Day 48 - Friday, April 1 - Ko Pha Ngan

Although no roosters to wake me up, I did a great job at waking up in time to see the sun rise. I walked around a bit, found a bungalow operation I would rather stay in if I were to stay at Mae Had Bay, and tried to figure out the lay of the land. The actual beach (the sand part) here at Royal Orchid sucks but just a 2 minute walk away, there's a good beach. Ko Ma, Horse Island, sits right in front of the little cove that Royal Orchid it situated on and is reachable via sandbar in about 2 - 3 minutes. Horse Island is blocking my view of the vast Gulf. As you read this blog, put your fist about 5" in front of your face and that's the same obstruction that Horse Island gives to the open water I am dying to look out and see.

After careful consideration, I realized that Royal Orchid and Mae Hat Bay weren't long for me. I checked out, paid my 200 baht and rented a bike, leaving my passport and pack as collateral. I drove to Had Yao, a beach on the northeast side of the island about 5km away from this shithole they call Mae Had Bay. I looked at some other hotels / bungalows and contemplated spending 1000 - 1500 baht a night on a nice air con room on the beach. I looked at Tantawan Bungalows where my friend Dylan stayed in December and it's real nice and situated on a hillside overlooking the blue water. However, I'm not in the market to climb the stairs of Kilamanjaro every time I want to get to the place and then have to cimb Mt. Fuji to get to my room.

I left Hat Yao and tried to find Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi and Ao Thong Nai Yai, 2 beaches on the northeast side of the island that were also recommended to me. This island is pretty big and after getting lost a few times, I realized I had to drive all the way south to Thong Sala, the main town where the pier is, and then head north on a different road as there was no way to get from the northwest side of the island to the northeast side without going all the way south first. Oh well, it was a nice ride and I was enjoying learning the island and seeing the sites.

The roads on the island are all pretty good and paved, WINDY AND NARROW AT TIMES, but there is a stretch of about 7 KM on the way to Ao Thong Nai Pon that isn't paved and along with windy and hilly, somewhat treacherous. I managed to get there in one piece and found what I thought was one of the prettiest beaches I found to date. I saw a few bunglaows I liked on Noi but wanted to check out Yai before making a decision. Drove just 1KM further and came across the little town of Ao Thong Nai Pon Yai and turned onto a little dirt road to get to the beach. I parked the bike and before I even got off the bike, I saw MARLOW walking up from the beach. What a weird coincidence! How the hell did I happen to end up pulling into the exact bungalow operation that they were staying at not even knowing they were on this beach? The world keeps getting smaller. Within minutes, out came Logan and Les and we were reunited - one big happy family again. We chatted for a little bit on the beautiful beach, and I definitely knew this was the beach to stay at. I then had to figure out how to get the bike back to Royal Orchid, get my bag, and get back to this place being it was already 4:00PM. There are no real taxi's on this island, rather a few scheduled runs to Thong Sala each day from the bungalow. I found a guy in a truck at the bungalow who was heading to the pier in Thong Sala and said he would then come get me at Royal Orchid and bring me back. I got on the bike, drove all the way back to Royal Orchid, returned the bike, said goodbye to that god forsaken place and the truck came to get me to bring me back for the low low price of 600 baht. At this point, the price didn't matter as I was getting out of a place I didn't like, heading to a beautiful beach, and had the Esau's to hang out with for another day before they headed to Bangkok where Marlow and Les were catching their plane back to Canada on Tuesday and Logan continued his travels.

Soooooooooo, back on the eastern north/south road to Thong Sala where I could cross over to the west side of the island and head north to Mae Had Bay to get my stuff. Like clockwork, the guy showed up just a few minutes after I did and took me back to Ao Thong Nai Pon Yai. Logan and I got a room with 2 beds so Les and Marlow could spend a night alone without child in tow. We caught up, talked about the whole week we were apart, and realized the weird coincidence that I found them.

We had a drink on the porch, I hung my hammock, and think I have found a place I can stay put for a few days. It was a whole day of looking for a place but it was well worth it. This beach is absolutely beautiful.

I showered to rid myself of the the sweat, dirt, and grime that had built up on my body and clothing from the ride and we headed down the beach to dinner. After dinner we hung out on the porch for a bit, and they told me that if I didn't mind, they would not go to Bangkok tomorrow and spend another day with me here. I certainly didn't mind and was glad to be back with my adopted family.

Everyone went to bed and I fell asleep on my hammock for a few hours before I transferred myself into my bed and called it a night.