Koh Phangan

We arrived on Koh Phangan on the 24th of April, and checked into the posh resort we'd booked in advance. After skimping on Koh Tao, we could just about afford their cheapest bungalow. The resort really couldn't have been much better - it was a five minute walk from town, and had a swimming pool and private beach, complete with sunloungers and hammocks. To the left - the resort´s restaurant - right on the beach! The staff here were lovely and embarrassingly enough soon learned that I would order the same thing for brunch every single day, and stopped asking. (Fried potatoes with onion and a fruit shake.)

The town of Haad Rin, the biggest on the island, suffered slightly from what I now think of Vang Vieng syndrome. (If this means nothing to you go back and read about Laos in the archives!) However, taking into account the sheer number of Brits on the island, it was by no means as bad as it could have been, and it was still possible to find nice bars and restaurants. We quickly found a really good Indian restaurant in town, and  a bakery which we went to every day.

Most of our days though we spent on the beach or by the pool. There was a lot to do on the island, but I have to say we did none of it! A lot of my time was spent observing the other guests at the resort, and trying to glean as much info as possible on them. One of my favourites I dubbed Leonardo Dicaprio guy, due to an unmistakeable similarity to the actor. This became awkward later on, when we ended up eating dinner with him and his friend. It´s hard to look someone in the eye and converse about spring rolls when a few hours earlier you were imagining them specualting on parallel universes with you under the stars... By the by, he turned out to be German and incredibly morose - he was unsure for most of the meal whether to come to the Full Moon Party or go home and sleep. Which depending on your perspective eitehr demonstrates the folly of spying on strangers or that human beings are infinitely more complex and contradictory than they first appear. Choose your own adventure!

The 28th of April was the Full Moon Party - for the uninitiated, this is a massive rave on the beach which in high season sees up to 30,000 people attending. It was a pretty unique experience, although the best part for me was lying on the reggae part of the beach just chilling out and watching the madness unfold!


We flew out of Bangkok on the 3rd of May, and arrived in London after a 46 hour journey. Two short days later, Part Two of our trip began - South America!