It was time to head to our next last minute addition to our itinerary, Thailand. A twenty minute taxi, three hour wait, one hour flight, two hour wait making the most of the VIP lounge, one hour flight, ten minute taxi, three hour wait, one hour rolling ferry ride in the dark and a forty minute taxi ride and we’d made it!
Our first stop was on the quiet west side of Koh Phangan.
Having arrived in the dark it wasn’t until the next morning that we got to see the stunning view from our balcony over the beautiful azure waters. We jumped on the back of the resort’s pick up truck to get a lift down to the beach and enjoyed a day of chilling on the sand and bathing in the crystal clear water.
Late in the afternoon we walked back up the winding roads and the steep hill to our hotel and rewarded ourselves with a dip in the pool that overlooks the sea far below.
That night we celebrated our one year anniversary with a cocktail in front of the huge picture window in the bar and then a delicious Italian meal down on the beach, happy times!
Day two and we were off on a boat trip to see the Ang Thong Marine Park. We’d thought the first ferry over to the island was rocky but it was nothing compared to what today had in store for us. Two hours of pitching from one side to the other getting drenched with the salty spray and I was a little green around the gills by the time we made it into the calmer waters of the park. Pete jumped straight in to swim with some animals with less sickly looking gills than mine whilst I recovered on the top deck.
After a spot of lunch we sailed on between the small green islands and docked at a small beach. It was time to get back in a kayak and see if we could do any better than the previous week in Laos. Pete took charge, as I took on the role of official photographer, and redeemed himself by guiding us through small passageways at the bottom of the rocky cliffs of the island.
Pulling up at another beach we’d made it without a dunking and we climbed the near vertical staircases up for a view down to the dazzling green lagoon in the centre of the island. The final stop for the day was another island with a walk up the hillside to a view of the marine park.
Having been warned that the final 100m were hard it was a little surprising that the rope to help pull yourself up started right at the bottom! Halfway up the rope was starting to get some serious use as we were forced to grab on to get ourselves up the steep slopes and hop over the large rocks. But the warnings were right, it was the final 100m that were basically rock climbing using the rope to support your whole body weight and haul yourself up.
Exhausted and a little shaky we’d finally made it to the top, with the amazing view only slightly hampered by the thought of how we were going to get back down the sheer rockface. The view was reminiscent of Halong Bay with the jungle covered limestone emerging from the sea and was made all the more dramatic by the black rainclouds we could see coming over the horizon. That was a definite prompt to get down quick before the rain made the rocks impassable so we decided it was time to head for the exit.
On the way down we bumped into a very cute dusky langur – a normally shy and retiring little leaf-munching monkey who decided he actually quite liked us and wouldn’t run away – before reaching the bottom and jumping straight in the sea and then getting the boat back.
After waiting for another storm to blow over the next morning we hired a scooter to explore some more of the island. First stop was Haat Salad with its pure white beach and warm water to laze around in plus its weirdly horizontal palm tree at one end. Heading further north we stopped off at a secluded local fishing area and then a beach on the top corner of the island where a sand bar stretches from the shore to a small rocky island. We were definitely getting further off the beaten track up here with only a handful of people lounging on the sand and a few huts lining the beach.
Having had quite a successful day on the scooter, despite it being our first time and all the scare stories you hear, it was topped off in true comedic style. As Pete pulled in to park at the top of the track down to the ‘secret beach’ we jolted the scooter next to us and watched horrified as the other scooter fell over and the slid towards the cliff edge. As it stopped with millimetres to spare Pete attempted to hop off our bike to retrieve the other one, accidentally revving the engine and nearly sending our bike over the edge. With both bikes back on solid ground and dusted off we checked around that no one had been watching our debacle and casually sauntered off to the beach.
We were back on a ferry the next day to Koh Tao, a smaller island another 30 km away. As our journeys on the sea seemed to be getting progressively worse I don’t know why we didn’t expect massive waves crashing over the boat causing us to surge from side to side and for people surrounding us to make extensive use of their sick bags. What a lovely way to start the day!
Arriving at our resort brightened our mood as our room was no more than 5m to the beach which was a lovely shallow cove with turquoise waters and sandbars protruding from the middle of the water where people lolled in the gentle surf. Whilst the area was a little busier than the more isolated west coast of Koh Phangan it was still blissfully chilled and we took a short walk up to the upper part of resort to gaze down on it.
Relaxing that night at a restaurant on the edge of the beach we reclined on cushions around the low slung table and enjoyed our best Thai curry yet and the sound of the waves only metres away.
Up ready to enjoy our first full day on Koh Tao we had a morning of false starts as the weather thwarted us at every turn. Too windy to get a boat to go snorkelling so we head out to walk along the beach and to a viewpoint only to get caught in an almighty rainstorm. Within about twenty seconds of the weather changing from dry to… well let’s say a little damp, we were as wet as is humanly possible so we turned on our heels and sopped back to find shelter and some lunch.
Deciding the best thing for an unpredictable day was a mini golf rematch we walked up to the islands leisure resort. After a heroic victory for Pete where he won back a little self respect for the second time that week we managed to while away many hours with the unlimited golf rounds, pool table, old school bowling where you ran down the lane to reset the pins yourself and happy hour.
Jubilant from his victory and perhaps a little tipsy Pete led us home reliving his best and my worst holes with great glee.
Waking up to slightly better weather we decided to reattempt the walk we’d planned for the day before. Quickly we had rounded the huge black boulders, that are so perfectly smooth they could have been polystyrene rocks on a film set, that marked the end of our beach and we had successfully made it further than the day before. Working our way along the next small beach you then take a raised concrete footpath which snakes along the rocky headland before reaching Freedom beach.
This small sandy beach is made all the prettier by the pieces of shell and broken off coral that dangle on strings like a child’s mobile from the trees and the logs that have been strung up as swings from the sturdier branches. Despite the inviting scene we headed straight on to the back of the beach to find the path to the lookout we had heard about. We climbed some steep steps and headed off on a track to the right. Looking back I can now yell ‘Left, go left you naive fools’. Anyhow off we walked down the narrowing path covered in palm leaves fallen in storms the night before with the jungle thickening around us.
We’d read that the walk ‘felt like you are in an episode of Lost’ so we ploughed on pushing our way through the trees that scratched at our legs until we finally realised that this didn’t seem quite right. Working our way back to our original turning we then went left and found the actual path. Still a muddy small track with slippy gravel climbs that took us over massive rocks, but a path nonetheless.
By this time we were hot, sweaty and tired and massively relieved to reach the end of the trail. Climbing up on the boulders for the view we’d worked so hard for I think we actually felt more elated than after our treks in Nepal. We were now sat on top of the headland that juts out to sea between our bay and Shark Bay on the other side.
We were literally surrounded by glistening blue water with the view of two gorgeous beaches either side of us and we sat and savoured it as the sun showed itself from behind the clouds.
Returning to Freedom beach we jumped straight in the water to cool off and headed back round the shore for a lazy afternoon near the pool. With the weather having held out on us all day it gave up by 6pm that evening when the skies opened. We tried to wait it out but by 8pm decided we were hungry enough to wade through the flooded streets in search of food.
Determined to make the most of our last day Pete waded out with his snorkel gear in search of some coral and sea life and I hit the beach. It was a little surreal lying on the sand in the spitting rain but still nice and warm and my resilience eventually paid off when the sun came out for the rest of the day.
It was a lovely, relaxing day of swimming, bat and ball on the beach and lazing around to finish our week in Thailand off as Pete went for a sunset snorkel.
The next day we went back to the airport on Koh Samui on an uncannily calm ferry to fly off to the final country of our travels.
The Hemmetts Around The World in 211 days 