JONATHAN'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Koh Samui is absolutely amazing. 

The beaches are gorgeous, the people are friendly, and the resorts and spectacular. More importantly, it is Jonathan's 24th birthday while we are here on Koh Samui and a celebration is in order!

To begin things off for his big day was a villa at the Bhundari Beach Resort on Chaweng Beach at which we have a private villa with pool and an ocean view. Pretty spectacular. For the big day, the celebrations included massages, my beautiful singing, and feasts.

One of these very feasts included a Private BBQ on our villa's patio and involved a vast assortment of food and a private chef to prepare it all. The lunch was amazing, but involved way to much food being served. The quote of the day had to have been Jon's, "There are starving kids in Africa... no forget that there are probably starving kids on this island why do they keep feeding us?"

Regardless, the meal was delicious, and between trying to hide food on our plates and throwing it into the bushes nearby as to not make the chef believe we didn't like it and had in fact eaten it all, we had an amazing meal to celebrate. After that it was nap time of course and then off to explore the nearby Chaweng town and spend some time at the recommended Ark Bar for the evening. 

Ark Bar was an adventure to say the least... Located right on the beach, the setting was amazing but the surrounding atmosphere could have been better.  Almost outnumbering the vast number of tourists at the bar were Thai children pawning off about anything and everything they could. There were necklaces, swimsuits, bracelets, and glowing clocks among other items, all being sold by children no older than 10 at the very greatest everywhere you looked. Also being sold was a game of Connect Four against the children for a mere 100 Baht although they would undoubtedly win every time. If you said no they would either move on/fake cry/pout/lower their price or harass you as Jon got to experience. His refusal of a game of Connect Four led to a 7-year old girl flipping him off and flicking his ear for a matter of minutes before just continuing to pull his leg hair and then push him as she threw her fit... It was very very strange... nothing like being attacked by a little girl to say 'Happy Birthday!'

We spent the rest of the weekend in Koh Samui for the remainder of birthday celebrations minus the evil little girls before our final farewell to this side of Thailand and heading our instead to Phuket.

DIVING TRIP

Today was our first dive trip of Thailand. We were off to Sail Rock to hopefully see some whale sharks (didn't see any...). All of the books mentioned this as being one of the must-do sites, and the diving on this side of Thailand is supposed to be some of the best in the world so we couldn't miss out on this opportunity. Our last day in Koh Phangan and we just had to go for a dive.

This was actually my first dive ever without considering the certification dives that I went on. Even then, those dives were just in the Arizona lakes... The ocean was a whole new experience to me, and after overcoming the fear that a shark was going to eat me the moment I jumped in, the entire experience was pretty amazing. 

Our dive master was from Finland and had moved to Thailand a couple years prior to lead dive trips throughout the region. He had dived all around the world, yet still felt as though Thailand had some of the best dive sites to offer. Sail Rock--even to him--was one of the best sites in Thailand and he was going to be showing us around.

Sail Rock is a large formation halfway between Koh Samui and Koh Phangan, and is the only rock habitat of the sort in the nearby area. Because of this, most of the nearby marine life congregates to this area, bringing the divers right along with it. Furthermore, it features a large vertical swim through chimney that you enter at 18m and exit around 7m.

Jon was given control of the camera for the trip and managed to take tons of amazing photos of both the sea life and my dorkiness alike! While we didn't get to see any whale sharks this time (the last one was spotted three weeks ago) we did get to see a myriad of fish, including the large school featured that looked a wall in the middle of the water as they moved together throughout.

Overall, the dives were a pretty great amazing experience, and a great way to end our time in Koh Phangan. Unfortunately, Jon's jaw seemingly will prevent us from taking anymore dive trips while here in Thailand as it is causing him more pain that seems reasonable having to hold a regulator in his mouth for hours on end. 

Off to Koh Samui now for a birthday celebration, and to say goodbye to Thailand's east coast before heading off to Phuket!

Sukothai Bike Ride

The second stop of our trip included a visit to Sukothai and the Sukothai Historical Park. We all rented bicycles for the day and set out on a journey through the park, visiting the various ruins throughout.

Sukothai was the first capital of Thailand centuries ago, and the ruins in the park dated back to the 13^th century. Most of the statues throughout the area were once covered in gold, but most of that has now either deteriorated or been stolen over time.

Getting to see the ruins was pretty spectacular, and getting to do it all from the seat of a bicycle made it even better. Although I don’t remember the last time that I actually took a bicycle ride—do not fret, as the saying that you never forget turned out to be true.

Included between all the Buddha and other religious relics was a statue built to honor a late king of Thailand. This was in fact the weirdest exhibit we had seen; as a woman was present during the visit repaying the king for the blessings he had granted her. As part of her retribution, she was offering the heads of six pigs and whiskey to the king. Come noon, she would then offer the feast to those also visiting the statue as part of her offering, and refusing the food wasn’t an option out of respect… given that it was ten minutes before 12 when we were there, the visit was cut short as we pedaled out of there.

Another aspect of the park was the releasing of animals that was offered as a religious gesture. With this you could release anything from eels, turtle, and fish to mussels and baby birds all bringing various blessings upon their freedom. Seeing the animals trapped in their plastic bags was pretty heart wrenching so we both bought into the trap and paid to release a bag. Undoubtedly, the evil trap lady probably just went and caught the same animals as soon as we departed, and us paying to release only encouraged her to continue doing it but it was really hard to avoid…

After spending the day at the park and getting in our cycle workout for the day, it was back to the hotel for dinner in the town of Sukothai and to prepare for another bus ride—this one only four hours—to the town of Lampang.

Koh Ma

Koh Ma

We spent another day exploring the island, and with map in hand, we ended up at Koh Ma just as planned. Koh Ma is on the northern coast of Koh Phangan, but is typically cut off from the main island due to the tide. Luckily, due to the very full moon we just celebrated last night, we were able to walk across.

Our adventure took place yet again from a scooter, and we got to meander around the smaller towns and lesser known areas. 

We ended up near the fisherman's pier where the boats lined the shore in from the morning. Also at this site, we finally got a glimpse of the pristine turquoise water from all the travel books. 

From here, off to find more waterfalls, the one shown actually being pretty spectacular. It extended several stories out of the jungle and was quite the site. 

The weather was just hot and sticky today, I believe it is around 93 with 80+% humidity... makes the hiking a little strenuous. 

After the remainder of exploring, we returned back to the resort to catch our final sunset on Koh Phangan! 

We head to Sail Rock tomorrow morning for our first dive here in Thailand (if no more posts, assume we got eaten by a whale shark), and then head to Koh Samui upon return for the duration of the week.

Jungle Cat 

 

Scooter Riding

A serious threat...

Full Moon Party

Every month, a festival--known as the Full Moon Party--takes place on Koh Phangan to celebrate the Full Moon. It takes place on Haad Rin beach, and runs through the night till the new sun rises. Everyone dresses in neon, covers themselves in body paint, and dances. Needless to say it was an experience of which we are both glad to have taken part in.  

Full Moon Party- notice the updated sign... apparently it is still 2010 over here, quite the time difference.

Body Paint- I got a turtle, Jon went with a skull and crossbones

The Masses.

Fire Slide which I chose to go down, Jon preferred the picture-taker role

So the first time either of us actually wears walking shoes this trip and I completely slip and fall while walking down to the party. Thankfully, the lovely ladies at the Full Moon's clinic cleaned it up for me. Nonetheless, my reputation as being graceful is now tarnished, and have road rash-iness down my leg--thankfully it doesn't hinder my massage getting ability. Don't worry mom I'm completely fine I promise!! Notice the turtle.

Mr. Jonathan

Group photo! The sign was initially on fire saying Full Moon but by the time the British lad taking the photo got the job done it had gone out...

Scooters!!

Internet again! Today we got our Christopher Columbus on and headed out and about the island. To begin with, we conquered the bridge adjacent to our hotel, thinking it would lead us to some majestic beach or maybe into town...

...turns out it only takes you into some old lady's backyard. And that was the first awkward experience of the day.


Then came Jonathan's genius idea to get a scooter to take the exploring to a whole new level....

I of course took on the role of director of photography. Some sites included...

Thai Navy? It was completely surrounded by sand...

Coconut Plantation

Paradise Waterfall 

Wasai Waterfall (kinda all start to look alike...) 

Roadside Temple

Soon to be Roadside Temple...

Then after officially not making it to a single destination that we initially intended on visiting (in my defense--although I may have a record of poor navigating in the past--these maps are hard to read and the signs are of no help...) it was off for more massages and to get ready for the infamous Full Moon Party festivities. 

Koh Phangan

As our first day in Koh Phangan, there was of course no other option but to start exploring. Both our resort and the surrounding area are beautiful, and you can walk to just about anywhere. The beach we are staying on looks a little something like this...

then of course there was no other option but to get a thai massage which was an experience to say the least. Having a grown woman sit on you to stretch you is by no means pleasant especially when you add in the other lady constantly yelling at Jon to relax, yet in the end it was worth it. From there it was off to Haad Rin--a beachside town just a short walk from our resort. The beach was beautiful, the town hectic and crowded, and the food delicious.

Water Taxis

Finally came home and sunset...

house dogs (all named Mali)

We made it!

first came Hong Kong...

then came the incredible Bangkok Airport....

because this is what normal airports look like...

red bull anyone??

then came Koh Samui Airport... which happens to be more of a hut with a runway conveniently in front of it than anything else...

then came the ferry ride to Koh Phangan with our new friends from Wales and Canada...

then came the taxi ride and hotel all to wake up and remember why we went through it all...

GOOD MORNING KOH PHANGAN!!