From the jungle we headed to the ocean on the East Coast of Thailand where the green topped limestone carsts meet the warm turquoise waters of the Andaman Sea. Vertical walled islands dot the horizon just like from the movie the Beach. Here we took a longtail boat taxi in the pouring rain over to the peninsula Railay surrounded by limestone cliffs. It's a popular climbing spot. At the climbing spot there was an entire cave dedicated to a princess where fisherman leave offerings of the penis to please her in hopes of good luck fishing! We didn't leave any offerings but I got a great picture. We hiked around the peninsula on muddy trails with ropes and monkeys around to a viewpoint and a wonderful secluded lagoon. Covered in mud we made it down to the lagoon in the center of the peninsula which was well worth it because we were the only crazy people who attempted it. We decided that the monsoon season was forcing us away from the Andaman Sea and the dry Gulf of Thailand was calling us.
We were successful in finding the sun!!! The first of the islands, Ko Samui, is the largest and busiest. We searched for a place and many were full until we found this cute old Thai lady who took Eugene by the arm and showed him the bungalow. It wasn't the greatest room but the beach was peaceful and she was the cutest. There we hit up a great night market and rented a motorbike to check out the island. It had many beautiful beaches, but was a little overwhelming so we decided to head to the next island of Ko Phangan!!
Ko Phangan is known as the wild step sister of Ko Samui. It's famous for its Full Moon parties. Right off the boat we rented ourselves a brand new motorbike with a full tank of gas for three days! This island was my favorite place in all of Thailand. Very mellow and not overrun by development right on the beach. The island was filled with coconut palms, snakes, sea eagles, and wild roads. We rallied the motorbike all over the island checking out snorkeling spots and hiking spots and stopping at all the beaches for a swim. After three days of fun and an empty tank of gas we headed to the next island of Ko Tao.
Ko Tao the smallest of the three was a little more hustle and bustle than Ko Phangan but not as much as Ko Samui. It's a popular dive and snorkel island, where they pump out divers daily. There we took an old-school wooden barge to a tiny island called Ko Nangyuan where the clear waters were filled with numerous vibrant fish. We spent the whole day there checking out the islands' nooks and crannies and then climbed to the viewpoint before it was time to head back. The next two days we checked out four unique bays for snorkeling scattered around the island. The steep roads and our ghetto motorbike left me walking up the hills to meet Eugene at the top. I guess I've had too many spring rolls!! One bay had a giant rock in the middle that everyone was jumping off, and another was an underwater boulder field filled with awesome corals. I saw a massive Puffer fish that shot me the stink eye, while Eugene spotted a black tip reef shark. The next day we caught our boat-bus combo to Bangkok where we'll eat our last Pad Thai, have our last cheap Thai message, and do some shopping before heading to New Zealand.
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