Koh Phangan was our first island stop in our exploration of Thailand. We stuck with islands on the eastern side as it is rainy season on the western side. Luckily, we had really good weather for most of the trip. We stayed in an awesome hotel they basically carved out of the hillside. They shuttled you around in canopied wood covered pick-up trucks with benches.
Sometimes we didn’t ride, we just walked down to the beach.
The beach, the water, and the surrounding area was beautiful. Very picturesque. The sand on the beach was rough though, and by rough I mean Andy and I both cut up our feet on it. Since it was a man-made beach it didn’t have the lovely smooth sand we are so used to. Fear not, we ventured to the pharmacy in town and bought ourselves some Thai hydrogen peroxide.
A lovely night beachside with our flaming volcano.
Most nights we walked along the beach and ventured into town.
Tom Yum soup for dinner, Tom Yum flavored Pringles for a snack later. Tom Yum is a very popular flavor here (obviously as it has it’s own Pringle flavor.) Andy really liked it, I liked it ok. I’m not a big fan of lemongrass, so it wasn’t my favorite.
Gotta love the translations! But I appreciate the effort.
Andy ventured out to explore the bay. (above) He also climbed a dirt road further up the cliff to reach a look-out point. (below) And no, we don’t know those people. 
The lovely view from our balcony.
We went on a half-day snorkeling excursion here. The weather (and the water) was a little rough, but it was still fun and a nice way to get a look at some different spots around the island.
This was the long-tail boat we were taking around the island. I was a little concerned when our guide had us take dramamine before we left. A lot of choppy waters on our way out. Thankfully by the time we reached our first site it had calmed down.
My favorite stop on the outing was Bottle Beach. Pictures weren’t great because it was so overcast that afternoon.
We ate on the beach. My orange looked like a lime.
On the way back we spotted wild packs of monkeys in the forest. Not in the picture, I was not fast enough.
Some bits and bobs from around the hotel that I liked.
xoxo-sk
xoxo-sk 