh Phangan
Arrived!
And just like that – “only” two days later – we had arrived at our final destination for the next week: We’ve missed you, Koh Phangan!
In food heaven
And what are the two foods I have looked forward to the most in Thailand? Pad Thai and mango sticky rice for dessert! And guess what we got on our first night? Exactly! I was already in food heaven!
What a view
Furthermore, our hotel “Moonshine Studio” was amazing! From the pool as well as from our room we had a great ocean view!
Watch sunset at the beach
In the evening we bought two Thai Chang beers and sat down at the beach for sunset. I’d say Koh Phangan started off pretty strong!
01/06/2023 Koh Phangan
Explore the island on a scooter
Of course the best way for us to explore an island is on a scooter. Even though Blake and I had both been to Koh Phangan separately before, we had both never fully explored the island. So we were both quite excited for the next few days here.
Have breakfast at Pure Vegan Heaven
The vibe on Koh Phangan reminds me a lot of the vibe in Canggu, Bali. There are lots of yoga places here, everyone rides a scooter, there are lots of expads and the food is just as healthy and amazing here as in Canggu – especially the breakfast spots. “Pure Vegan Heaven” made incredible acai bowls and fresh juices.
Go snorkeling at Secret Beach
Today we wanted to check out different beaches for relaxing and snorkeling. Secret Beach was beautiful!
The snorkeling was okay, but nothing compared to the great snorkel site on Nusa Penida, Indonesia.
Get a massage
…when it rains
On the way to our second snorkel site it started raining. And what do you do when it rains in Thailand? You get a Thai massage! I liked it quite a bit. However, Blake was in a lot of pain during the entire hour. I guess our bodies still have to get used to the strong Thai massages after the relaxing oil massages in Vietnam and Bali.
Go snorkeling at Koh Ma Beach
Once the massage was over, it was sunny again. So we were off to the next snorkel site after this nice break (at least for me).
The second snorkel site was much nicer with a lot of fish (but still poor visibility in the water).
Small backpacker world
Funnily, during the snorkel I ran – or rather swam – into another German girl that we had met during the Ha Giang motorbike loop in North Vietnam!
Watch sunset at 420 Club
For sunset we drove to 420 Club (former 360 Bar), from where we had an amazing view over the ocean with an okay sunset. Let’s hope for a better one tomorrow.
02/06/2023 Koh Phangan
After a relaxing day yesterday, we wanted to be a bit more active today. Let’s go on a hike!
Have breakfast at Sticky Island Café
After another delicious breakfast at Sticky Island Café, we drove to the other side of the island in order to start a hike to a viewpoint.
Hike up to Bottle Beach Viewpoint
After only 20 minutes we reached the top of Bottle Beach Viewpoint. The view onto Bottle Beach and the surrounding palm trees was stunning! I loved how everything was left completely natural at the top. This also meant, however, that there were no railings to hold on to when climbing up onto the highest rocks. Don’t do this at home, kids! 😉
Relax at Bottle Beach
After hiking up, we decided against driving down to the beach and to hike down and get some more exercise in instead. We were so glad we decided against taking the scooter down to the beach as the roads were sandy, bumpy and way too dangerous for two people on one scooter (we saw other people struggling on the steep hill).
Beautiful beach
It was worth the walk in the heat as the beach was the nicest one we had seen since the beaches in Nusa Penida, Indonesia.
Watch sunset at Top Rock Bar
We chose a different sunset spot for tonight at Top Rock Bar. After walking up the steep steps to the bar, it felt like we sat in a big tree house – together with the Thai owners. It was such a cute bar, the views over the ocean were great and the Thai curries tasted amazing. And thankfully, the sunset was even better than the one last night.
Visit a night market
On the way home we passed a night market where we spontaneously stopped for some coconut mini pancakes and mango sticky rice. I must admit we’ve had mango sticky rice every single night for dessert so far in Thailand and I’m pretty confident to say that it wasn’t the last one tonight.
03/06/2023 Koh Phangan
After being in many big cities in Vietnam, it was nice to be surrounded by so much nature again.
Visit Than Sadet National Park
Today we were going to visit Than Sadet National Park.
Check out the waterfalls
First, we stopped at two different waterfalls. Being a bit spoilt after the massive waterfalls in North Bali, these waterfalls felt a little tiny and not too impressive.
Afterwards we hiked up to a viewpoint inside the national park where we ended up as the only ones at some abandoned lodge on top of a hill. The view from there was spectacular and we felt like being in a jumanji game.
Relax at Haad Sadet Beach
We felt like we deserved some beach time after this. So it was perfect that the beach was right there. If you only have time for one beach, we’d still recommend Bottle Beach over Haad Sadet Beach.
Long time no see
In the evening we caught up with a German girl that we had met in La Paz, Bolivia over half a year ago! It didn’t seem that long at all and it felt great exchanging all the travel stories with her and celebrating her birthday with her tonight.
Go to the jungle party
Every night before the famous full moon party on the beach, there is a jungle party. I have honestly no idea why we thought it would be a good idea to party two nights in a row when we hardly party at all anymore.
Two party nights in a row – who are we?
The fact that the party only started at midnight was already stressing me out. But it was actually a lot of fun and a really cool atmosphere, where the DJ performed out of the mouth of a giant tiger head while people were doing fire dances all around us.
At 3 a.m. we decided we needed to be fit for the next party tomorrow night and made the wise decision to drive home (since we didn’t drink either) – our bodies would thank us tomorrow.
04/06/2023 Koh Phangan
A very slow morning
After coming home quite late last night, we had a very slow start today. While I’ve usually been pretty good here with my morning routine including working out on our verandah (it’s just easier with an ocean view), we only managed to pack our bags and change hotels. By the time we had finished breakfast (at Karma Kafé – so good!), it was already time to check into our new hotel at 2 p.m..
By the way, originally we were going to stay at our first hotel “Moonshine Studio” for the entire time. But since they quadrupled the price during the full moon party, we decided to go to a cheaper hotel instead.
Party at the Fullmoon Party on the beach
And then it was time for the big event for which we had come to Koh Phangan in the first place straight after Vietnam: the Fullmoon Party.
The Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan Island is perhaps the most famous party in all Thailand. It is known worldwide and every month tens of thousands of partygoers gather in Koh Phangan to party under the full moon on Haad Rin’s beach from sunset to sunrise.”
thaiest.com
Once a month the island becomes a hotspot for backpackers that all get together for this one big party. The days leading up to it you can see the island filling up with travelers that all get driven around in jeepneys (felt a bit like transporting kettle to me, just like how we felt on the way to the tree house party in Granada, Nicaragua at the beginning of this trip).
The “bucket” list
There are three “essentials” you need for a fullmoon party:
- A fullmoon shirt – check!
- Face paint – check!
- And a bucket filled with alcohol – check!
To be honest I was a bit skeptical going into this party since we’ve heard it’s mainly a younger crowd partying here. We’ve both partied at the Fullmoon Party before. But that was when we had both fitted well into the age range (over 8 years ago)!
A night to remember
But despite seeing a lot of young and messed up backpackers partying with a bucket in their hands (or lying on the beach passed out after one too many buckets), we really enjoyed it. You could feel the lively atmosphere, the DJs were playing good songs and before we knew it, the music was turned down and it was 5 a.m.. I cannot believe us “oldies” made it to the end of the fullmoon party after partying last night at the jungle party until 3 a.m. as well. We were full of life, but I had a feeling that we wouldn’t feel the same way in the next morning…
05/06/2023 Koh Phangan
Hangover free, but lazy
We knew today was going to be a very lazy day:
- We started with a really tasty breakfast at “Southway Coffee Bar” at lunch time.
- Then we treated ourselves to a one-hour-massage.
- In the evening we went to the night market for dinner.
And just like this our last day on Koh Phangan went over in no time.
Resumé Koh Phangan
We know the west side of Koh Phangan can be a bit touristy with bigger resorts and hotels. However, the island has so much more to offer than just the parties it is mainly known for.
If you have a scooter, you can explore the national park on the east side, the remote beaches on the north side or the viewpoints on the south side. We loved the island and its unique vibe!
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