Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Thailand: Ko Phi Phi)

Well after the Full Moon Party, it was time to move over to the other coast of Thailand, The Adaman Coast and the BEAUTIFUL islands that lie along this coast. Unfortunately I only had time to make it to one of these islands but based on my experience, I think that I chose very wisely. I decided to head to the island Ko Phi Phi Don and its little sister island Ko Phi Phi Lay. Ko Phi Phi is famous for two reasons (other than its insane beauty) the first reason is that back in 1999, the infamous beach and bay of Maya Bay on Ko Phi Phi Lay was used as the set for a movie called "The Beach" which starred Leanardo Dicapprio and which was based on a book by the same name. The second reason that this set of islands is famous is because unfortunately, they were completely washed away during the Tsunami of 2004. I am happy to say however, that life here has come back with a vengance and things are thriving more than ever.

Upon arriving at Ko Phi Phi Don from the mainland on the ferry, I once again set about to find a place to stay. Upon finding one, I dropped my stuff down and set about exploring. Ko Phi Phi Don has a very unique shape; it is basically two large islands joined by a narrow isthmus. This isthmus is also where the main "island tourist village" is located. I spend the first afternoon exploring the village and the two beautiful beaches that lie on either side. After exploring for a few hours, I decided to call it a day and went to sleep.

The next day, I decided to take one of the immensely popular day tours of Ko Phi Phi Lay and the surrounding islands. Since development is forbidden on Ko Phi Phi Lay, this island tour is the only way to see this island. For the morning part of the tour, we headed to and island called Bamboo Island. Upon arriving, we spent a few hours snorkeling and hanging around on the deserted beach. The snorkeling was superb and I saw many neat things including a massive Moray Eel. After Bamboo Island, it was time to head to Ko Phi Phi Lay. We spent the entire afternoon sailing around the various bays of Ko Phi Phi Lay and let me tell you, I have yet to see bays that are more beautiful. The water literally was turquoise and if it were deep enough, I would have been able to see the bottom at around 100 feet or so. After exploring the smaller bays, it was the time we were all waiting for; it was time to explore Maya Bay. Now due to rough seas on the side of Ko Phi Phi Lay where Maya Bay resides, we had to anchor our boat on the opposite side of the island, jump off and swim to shore, and then hike a short distance through the center of the island to Maya Bay. Upon arriving at Maya Bay, I was blown away by the beauty of it. It was definitely the nicest beach I have ever seen and I can clearly see why they chose this beach to use for the film. The bay was bright turquoise and looked as if it were glowing in the dark. After relaxing in TRUE paradise for a while, we headed back to the boat and made our way back to port. On the way in, we stopped at a place called Monkey Beach. As the name indicates, this beach is FULL of monkeys and we had the chance to feed them a variety of fruits. Lets just say that they were very friendly monkeys and had no problem climbing on you if they sensed food anywhere near you. After Monkey Bay, we pulled back into port and I called it a day.

The next day, I woke up early and took off for some morning Scuba Diving around Ko Phi Phi Lay. While the seas were a little bit rough, the diving was INCREDIBLE. We were able to see Blacktip Reef Sharks, Pacific Lionfish, Scorpionfish, Clown Fish (Nemo), Sea Snakes, Eels, Stingrays, and the list goes on. It was definitely some of the best diving that I have done to date. After diving, I came back to shore for just long enough to grab my gear to take off for some beach camping at Maya Bay! I was so blown away by the beauty of Maya Bay the first time I saw it, I had to take the opportunity to actually sleep there for a night. The company that organizes these trips has the only camping permits around and so our group had the entire beach to ourselves for the night. Although we had sand blowing across our sleeping bags and the ground wasn't exactly the most comfortable thing ever, it was still an amazing experience to sleep on "The Beach!"

The next day, after returning from Maya Bay, I decided to hike up to Ko Phi Phi Viewpoint. From the top of this viewpoint, I had am AMAZING 360 degree view of both Ko Phi Phi don and Ko Phi Phi Lay and the surrounding islands. The photo opportunities were incredible so be sure to check out my pictures! After the view point, I just came back to town and spent the rest of the afternoon hanging out and enjoying my last few hours of Paradise. Tomorrow, I begin the long journey back to Piedmont, California.

I hope you all have had as much fun reading this blog as I have had writing it and actually experiencing all of these incredible things over the last few months. This trip has DEFINITELY been the Trip of a Lifetime!

Until my next Global Travels,
Evan!

Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Thailand: Ko Phangan)

Well after the amazing Scuba Diving in my last Destination, Ko Tao, I set off south to the Island of Ko Phangan. Ko Phangan is known around the world for its world famous Full Moon Party which is held every month on the Full Moon. Naturally, I planned my visit to fall during the July Full Moon party and it definitely did not disappoint. Upon arriving, I jumped into a taxi from the ferry pier and headed to my hotel. After dropping down my things, I set off to explore my new surroundings. After walking along the main beach (where the party is) for a while, I came back into town to grab some dinner. While I was looking at a menu, these two Irish kids randomly came up and started talking to me. Me being me, had a great conversation with them and we (along with their other 6 or 7 friends) ended up spending the next 5 days and nights cutting loose. While there are some activities you can do on Ko Phangan, the islands main attraction is the Full Moon Party and so partying / dancing / relaxing / and socializing are the main things that people do here. We were no different and spent every day but one day lazing around the beach or sitting on our "stoop" right in the middle of town. Come night fall however, we hit the beach and danced the night away at the literally dozens of bars and clubs that pack the sand. The one day that we decided to be adventuresome, we took a day long boat trip around the Eastern half of the island. We got to go into see a really neat waterfall and some of the more beautiful beaches this island has to offer. While not too intense, the day trip was really fun and well worth the investment.

As the Full Moon Night drew closer, I could feel the energy begin to build. Most of the bars held "warm up" parties and they were incredibly fun. Finally, July 9th rolled around and it was the night we had all been waiting for. We spent the day resting up and decided to meet up at 9:00 PM to get things going. We spent a few hours chilling out at our stoop and having some beers while we painted each other with florescent paint to get into the spirits for the evening. at midnight or so, we hit the sand to cut loose. Now I am not exaggerating when I say this, there were easily 20,000 to 30,000 people partying down on the beach that night. Each bar had a MASSIVE sound system going and there were fire dancers, body paint artists, and many other entertainers performing to the masses. We spent the night going from bar to bar and dancing up a storm. We didn't call it quits until well after the sun had come up. While I don't think that the full enormity of it all will sink in until I get home, it was definitely a night that I will never forget! Now it is time to leave Ko Phangan and after I do a visa run to Myanmar, its off to the island of Ko Phi Phi on the other side of Thailand! Keep tuned for more stories from Paradise!

Trip of a Lifetime Round 2 (Thailand: Ko Tao)

Well Ko Tao was the next stop on my adventure. Ko Tao is located to the north of Ko Samui and is world famous for its pristine beaches, chilled out atmosphere, and INCREDIBLE Scuba Diving. I got there on the 28th of June and ended up staying until the 5th of July. Upon arriving, I headed to the stretch of beach known as Sairee Beach. After arriving at my accommodation (which was RIGHT on the sand,) I signed up for some Scuba Diving. For the first day, I decided to just do some "Fun Dives" (which is basically any dive that you do when not enrolled in a Scuba Diving course) to get back into the swing of things. I did four dives the first day and they were incredible! The visibility was amazing and I was lucky enough to see the usual thousands of tropical fish as well as a sea snake, stingray, lion fish, and scorpion fish.

After the first day of getting back into the swing of things, I decided to take my diving to the next level and enrolled in the Advanced Open Water Certification Course. This course is basically the next level up from the basic Open Water Certification (which is the basic level of certification) The Advanced Open Water Course consists of 5 Dives. We were required to do 2 "core dives" which were a Deep Dive and an Underwater Navigation Dive and then we were each able to pick 3 "elective" dives from a list of different specialties. I happened to choose Night Dive, Peak Buoyancy, and Computer. To make a long story short, on each particular dive, we obviously focused on the "theme" of that dive. My favorite was definitely the night dive. Not only was it really cool to jump into the middle of the ocean when its pitch black out, but you get to see so many animals that are nocturnal and that you cant see during the day. After I completed my Advanced Certification Course, I spent the next few days just relaxing and doing a few more "fun dives."

I have now moved on the the next island; Ko Phangan. It is home to many more pristine beaches and the world famous monthly "Full Moon Party" where upwards of 70,000 people come to one particular beach on the island to celebrate the Full Moon! Be sure to stay tuned for more stories from Paradise!