Life's a Beach

For the past week and a half or so we have been hanging out in the Thai Islands and let me tell you: life here is good.

From Bangkok we decided to head right down to the islands rather than sticking around and seeing areas on the mainland. I'm bummed we missed out on some places that I wanted to see but between our visa issues and the Thai new year it just seemed like it would be a better idea to head right down here. We since realized that we could have made it work but that's okay, I have confidence that this won't be my only trip to Thailand.

Our first island destination was Koh Pha Ngan on the east coast. It's a real backpackers kind of place and famous for it's wild full moon parties. We got there the day after full moon and headed to a small beach one over from where the full moon parties take place called Haad Yuan. It's about a quarter mile long beach with 5 or so places to stay and several restaurants and bars. Technically you can get there by road but it's so bad so the main way to reach the beach is just by boat. There is no town there, just the beach front bungalows. It is a very quiet place with just the right amount of tourists so that you can meet people but still have the beach practically to yourself.

We got a great little bungalow built into the rocks with an amazing sunrise view- all for less than $9/night. Tell me where else in the world you can do that? Life at Haad Yuan was great and each day seemed more beautiful than the last. We would wake up late everyday, eat breakfast and chat with new friends, relax on the beach and swim in the crystal clear, warm water. Late afternoons were reserved for a game of volleyball and then dinner and a movie relaxing in our favorite restaurant. We met great people and were loving life. I never wanted to leave! But after about 5 days, we did.

We took a ferry to Koh Tao, an island just north of Koh Pha Ngan, known for it's great diving. We came with a group of new friends who all wanted to do a scuba course here, it's one of the cheapest places in the world to get PADI certified. Jason thought he might want to do the course as well but decided against it.

So we have been on Koh Tao for about four days now, relaxing by the beach and pool and doing some great snorkeling. The water here is equally warm and clear, plus there are coral reefs all around that are filled with sea life. Even relaxing on the beach in less than a foot of water I've had colorful fish swim all around me. We have been going out on our friends' diving boat and snorkeling from there as well.
The fish are so unafraid and swim right up to your mask. Our friends have been loving diving, one of them is even planning when he can come back to do a 6 week course.

Tomorrow we'll leave Koh Tao and cross over to the west coast. We have to cross the border into Burma so we can get another 15 day Thai visa. For anyone wondering, yes, its perfectly safe to spend a day in Burma. From there we'll probably go to the west coast islands around Phuket, but we liked Koh Pha Ngan so much we might head back.

Oh and about the protests in Bangkok and Pataya, we are worlds away from that and in no danger.