Simone on the move

3 – 15 December 2009

I am writing this on a train to Kanchanaburi, it’s 9.30am. Rafeena and I have been travelling for nearly 24hours, we left Ko Pha-Ngan yesterday at midday on a ferry, caught a bus to the train station then a night train to a station before Bangkok.

We were on Ko Pha-Ngan for 12 days, it’s the longest I’ve stayed anywhere since leaving Perth 4 months ago! Though even the 6 weeks before leaving I was moving around in WA a lot, so it’s been longer.

Lazing around in a hammock reading books and catching up on work online was good, but towards the end it was even better exploring the whole island by scooter and motorbike.
We had different company in our 12 days. The first few days were spent with Kat and Jim, an English couple we met on the ferry. We arrived in choppy seas and monsoonal rain, but jumped straight into the ocean anyway, lightning and thunder surrounding us.
The question still remains, the notices in our bungalows that said ‘this is a nudist beach, please keep it clean’…was it bad english and did they mean nature or natural beach?!!

Those first few days I couldn’t resist the lure of the bamboo needle, and got my star tattoo on my neck extended down my back and to my side. Took 3.5hours the first day and 1hour the second day. Second day hurt, going over sensitive skin. Bamboo tattooing is down by hand, I don’t think it hurts more than a machine, but it takes longer. Heals faster though.

A few days after we arrived Marissa joined us, an awesome American girl we met through couchsurfing in Perth. Hopefully she’ll also join us for christmas and new year in Laos.

For our last few days Erik joined us, another American couchsurfer we met in Perth. At this stage Rafeena and I had already hired scooters and were starting to explore the island, but Erik took it one step further and hired a real motorbike. Raf was starting to enjoy the scooter (her first time riding one), but at a slow pace. So I joined Erik in some faster trips around to the other side of the island. Still, we were careful, the concrete roads often had potholes and halfway through the middle of the island they turned to gravel and sand, made worse thanks to rain in the past.
Going at a snail’s pace around a corner we fell over in slow motion. I didn’t have a single scratch, thanks to our slow speed and Erik holding up the motorbike long enough for me to get out from under it. He ended up with some nasty looking bloody scrapes on his knee and ankle, but luckily they weren’t deep and nothing broken. First motorbike ‘accident’ for both of us! He’s been riding for years but we could have done with less tyre pressure on the gravel.

The weather has been great for most of our stay, occasional cloud, but that usually makes for an awesome sunset.

We discovered some beautiful beaches, cute waterfalls (nothing big) and snorkelled around Ko Ma, a small island in the north.

I’m a bit scared of the ocean (mainly jellyfish, scary fish, random seaweed…) and I don’t wear contacts, so can only see things at close distance when I don’t wear my glasses. The whole swim took nearly 2hrs, and I surprised myself!  Staying close to the side of the island when we were on the far side where it got deep quickly and there were waves, and just following Erik who could see better helped me. Also surprised myself with my relative fitness level, I declined his flippers for most of it and though my arms were tired at the end, I felt fine the next day!

That afternoon saw the most spectacular bird I think I’ve ever seen, the Great Hornbill. Reminds me of a tucan! Just after I took photos, it flew away, but came straight at me, I had to jump out of the way and may have squeeled a bit!

We stayed at a place called Ann’s Heartbreak Restaurant and Joon Bungalows, right on the beach with hammock and a swing, the restaurant/bar/our loungeroom 10m from the water. Around the corner were a few beaches with no bungalows or restaurants in sight. And then a 15min walk (or 2 min scooter ride) in the other direction was Thong Sala, the main town on the island.
Apart from the first night, we’ve been eating at the night market there every day, and at a local thai place for lunch. Cheap local prices and lots of variety, even some vegetarian options and yummy desserts usually involving coconut.

We mostly led a quiet life, but did make it to an occasional cool bar (like the sunset rock bar which took 145 steps to get to and did have a good sunset view), and the Half Moon Party in the jungle. The full moon party on the beach in the south is a huge famous happening, but the Half Moon party in the jungle was big and slightly crazy too.

And now I’m finishing this post and we’re in Kanchanaburi. Hiring a scooter and a motorbike later for about 4 days to explore the area which has national parks with awesome waterfalls, caves, and the ‘Death Railway’ (made famous by the book/movie ‘Bridge over the River Kwai’) where thousands of pow’s in World War II died. Going to try and go all the way to the Burmese border but not sure we’ll make it time wise.