So I've made the decision to travel to one of Thailand's most famous islands (see what I did with the title...) - Kho Pangang, also known to the traveller as the home of the Full Moon Party.
Travelling around Thailand is an experience in and of itself. Bangkok is busy and takes a long time to negotiate but the rest of the country is fairly well connected by road and (sometimes) by train and air.
 |
| Rong Meung train station in Bangkok |
I was picked up in Bangkok by a polite lady who walked us through a back street market where we waited an hour for a coach. The side of the coach was painted with Disney characters which made me think I was going to the Dignitas clinic and the cartoons were there to placate me. The bus had "reclining" seats, although I can sleep anywhere and I was conked out for the 8 hour journey until we arrived at a desolate pier at 2:30am in the morning. Whilst waiting for our 7am boat I got thick with a group of Americans who were arguing with a group of British about Osama Bin Laden's capture and assassination. It was interesting to see where the cultural divides lied - with the Americans unequivocally in favour of the action and the Brits not so sure.
 |
| Lots of trees... |
Alas, the rest of the details of the trip are fairly standard - a long boat ride negotiating some beautiful islands along the way until we arrived at Pangang with its rolling mountains covered in green trees. Along the way there were at least as many Thais as "farangs" on the boat who were trying to sell diving excursions on the neighbouring island of Kho Tao. The idea of scuba diving has always interested me, but the thought of my lungs exploding from coming up too early doesn't make me want to try it. I've been promised a free dive in a swimming pool (I felt a bit like I was back to being potty trained) so we'll see.
This is my second time on the island - it's hot, beautiful, stunning scenery, great food, big enough to not get bored and small enough to negotiate with a moped, which I rented out as soon as I got to my room. Mopeds and motorcycles are a staple means of transport for Thais and you're often confronted with the scene of baby, child, mother, daughter and a 6 by 4 on the back of 1 moped.
Sufficed to say safety comes first for me so it's just one person on my moped and a helmet. The only problem being that Thais have small heads, and half Iranian boys seem to have very large ones so I was confronted with the embarrassing situation of trying to explain to a Thai person that my head was too big for all the helmets and did they have an extra large one. They didn't, so I've been reduced to wearing a large cycling helmet which has given me a few strange looks as I cycle down the roads with my (fake) Ray Bans looking "cool".
 |
| A secluded beach I found on Pangang |
Everyone in Thailand seems to be an expert masseuse and from my A-Level economics I worked out that more supply = lower price. You can pick up a good hour long massage for about 3-4 quid (they don't have the pound sign on this keyboard). Oil massage, foot massage (video below of my pasty pasty legs taking part in a foot oil massage), head massage. It's less relaxing than ayudervic (I think I made that word up) but does leave you feeling pretty wholesome afterwards. (p.s there are no happy ending, despite what people say. At least in the places where I have gone.)
Tomorrow I may do a Thai cooking course which will be brilliant as I love the food out here so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment