Koh Pangan - rocks. It just does

We were not so sure of going to Koh Pangan as we were not into the all night Full Moon parties and hanging out with lots of British youngsters. But it was nothing like that at all and I would even be so bold as to say it was our best beach location. I think we mitigated the risk of lots of drunk teenagers by going to the north of the island, to a beach called Tong Nai Pan. The sangtaw (local taxi - a very basically the back of a truck) journey across the island was hair-raising to put it kindly. Thank goodness I had my sea sickness wristbands on - the track was dusty, fast and like rally-cars over a winding mountain path. Again no idea of where to stay, but had read that there were a few reasonable options on the beach and like a little gift, we arrived safely at Central cottages. Go there - they are fabulous. We got a hut for 400Bht (GBP6) per night, right on the beach, with an ensuite bathroom!! It was not the Hilton - it was a basic hut with a double bed and a mosquito net, but who needs anything else!!



The beach is beautiful, clean and quiet and HOT and did I say quiet. I think I did. And beautiful - yip said that already. Falling asleep at night to the sound of the gentle waves and waking to the sound of cicadas. Evenings were a stroll along the beach at 6pm followed by a beer or two while watching the fire-twirlers. Days - were spent here...



or here...



We even had our lunch brought to us here... the lady at the restaurant knew our standard order or Pad Thai (with chicken) followed by fresh pineapple. Three days reading on a beach chair can get tiring, so we did invest in beach bats and even managed an afternoon of kayaks for relaxation. But don't let that fool you - we did very little for 4 days!


The belly got browner

When it was time to leave we sadly departed our beach paradise (after a Pad Thai for lunch naturally) and braved the dusty, scary sangtaw ride back over the island. Not a good one this time - I was very car sick and only survived the journey thanks to lots of heavy breathing and a back rub from Simon.

Back to the mainland and off south to Malaysia. Secretly rather nervous as southern Thailand is not all that safe at the moment and the locals couldn't understand why we were heading in that direction (the lady who eventually sold us the train tickets tried to talk us out of it for 10min first!!) But we will be okay - we will stay on the train until Songai Kolok and then make a dash for the border!!! That is not quite how it turned out, but that story is for the next blog!