A semester in Southeast Asia: Southern Thailand Island Hopping- part 2 of 2

For some reason this was never actually posted.. and I just got back to Bangkok today from another trip, so here was the 2^nd part of the island hopping trip down south:

We took about a 2 hour ferry from the Phi Phi islands to the seaside town of Krabi. Krabi had a different feel than the rest of the places I had seen down south so far- it was more of a stopover hub to go to other places rather than a destination in itself. I’m sure if we had a few extra days to explore that we could have found some things to do, but for the short time we were there it seemed that it was just a place to stay briefly and hop on another ferry to somewhere nearby. We got into Krabi in the late afternoon and had some time to walk around and find a night market for dinner. These night markets are all over Thailand, it’s a really fascinating atmosphere. Hundreds of outdoor stalls are clustered in one area each selling different foods, clothes, accessories, cd’s, and anything and everything you can imagine. There’s a large area in the middle with chairs and benches for people to sit and eat. There’s usually either a live Thai band , karaoke, or some sort of music, and everyone just hangs out for hours eating, drinking Chang beers, and enjoying the night. Thai’s love to take their time eating and relaxing at the night markets, and it’s some of the best and cheapest food I’ve had. That’s one of the beauties of Thailand- the street food is usually the best, freshest, and most unique dishes you’ll get across the country, and it’s also the cheapest.

Anyways, after the night market we headed back early to the guesthouse and got a good night’s sleep to prepare for our kayaking adventure. The next morning we met up with our friend Antoine and two of his friends who were studying in Hong Kong and came to Thailand for the week. We took an early bus from Krabi to Ao Nang, which was a little further north up the coast, and then got on a speedboat ferry to Koh Yao Noi. About half an hour into the trip, we noticed that the turquoise water was turning to a mysterious purple. As we passed over, it appeared that the mile long stretch of the surface was covered in massive jelly fish! There was literally no spaces between any of the jellyfish, and the tentacles looked nasty. Didn’t see Nemo or Dory though. Luckily, we didn’t encounter any of these creatures on our kayaking trip.

Koh Yao Noi is one of the bigger islands down south, yet it is also one of the quietist. I’m not sure why tourism hasn’t really reached the area yet, but when we stepped off the ferry it had a whole new feel than Phuket and Phi Phi. There were only a few small hotels and guesthouses on the island, and everything seemed quiet and peaceful. We took a tuk-tuk from the pier to the opposite side of the island where we rented the kayaks. A young Thai guy named Zach ran a small business out of his house where he rented kayaks, tents, cooking gear, etc, and just let people take the kayaks and paddle out to find any of the hundreds of remote islands to sleep on and escape all the crowds. So, we packed up our things, bought some water and rice (in hopes that we’d catch all types of fish, lobsters, and everything else to go with the rice. Which we didn’t..), and headed out and around the coast to find our first camping destination. The paddle was really nice, water temp about 80 degrees, clear blue skies, and tons of jagged islands just popping up from the ocean floor out of nowhere. We paddled about 4 hours or so until finally reaching a small island north of Koh Yao Noi.

I’m not sure if the island had a name, but what intrigued us all was its similarity to “the beach” that we’d seen in Koh Phi Phi. The island was quite small with rough terrain all around- the only accessible part was the beach, which was partially hidden inside of a bay, surrounded by cliffs. Besides us and a few lizards, we were the only people on the island. As the sun set, we set up camp and managed to get a fire going and cook some rice. We spent the night hanging out under the stars, wondering if we could do this for the rest of our lives.

The next morning, the plan was simple. Food. I had brought my speargun and mask, and we also had two hand lines with hooks for fishing. We figured that we would all go out, and come back with enough fish to feed everyone for at least the day. Well, the plan failed. The spearfishing was impossible with the currents and zero visibility from all the sand and rocks getting swirled around on the seafloor, and the handlines came up empty as well. It wouldn’t be a gourmet breakfast after all, but rice and curry powder tasted just fine. After breakfast and packing up camp, we headed off to find a new destination for our second night. We went back along the opposite coast of Koh Yao Noi in hopes of finding another suitable island for camping. We ended up stopping once on the main island to check out a small resort and infinity pool that seemed too nice to miss out on. After a quick dip in the infinity pool, it was back in the kayaks for some to get away from everyone for the night. We paddled another 4 miles or so until finding a small island that we couldn’t resist paddling over to and checking it out for camping. Now this was an island from paradise, like something fake that you’d draw up in your mind and wonder if it really existed before actually seeing it. The beach was about half of the entire island- stretching about 100 yards from the ocean up to the tall palm trees curling over the edge of the beach. We had to stay here.

Luckily we found the island early in the afternoon and had the rest of the day to hang out and enjoy the island to ourselves. We enjoyed the massive beach and played some Frisbee as the sun set over the looming mountains in the distance. We also managed to spear some crabs which were added to the cooking pot for dinner. It was another relaxing night with a big bonfire and some pretty terrible rice-crab-curry-and sand dinner.

The next day we had to say goodbye to the island and head back to Koh Yao Noi for the ferry back to the mainland. It was time for the full moon party. We spent the entire day traveling from place to place, a pretty long and boring day. It went like this: tuk-tuk to pier in Koh Yao Noi, speed boat ferry to Ao nang, bus to krabi, taxi to krabi bus station, bus to Surat Thani province, another bus to Surat Thani ferry pier, overnight ferry to Koh Phagnan, and finally a tuk-tuk to Haad Rin beach for the famous full moon party. The overnight ferry was also a pretty interesting experience. Basically, you walk into the boat and it is two different levels with nothing but tiny mattresses laying on the floor. It was mostly all backpackers on the ferry- all with the same idea of getting to Koh Phagnan just in time for the full moon party. We spent the first few hours of the ferry talking and meeting some people from all around the world, then managed to get some sleep before arriving in Koh Phagnan at 8 a.m the next day.

Koh Phagnan was packed with people. It is a pretty big island, with beaches, jungle, waterfalls, and everything else, but most people just know it as the island for the full moon party. Basically, every full moon of the year, anywhere from 10-30 thousand people gather on Haad Rin beach to party under the full moon until the sun rises the next day. It was an experience. Definitely not something that people could do every month, but something that’s worth seeing and believing that it actually exists. Insanely loud music, fire jump roping, water slides, stages in the ocean, it all was there. We met up with about 50 more of the international students, and spent the night partying on the beach, and then I was off to catch the 8 a.m ferry back to Bangkok the next day.

Overall, a great trip. From witnessing the cultural vegetarian festival, to camping out to spending an afternoon on “the beach”, to camping out on uninhabited islands, and witnessing a full moon party for the first time, I felt like I got a good taste of what the southern islands of Thailand are all about. That said, I know I’ll be back some day. For now, I’ve got the memories.

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