Generally speaking, a 1 month trip to Thailand would end up with a week at the beach. Known for it’s beautiful islands off the coast, it’s sure to be a part of any significant itinerary.
Some people are beach people, some people are mountain people. I’m a mountain person, but beach runs in the blood of the rest of my family. We were all actually pretty excited, to visit “Kho Phangan” island, and stay at a beach resort. We chose this island due to visiting during monsoon season, so we stayed away from the west side of Thailand, and settled in the east side in the “Andaman Sea”.
I think this was a good choice. Though it didn’t rain much while we were there, it was certainly dark and overcast much of the time. We did see and enjoy the sun in moments while there, but something else was working against any sort of outdoor fun…
The kids got sick. We’re not really sure what they had, as we simply treated the symptoms, and let them rest, but it could have been Denge fever. They both had a really high fever that sort of came and went. Mid-day was usually OK, then at night and in the morning, they had raging fevers. They were both pretty miserable, but Kat recovered sooner than Kane.
Here are some pics of us arriving at Koh Phangan, and of our resort:
Along with the kids being sick, I had been pulled (reluctantly) into the interview cycle, and was being asked to prepare and have interviews via Skype. With lousy internet in our room (we had a small cabin with two bedrooms and two bathrooms), I spent much of our time here at the restaurant online…. either writing blog posts, or prepping for interviews.
In spite of that, we still managed to have a good time. The kids enjoyed the pool and the beach regularly when they felt up to it. One day, we took a snorkeling cruise to “sail rock”, which was cool. Another day, we did a day-long cruise which included visits to a beautiful national park and a short, but intense hike.
We walked up the beach to a dive shop of good internet reputation, and booked a 1/2 day snorkel trip to “Sail Rock”. This is probably a hourlong boat ride from Koh Phangan, to a small rock in the middle of the ocean. It’s probably 50 yards in diameter at most, but it’s a notable diving destination. I was shocked how small it was!
When we arrived, we (the snorkelers) had to wait for the scuba divers to get in the water first. We were a tad bit frustrated, when all of the instructors left, and we discovered that Kane’s flippers didn’t fit. Non of the remaining “Crew” on the boat wanted to help us. It seemed like a “union thing”. One thing that was really cool was, during this time, several whale sharks were spotted just behind and beside the boat. The scuba divers where right in the mix with those suckers, and they were HUGE.
Once we got somewhat settled with our gear and into the water, we jumped in and started swimming toward the rock. It was surprisingly difficult with the current, and the kids (especially kat) were disheartened.
After a bit of pretty good snorkeling, the kids were done, and Kim took them back to the boat. We had agreed to stay with a french girl whose family was scuba diving, and so she and I went around the rock a couple of times. We actually saw one of the whale sharks up close and personal. It was pretty incredible. The divemaster said it was like the 3rd time in 500 dives that she’d seen whale sharks.
Overall, it was a challenge, especially with the kids not 100% well, but it was nice to get away from the resort and out on the open water for a bit.
Pics of our snorkeling excursion:
More pics from our resort:
The day-long cruise was also up and down, but the highlight was definitely the visit to the Anthang Marine Park, which is made up of 40+ islands. We got to visit a few, and had a pretty significant hike on the last, with spectacular views.
The last 10 minutes of the hike were crazy steep, and climbing on jaggen peaks of lava rock that were razor sharp. Kane was fine, but I was worried about my camera etc, etc.
Here are some pics from this excursion:
All in all, this part of our trip was a tad bit of a disappointment. We kind of feel that there are beautiful beaches that are pretty reachable from home, and to travel this far, we’d rather explore another country/culture in general. There were some highlights, but the mediocre weather, the sick kids, the high prices etc etc, we would spend this week differently next time!
Pics leaving this place:
