Ko Pha Ngan

Leslie and I had a lot of fun at Ko Pha Ngan, a sister Island to Ko Samui. It had a very strong backpacker vibe and had some really good low-season rates. Leslie and I stayed at a resort, complete with air conditioning, hot water, pool, gym, and big screen TV with a large selection of movies, for $12 per night! We usually don't look for these kinds of luxuries, but it was too good of a deal to pass up. We also liked Pha Ngan because we were able to explore the island on our own on an automatic motorcycle. It was quite an adventure navigating rutted dirt roads and 20% inclines...it kinda felt like being on a roller coaster. But we were in no danger of a major accident because we took it really slow and stayed on the left side of the road. We actually felt safer on our motorbike than when we took the local taxi, which tore through turns without stepping on the brakes and accelerated unecessarily on the already bumpy roads.
The first day we attempted to hike up to the highest peak of the mountain. The guidbook said it shouldn't be too difficult, so we figured we would give a shot. At the spot where the trail was supposed to begin a dog suddenly appeared and started guiding us up the trail. It was really strange because it would wait for us if we fell too far behind and constantly look back, as if it really wanted to guide us. We knew it wasn't a stray because it had a collar and was very well groomed. Because we unsure as to which path to take, we decided to follow our "guidedog". We hiked up the trail for about an hour, but became a little uneasy as the forest got denser and the path less conspicuous. Finally the trail disappeared completely and we turned around because neither of us thought it was a good idea to go bushwacking in the jungles of Thailand. The dog turned around and guided us back. When we got to the trailhead, the dog disappeared as quickly as it had appeared an hour earlier. It was really bizarre! We were a little dissappointed that we were unable to make it to the top, but also a little relieved that we were out of the forest. After that, we biked over to a better-marked trail area, where we saw a few waterfalls and got to see a pretty good view of the island. Our day ended in the exciting discovery of a pitcher plant tree growing on the side of the trail. After reading so much about these carnivorous plants in the guidebook, it was really cool to see the growing in the wild.

Our Guidedog


The next couple days were spent exploring the islands many beaches. We went to a beach in the north called Ko Ma (its actually a seperate island connected to Pha Ngan by a sandbar), which Leslie and I nicknamed "Little Sweden" for all the topless Scandinavians that had basically taken over the beach. It was really beautiful (my favorite beach on Thailand's gulf coast so far!) and had an extensive reef that we spent the afternoon exploring. We also visted a small lake surrounded by pine trees (weird) and one of Pha Ngan's eastern beaches, a bay secluded by giant granite boalders. The water there was very warm and the sand was powdery soft, but elusive jelly fish had pretty much taken over the water. We kept getting stung by there darts, although we never actually saw one.
At the "Little Sweden" beach

The pine tree lake
We also really enjoyed the food at Pha Ngan. They had some really good Israeli cuisine and a delicous Indian restuarant, where I ate the best dhaal that I have tasted! And, of course, the low season prices added to the pleasure of the dining experience.