Koh Pha Ngan

Hey Out There!
We have officially made it to Koh Pha Ngan (or Phangan) on the east coast of Southern Thailand. This island is most famous for being sandwhiched in between koh samui(resort central) and Koh Tao(scuba central), and also for its once a month beach bash celebrating the full moon. Well, tonight is the full moon, but because of the Buddha's birthday party today, the bash has been postponed until the 28th.
We left Koh Tao yesterday morning after spending a couple of days there. It was really beautiful, with giant boulders stacked all over the edges of the beaches and in the water, but unfortunately had more of an exclusive resort vibe, everything being overpriced, even at the ubiquitous 7-11.

The boat ride here was crazy!!!! A slightly stormy sky, and restless water turned our ferry ride in to a harrowing experience. At one point I was slightly worried we might actually be in a bit of trouble.... The waves were huge! and crashing all around and over us... Although in retrospect the weather wasnt that bad, so i'm sure the boat goes through worse. Either way, everyone on the boat was looking horrible, almost no one seemed unphased. People were throwing up everywhere, and amazingly, I was not one of them! I just bumped my ipod up to an obscene volume, and listened to the funniest rap music i could find, hoping to distract myself with an onslaught of 3minute tunes. Jin even managed to sleep for an hour or so. Regardless, we made it here, and it is quite nice. The island, being in between two much more famous and exclusive islands, is home to many locals, and has a more undeveloped and chill vibe, a bit more welcoming to backpackers who dont have the advantage of spending the more valuable euro or british pound.

We booked our resort in advance of coming to the island, as all the hostels on hostel world and hostels.com were booked or going for around 25 dollars a night for a not so special bungalow. we managed to get a bungalow at a legitimate resort for 300 baht a night, or $9.25. We reserved it at a travel agency in Koh Tao, fearing the worst when we arrived. When we got to the resort, we were quite impressed! Our bungalow is just a stones throw from the ocean, and it is a very nice and upscale little concrete building with a king sized bed, mosquito net, a big, nice bathroom, a big front porch, and tons of (glass!) windows! basically our bungalow from koh chang on steroids! We aer a bit cut off from the world, but the restaurant there isnt bad, nor too expensive, and we have our own beach and a beautiful infinity pool overlooking the ocean. Hammocks abound, and there are tons of nice dogs and cats, little paths to explore, and chill people to talk to! So, we are basically on full vacation mode this week, just kicking back, reading and taking it easy, staring at the ocean, etc!

The computer is now officially broken, so we may try to buy one in Surat Thani, or possibly go back up to BKK on our way to Chiang Mai, or somewhere else. We have now booked flights from Phuket to Jakarta, Indonesia on the 22nd of August for 100 bucks each, so we have a solid 3.5 weeks left here in the land of Thai. We might go down to the far south, near the Malay border, may head back to Bangkok and Koh Chang, or might head up to Chiang Mai, Pai, or even Burma to spend some of our remaining time before our flight. All is well(besides the comp), and we have tons of good books, and are now fully loaded on snacks for our very cut off resort retreat!

Today, we woke up and read for a while, then headed 20m to our restaurant where I had a giant cheeseburger(in paradise) and Jin had her favorite noodle soup. We braved the steep .5-1km driveway to the main road, and then went on an hour long walk up and down the hills of the island circling artery. We made it to 7-11, and bought all that was needed for the next five days. Tons of cookies, chocolate, bread, milk, chips, apples(our first in a long long time, usually they are totally overpriced in thailand, roughly 1 apple is the same as a pineapple normally!), and a soccer ball looking hand held drink cooler for the full moon party! So we are in the middle of heading back to the resort now, but decided to pit stop here and use the expensive 2 dollar an hour internet at the town, instead of the 4 dollar an hour internet back at the resort!

Because the comp is down, we wont be putting any pics up for the next week. if anyone wants to check out our resort, Haad Gruad Resort, here is the website, http://haadgruadresort.com/
if you go to the "facilities and services" link on the top, and then head to the bottom right picture(image 14 of 14), you can see our bungalow, or the one next to ours on the top of the picture... they look the same.
anyways, i have to go, our hour is up!
Peace and Love
ben and Jin