From Koh Samui to Trang

On our last night in Koh Phangan, we returned from Guys bar at 8am, had one last, amazing breakfast at Bamboo Hut and caught a boat back to Haad Rin beach. Haad Rin was a ghost town, it was quite eerie and strange. This was a few days after NYE so most tourists had left. It was almost spooky how much the atmosphere had changed. We left Koh Phangan from the Sunset port and caught a boat to Koh Samui. After a long debate and slight disagreement, we decided to give Koh Samui a miss and only used it as a stop over. We planned to go island hopping in the Trang province - something which isn't explored by the masses. Trang islands are located on the west coast of Thailand, in the Andaman sea. This was where the Boxing Day tsunami hit in 2005. 

From Koh Samui, we caught a ferry to Don Reap for 150TB and this is where we went wrong. We should have booked a combined ferry and mini bus ticket to take us to Trang. However, we decided to do both separately and catch a mini bus once we were in Surrathani. Big mistake. We were ripped off big time. Combined ferries and mini bus tickets to Trang were selling for around 600TB. Instead we ended up paying 150TB Ferry, 100TB bus to Surrathani, 750TB mini van to Trang. It's quite painful thinking about it. The journey to Trang wasn't the best either. Our bus broke down so we had to swap buses, we were then scammed in Surrathani and the mini van nearly drove off without us resulting in us being the only Westerners cramped in the back. Yes, it was all very traumatising. However we did make it to Trang by nightfall. 

Trang isn't a well known tourist destination. It's a business city where the locals don't speak an inkling of English and there around 8 guesthouses in total. It took us a while to find a tuk tuk driver who could understand where we wanted to go and once we were dropped by the station it took us longer to find a suitable guesthouse within budget. For me, Trang was scary. Like proper nerve wrecking scary. Most of the guesthouses we checked out made us feel uneasy. I'll give you an example: the cheapest guest house we found was 150TB a night. This price included a shared bathroom, pitch black corridors, polystyrene walls, a blind dog and a nearly dead woman on a bed in reception. I kid you not, I think she was dead. She was just skin and bones and her eyes had rolled back into her head, it was so disturbing. The housekeeper looked almost offended (and clueless) when we ran away (for our own safety) from her dank and chilling guest house. Another guesthouse we looked at could've easily been a postitute den. On the ground floor (which was apparently a reception) was a large group of Thai men playing poker. When we enquired about a room, this old guy showed us up the stairs while touching and grabbing at Tigers arms, shoulders and back. He led us up several floors and we felt more uneasy each step we took. In the end we didn't bother checking out the room, we wanted to get out there as fast as possible. These kind of encounters reoccurred at several guesthouses, it was all really creepy. In the end we were happy to pay double (650TB) for a room in a safe, secure and inviting hotel. 

All creepy guys and guesthouses aside, Trang does have an amazing night market. The food market was the best we've been to in Thailand. There was such an array of dishes from smoked duck and rice to churros to Vietnamese pork rolls. It was all so yummy and so so cheap. We shared loads of dishes which allowed us to try loads of different street food. 

Where and what to do in Koh Phangan - Thailand

Koh Phangan was one of my favourite islands. There's always something to do and it's a fun island - you could stay a good week or more.

What to do: 

Half moon party // annoyingly, we arrived two days after the half moon party  so we didn't actually get to experience it. However everyone we met said the half moon is ten times better than full moon party. 

Jungle experience // The jungle experience is worth checking out. The ticket is 300TB plus 200TB for a return taxi. The party is good, set in a jungle with neon and uv light decor. The party starts at 10pm through to 7am. We met up with our dancing pals from Fubar and stayed till 5am. The music was techno house but it got really boring after a while since the DJ didn't actually know how to put  anything different on. It got to the point where the beat was so repetitive we had to leave. The queues for the bars were immense - around 10 people deep. Being quite short and female, it was hard to get served while all these 10 foot testosterone fuelled pricks barged in front. Other than that, the night was an experience and probably something I'd do again. 

Treehouse bar // this is a must do. It was one of my favourite places on Koh Phangan. The bar is located right on Sunset beach and over looks the sea. It's a really nice, chilled out vibe with Thai cushions and hammocks everywhere. The best thing to do is to catch the sunset while rocking in a hammock that hangs you over the shoreline. To make it better, during the day, the bar manages to rastafy any song you can possibly think of. It's so funny. Any song, you name it, they rastafy it. The food here is okay and I wouldn't really suggest going there at night, but we spent a quite a few days here just chilling out. 

Reggae bar // the reggae bar is located on the main road into Koh Phangan. We ended up going there with some guys we'd met on our first night. It was packed out; downstairs and up but we managed to squeeze ourselves in. The bar becomes quite lively at night and offers a pool table and comfy arm chairs. It's not really a pre drinking or a bar you'd go to if you're going partying, you'd go there to have a few with friends and chill out. 

Fubar // as mentioned before, Fubar is so so good and plays good music. It's open till very late and it's a tiny venue, so you get to know everyone pretty well. 

Lapinos // this place does the nicest foooood. We ate here nearly every day and it's dead cheap. It's located on the Main Street down to the beach (just past 711 on the opposite side). They do amazing Israeli food and good toasties. They even sell marmite and toast! I'd recommend trying the Chicken Sharwarma or whatever it's called - it's only 100TB and it will change your life. 

Mellow Mountain // if you want to go out but not on a complete mad one, check out mellow mountain. there's two bars on mellow mountain, and personally I preferred the first one called Dragons bar. During the day, there's a chilled out vibe but this changes completely at night. 

Guys bar and Edens bar // enough said about these two bars, you just have to check them out. 

Islands // unfortunately we didn't have enough time to go to the small islands which are part of the Anthong National Marine park. 

Don't dos

Coral Bungalow pool party // a pool party is held every day at Coral Bungalows. They try and sell you a really good day and night, one of the best in Koh Phangan but in reality, how is that possible when there's one every day? We were going to head over to check it out since they offer a free taxi service there and back. However, everyone we met and spoken to advised us against it, apparently, it's the biggest cock fest ever and it's a waste of time. 

Black moon party // we were going to check this out too but at 300TB plus taxi, we chose jungle experience. Black moon only plays trance. You can make you're own decisions on whether you'd enjoy it or not and I'll end it at that. 

Mopeds // Koh Phangan isn't suited for mopeds. There's a reason why everyone drives round in 4x4 trucks. The roads are steep, pothole ridden and quite dangerous. Unless you want to see the rest of Koh Phangan, not just Haad Rin, there's no actually need for a moped. Apparently, Koh Phangan is notorious for conning tourists when they return their mopeds. We heard repeated stories of people returning their bikes in exact same condition as it were and lenders were making them pay fines for "damage" done to the bikes. Remember, Koh Phangan is largely ruled by the mafia so if you don't pay up, apparently the mafia go after you. If you are insane enough to carry on renting a moped just try to remember to take photos of the bike before you drive off and don't ride it while intoxicated. When we were in the taxi to the jungle experience, 3 guys were off their faces on alcohol and MDMA, (they made it very clear to everyone how much they had had) and were shouting how they were going to pick up their moped to drive back to town. If you saw these guys, well let's say, they couldn't even hold themselves up. 

Beaches around Haad Rin, Koh Phangan, Thailand

So Koh Phangan is the party island of Thailand. There's loads to do day and night. It all really depends on what you're into and what sort of vibeeeee you like. 

Haad Rin Nok (known as Haad Rin beach or Sunrise beach) is the main beach where the full moon party is held. 

Personally, I think this beach is disgusting; it's littered with glass, sand buckets and straws and during the day the beach just looks tacky. The winds off the Thailand gulf hit the shores pretty hard so it was pretty wavey when we went. Annoyingly, there are stalls that sell buckets 24/7; you can't get around without being harassed by 'Emma' who "loves you" or 'John' who "loves your mum". 

 Other beaches worth checking out are Haad Seekantang (also known as Leela beach); a stretch of beach tucked behind Haad Rin's southern tip. This beach is surrounded by a bay, so the water's very flat and calm. There's over hung shrubbery that hold hammocks over the shoreline, a volley ball court and jetski hire. Overall, this beach is quite secluded from Haad Rin so it's generally quite quiet with only tourists from the surrounding resorts visiting it. 

Haad Rin Nai (known as Sunset Beach) is the beach where our bungalows were situated. The water isn't the clearest but a lot of the resorts are situated along the beach so it's a cleaner and slightly quieter version on Sunrise beach. Sunset beach has it's name for a reason so it's worth checking out one of the sunsets. 

Haad Yuan is by far my favourite beach. You have to catch a long tailed boat to get there (300TB each way during peak season, 200TB off peak) but it's really pretty and quite secluded.

If you do end up at Haad Yuan, a place called Bamboo Huts (located on the rock cliffs) does the best food I've had in Thailand at a reasonable price. We ended up having breakfast, lunch and dinner at this place, it's that good. 

Haad Tien is the beach next to Haad Yuan. It's pretty with sun chairs and Thai cushions to lie on. However there isn't much around apart from the Sancuary Resort - a spa retreat for middle agers. 

Full Moon Party, Haad Rin - Thailand

Our plan from day one was to spend our New Years in Koh Phangan for the full moon party. We had high expectations since the full moon party in Haad Rin is apprently the biggest and best in the world. Every month, around 30,000 farangs flock to Haad Rin Nok to witness the full moon rise over the horizon. However, on New Years around 10,000 more tourists were crammed onto the beach. We didn't really know what to expect and had heard many horror stories , one where a guy was shot on the beach last year. At the same time, loads of people that we'd met said the full moon party was the best party of their lives. 

Come New Year's Eve, we headed down to the beach to see what the party was like. In all honesty, it wasn't that great. It was just like any other night out in Haad Rin but with more poeple, added dance platforms, more pervs and different music stages. It was kinda like a small mini festival crammed onto a stretch of beach. I saw more penises than I'd care to see as the shoreline is used as a urinal. The atmosphere was strange, no one seemed to realise it was a new year once the countdown was over. We received some strange looks as we ran through crowds shouting "HAPPY NEW YEAR" - people were just acting weird. In search for something good, we headed onto one of the side streets to our favourite bar "Fubar". This place is great, owned by a British DJ, the bar attracts a nice crowd, plays good music and is part guesthouse. Our nights spent at Fubar were always our best nights in Koh Phangan. We had made friends with some London guys, (they were our dancing buddies since they knew how to rock some techno moves and for 7hrs hours straight) who were staying upstairs a few nights beforehand. They told us to check out Eden bar since we weren't really feeling the full moon vibezzz.

Right, so Eden bar. Eden Eden Eden bar. This place basically saved our New Years from just being average to the best. 

Eden bar is located on Haad Yuan beach and is only accessible by long tail boat for 300TB (don't pay anymore than this, the Thais are just trying their luck, if they ask for more, hop off and catch the next one). We had heard so much about the parties at Eden but Tiger hadn't yet plucked the courage to conquer the waves. The waves that hit Haad Rin beach are a quite crazy so the boat ride is very risqué. You end up looking like a peice of washed up seaweed; drenched from head to toe, bleary eyed from saltwater and smelling like fish. However, the near death experience is 100% worth it if you're looking for something different. The thing with the full moon party is that it's just extremely over commercialised. There wasn't that "special" party vibe we were expecting to find in Thailand. We wanted something a bit underground to get away from the wankers (Joey Essex lookalikes) that we'd left behind in England. Plus Haad Rin is slightly like Magaluf with a boy to girl ratio of 10:1. So I think it all depends on what sort of vibe you like. If you're "lads on tour" then Haad Rin is for you. Eden doesn't really attract that kinda crowd and the people that go are usually genuine. It attracts the kinds of people who would choose to do festivals instead of lads/girls holiday to Zante etc. That's the best way I can describe the people there. 

Once you get to Haad Yuan, head to the right side of the beach. You need to walk round some boulders and depending on the tide, you might need to walk through some shallow water in order to hoist yourself up onto the rock edge. Pass the "Stone bar" and follow the wooden path way until you reach the bamboo huts. After, head downwards across the rock face until you reach another wooden path which leads straight to Edens. 

Edens was so good. It turned our night around however it was packed out with people spilling out all exits onto pathways and gardens. It came to a point where we were waiting 30 mins at the bar until we were served. At one point, it all got a bit too much for Tiger who ended up being sick all up my leg in the middle of the dance floor (can I point out that this isn't the first time I've had tigers insides dripping off my lower half). 

After an hour or so at Edens we meet some guys who say they're heading to another bar, Guys bar. Since Edens was claustrophobic and Tiger needed air, we followed them to Haad Tien, the next beach along. The walk from Edens to Guys isn't easy if you don't know where you're going. It's around a 15 minute walk and not as many people carry on past Eden since they enjoy Eden so much. However Guys bar was even better than Edens. It was busy but not to the point where you couldn't move. By the time we arrived, it was around 3.30/4ish, so the place was empty of the absolute drunken messes who couldn't handle their drink. There were two djs playing side by side/ collaborating and the music was really good.  At 7am, the sun came up and a different crowd emerged from the hills; no one was in fluo from the Full moon. They were older and they had a system; sleep while the bucket heads party and party once the bucket heads slept. Partying in the day light, under the hot sun after very little sleep proved quite difficult. Come 9.30am we were partied out and caught a boat back.

Koh Phangan - Thailand

There's a pretty efficient ferry system that runs between Koh Tao, Koh Phangan and Koh Samui. Ferries leave 4/5 times a day, each varying in price and duration. We caught the seatran - a slower ferry after our bad experience with the high speed Catalan. The ticket cost 430TB and was one of the more expensive due to the departure time (10am) and duration of 1.30hrs. 

Once we'd docked in Koh Phangan, ice cream ladies stood on the side walk filling icecream into baskets attached to long sticks. They then leant over, passing the baskets to customers who were on upper deck and continuing to Koh Samui. As soon as we stepped off the ferry, we were bombarded by ventures and advertisers - the most hassled we've been while away. Flyers, leaflets and vouchers were thrown in our faces and it was all a bit over whelming. By this point, we still hadn't managed to book accomadation since everything online was ridiculously over priced; 4X more expensive than off peak. People approached us trying to sell us rooms available in Haad Rin, but don't bother booking with them; once you're in Haad Rin, there's loads of available places which don't advertise online and cost a quarter of the price. 

A shared taxi ride from the port to Sunset Beach cost us 100TB each. The full moon party is located on Sunrise Beach and accommodation here is the most expensive. I wouldn't reccomend it since a lot of the accommodation are hostels and you won't get once decent night sleep. Sunset beach is a 5 minute walk from Sunrise and offers a quieter and cleaner location. We stayed at Sunset Bungalows, the cheapest accommodation we could find as they don't raise their prices come peak season. If you arrive a few days before full moon, there should be some bungalows left since you can't book online or over the phone. The bungalows are located just before Sunset beach and just after Neptune Villas. We paid 500TB a night (£5) for a okayish bungalow with a cold shower but good wifi. It all really depends on how much money you want to spend and your expectations of accommodation since the average price per night in Haad Rin is £30 for a 10 bed dorm. If there's no space at Sunset, there are a few hotels just before which sell rooms for 1000TB a night (£10). You just need to bare in mind that rooms do sell out quickly a day or two before full moon so it's worth going over to Koh Phangan 3 days before. 

After we settled in, we went for a wander around Haad Rin. On the map, Haad Rin looks quite big but everything is in walkable distance. Food and drink was waaaaay more pricey than anywhere else we had visited (60TB for Pad Thai) and the food is pretty shit. Our local food place was on one of the main roads that head down to the beach (the road which has the 7/11 bridge on). It's called Ladinos and does the yummiest food at a decent price. We pretty much lived on their chicken shawarmas (the most amazing thing I have ever eaten) and toasties.