Ko Samui:
Took a plane (Bangkok Airlines) from Changi T1 to Ko Samui Airport. Flight tickets are kinda expensive compared to other nearby location in Thailand and even Asia. My ticket cost around $430 for 2-way and the flight was only 1hr 40mins. If I go to Hong Kong through Jetstar or Tiger Airways, I can probably get a 2-way ticket for that price or even cheaper.
The airport looks damn different from what you see in most cities. The airport is small (Bangkok Airlines monopolise it, resulting in the expensive air ticket), the only airlines that fly there if I'm not wrong is Silkair, Thai Airways. The entire airport is outdoor, it is just huts combined together.
There was a driver from the hotel we book, Ark Bar who came to pick us up, pretty cool huh.
The room cost about $70 for 2, there's free WIFI, the beach is just a 2 mins walk. Room was not too bad, rather basic. But what do you expect of a $70 room.
Walked around the area around the hotel, there was this area where there was many pubs/clubs/cabarets. Didn't expect to see a Russian Cabaret there, but man, they really know how to do pole-dancing so damn well. Russian girls with long legs doing acrobatics around the pole, how awesome. Before we left for the ferry to Phangan in the morning, we went for a massage at this nearby palour. Cost 250 Bht which is about $10, very cheap and it was quite good. No 'happy ending'
Took a ferry from Big Buddha Pier, Ko Samui, to Haad Rin, Ko Phangan. It was raining, sea was kinda rough which caused the delay. Usually it took around 45mins from Samui to Phangan, but I'm sure it took 1hour or more when I was on the ferry. The boat was very packed, everyone was heading going for the Full Moon Party.
Took a Tut Tut (Taxi) from Pier, cost 100 Baht ($4) each person and they usually wait till the taxi has around 6 people before they headoff. The modus operandi of taxi there is as of the following;
1st: They will pick up people
2nd: Wait for more passengers who are going in the same direction to board
3rd: Horn at random people on the journey while sending the first batch of passengers in hope of getting more people
Taxi operates around 8am to late night. It is hard to find taxi before 8am, got ripped off the 2nd day because we had to go to the Dive School at 7am++. That bastard charged 500 bht for 2 person and transported us on a bike. Usually Bike Taxi cost 50bht more or so and you don't have to wait for it to be full before it leaves, but they can only carry 1-2 person.
Taxi fares from experience:
Haad Rin <-> Thongsala/ Ban Tai: 100bht/person
Haad Rin <-> Haad Yao: 100-150bht/person
One time this bitch tried to charge me 200bht/person from Thongsala to Haad Rin. Drove like snail , but I managed to haggle the price down to 100bht.
Anyway stayed the rest of the 5 days/4 night at Palita Lodge. Booked the beachfront bungalow which was not too expensive. The view was great, you can see the beach and sea just through the window. Also, the balcony was next to the beach. The room was great, really clean and quite comfortable. Stuff in the minibar was cheap too. Bottle of Heineken/Chang/Singha cost around 60-80 bht ($3+). There is complimentary 2 bottles of water and refill of tea/coffee powder each day. They also provide free breakfast daily which I didn't realise until reaching there. Then again I only ate it twice during my stay there as most of the time I'm out of the hotel by 7am. The breakfast timing is only from 8am - 10.30pm.
They have private taxi which will cost 300 bht($12)/ride which was not too bad. Used them for a few times because it is hard to get a public one at 7am. The pool there is quite big and looks great though I didn't manage to have spare time to do use it. The also provide 2hrs free WiFi/day which I think isn't enough. Dining there is not too bad, food there isn't too expensive and they taste quite okay. Staff there are friendly and helpful, actually the Thai's on the island are generally nice and friendly.
Booked my Open Water Diver course at Reefers Diving, didn't realise it was pretty far from my hotel. It was located at Haad Yao which was at the northern part of Ko Phangan. My hotel was at the Southern part. Anyway always had somebody to pick us up at Thongsala which was the main town on the island. Really appreciated the pick up and drop off everyday.
Martin was our instructor at Reefers, he is a friendly and funny guy. Had fun being a student of his. He is very patient and knowledgeable with regards to the aspects of diving. Occasionally, he would be pointing out hot chicks down by the beach or the pool. And sometimes remind me to stop checking them out haha. He had an assistant, Michael, from UK as well. He is currently doing a Dive Master internship there so was frequently helping out throughout the course. Would chat with him occasionally and found out he was previously in the UK Army. During one of our Open Dive on the beach, he left the phone in his pocket when he was diving and only realised it when it vibrated in his pants underwater.
Dive at Sail Rock for my 3rd and 4th Open Dive. It is located in the middle of the sea, and it is just a small rock formation. However, if you see it underwater, there are many schools of fishes and also nice corals. It is one of the nicest dive site around the region. Kinda sad that I didn't manage to see Whale Shark though.
Mohan, Michael, Me
Sail Rock
Moi
The main event is of course the Full Moon Party...
Shall not dwell too much into it as somethings are meant to be kept only as memories. Had like 4 buckets and 1-2 Bacardi breezer. Buckets varies from 200bht ($8) - 400bht ($16) due to the liquor you choose. The thai vodka/whiskey is the cheapest at 200bht, and you can mix with sprite/red bull/coke. Smirnoff/Glenn's Vodka will be about 250bht and for Absolute Vodka which will cost about 300bht. Most expensive would be Jack Daniel's which will cost about 400bht.
You can get body painted with neon paints either by yourself or from local Thais who will charge a fee (if your art sucks like mine go ahead and pay someone to do the job). I decided to do it myself to save money. Bought a set of neon paint which contained 1 paintbrush, 6 color paints (white/purple/orange/yellow/blue/green) for 150bht ($6). Actually they sell it at most shops in Haad Rin so no worries getting one. They have all sorts of illuminating items such as shirts/pants/hats/bangle/necklace.
There's also the fire entertainments; from fire shows to fire hoops to fire ropes to fire slide. Fire shows are rather passive entertainment. Just watch the Thai's toss sticks which are dipped in kerosine and lighted with fire and swung around their hand or back. The other 3 fire-related entertainments are more active in which you participate in. Fire slide in my view is the easiest to do. Just climb up the ropes to a 2-storey building and slide down the slide. At the side of the slide, there will be 2 sticks on fire placed at one side each. Fire hoops are hula hoops which are on fire, and all you have to do is jump through it. Fire ropes are by far the riskiest shit to do during FMP and especially if you are intoxicated. The ropes is on fire and swung at each end, randomly people will just rush in to jump. There was this ang moh lady who asked me to jump with her (she is hot btw). The chances of you getting burned are quite high because random people will just come in while you are jumping. There was this 1 guy who had balls man, he jumped while operating a camera on his hand.
Felt damn good dancing with people in the party. BEST party I've been so far, luckily I didn't get wasted but was damn high. Anyway can't remember who I gave my garland of orchid to lol.
In conclusion, it was a fucking good trip. Really really enjoyed every aspects of the trip. and would like to thank people whom I met during the trip for making it so awesome in their own way. Will be back to Ko Phangan for a longer duration once i ORD-ed. Gonna try out Half-Moon/Black Moon Party the next time. Planning to do a Dive Master at Reefers and stay at Ko Phangan for a few months. Will try to cover more on food and lodging in my next post. Below is the map of the island for your reference.
Walked around the area around the hotel, there was this area where there was many pubs/clubs/cabarets. Didn't expect to see a Russian Cabaret there, but man, they really know how to do pole-dancing so damn well. Russian girls with long legs doing acrobatics around the pole, how awesome. Before we left for the ferry to Phangan in the morning, we went for a massage at this nearby palour. Cost 250 Bht which is about $10, very cheap and it was quite good. No 'happy ending'Ko Phangan:
Took a Tut Tut (Taxi) from Pier, cost 100 Baht ($4) each person and they usually wait till the taxi has around 6 people before they headoff. The modus operandi of taxi there is as of the following;
1st: They will pick up people
2nd: Wait for more passengers who are going in the same direction to board
3rd: Horn at random people on the journey while sending the first batch of passengers in hope of getting more people
Taxi operates around 8am to late night. It is hard to find taxi before 8am, got ripped off the 2nd day because we had to go to the Dive School at 7am++. That bastard charged 500 bht for 2 person and transported us on a bike. Usually Bike Taxi cost 50bht more or so and you don't have to wait for it to be full before it leaves, but they can only carry 1-2 person.
Taxi fares from experience:
Haad Rin <-> Thongsala/ Ban Tai: 100bht/person
Haad Rin <-> Haad Yao: 100-150bht/person
One time this bitch tried to charge me 200bht/person from Thongsala to Haad Rin. Drove like snail , but I managed to haggle the price down to 100bht.
Anyway stayed the rest of the 5 days/4 night at Palita Lodge. Booked the beachfront bungalow which was not too expensive. The view was great, you can see the beach and sea just through the window. Also, the balcony was next to the beach. The room was great, really clean and quite comfortable. Stuff in the minibar was cheap too. Bottle of Heineken/Chang/Singha cost around 60-80 bht ($3+). There is complimentary 2 bottles of water and refill of tea/coffee powder each day. They also provide free breakfast daily which I didn't realise until reaching there. Then again I only ate it twice during my stay there as most of the time I'm out of the hotel by 7am. The breakfast timing is only from 8am - 10.30pm.
They have private taxi which will cost 300 bht($12)/ride which was not too bad. Used them for a few times because it is hard to get a public one at 7am. The pool there is quite big and looks great though I didn't manage to have spare time to do use it. The also provide 2hrs free WiFi/day which I think isn't enough. Dining there is not too bad, food there isn't too expensive and they taste quite okay. Staff there are friendly and helpful, actually the Thai's on the island are generally nice and friendly.
Booked my Open Water Diver course at Reefers Diving, didn't realise it was pretty far from my hotel. It was located at Haad Yao which was at the northern part of Ko Phangan. My hotel was at the Southern part. Anyway always had somebody to pick us up at Thongsala which was the main town on the island. Really appreciated the pick up and drop off everyday.
Martin was our instructor at Reefers, he is a friendly and funny guy. Had fun being a student of his. He is very patient and knowledgeable with regards to the aspects of diving. Occasionally, he would be pointing out hot chicks down by the beach or the pool. And sometimes remind me to stop checking them out haha. He had an assistant, Michael, from UK as well. He is currently doing a Dive Master internship there so was frequently helping out throughout the course. Would chat with him occasionally and found out he was previously in the UK Army. During one of our Open Dive on the beach, he left the phone in his pocket when he was diving and only realised it when it vibrated in his pants underwater.
Dive at Sail Rock for my 3rd and 4th Open Dive. It is located in the middle of the sea, and it is just a small rock formation. However, if you see it underwater, there are many schools of fishes and also nice corals. It is one of the nicest dive site around the region. Kinda sad that I didn't manage to see Whale Shark though.
Martin, Mohan, Alice, Me
Mohan, Michael, MeSail Rock
Moi
The main event is of course the Full Moon Party...
Shall not dwell too much into it as somethings are meant to be kept only as memories. Had like 4 buckets and 1-2 Bacardi breezer. Buckets varies from 200bht ($8) - 400bht ($16) due to the liquor you choose. The thai vodka/whiskey is the cheapest at 200bht, and you can mix with sprite/red bull/coke. Smirnoff/Glenn's Vodka will be about 250bht and for Absolute Vodka which will cost about 300bht. Most expensive would be Jack Daniel's which will cost about 400bht.
You can get body painted with neon paints either by yourself or from local Thais who will charge a fee (if your art sucks like mine go ahead and pay someone to do the job). I decided to do it myself to save money. Bought a set of neon paint which contained 1 paintbrush, 6 color paints (white/purple/orange/yellow/blue/green) for 150bht ($6). Actually they sell it at most shops in Haad Rin so no worries getting one. They have all sorts of illuminating items such as shirts/pants/hats/bangle/necklace.
There's also the fire entertainments; from fire shows to fire hoops to fire ropes to fire slide. Fire shows are rather passive entertainment. Just watch the Thai's toss sticks which are dipped in kerosine and lighted with fire and swung around their hand or back. The other 3 fire-related entertainments are more active in which you participate in. Fire slide in my view is the easiest to do. Just climb up the ropes to a 2-storey building and slide down the slide. At the side of the slide, there will be 2 sticks on fire placed at one side each. Fire hoops are hula hoops which are on fire, and all you have to do is jump through it. Fire ropes are by far the riskiest shit to do during FMP and especially if you are intoxicated. The ropes is on fire and swung at each end, randomly people will just rush in to jump. There was this ang moh lady who asked me to jump with her (she is hot btw). The chances of you getting burned are quite high because random people will just come in while you are jumping. There was this 1 guy who had balls man, he jumped while operating a camera on his hand.
Felt damn good dancing with people in the party. BEST party I've been so far, luckily I didn't get wasted but was damn high. Anyway can't remember who I gave my garland of orchid to lol.
In conclusion, it was a fucking good trip. Really really enjoyed every aspects of the trip. and would like to thank people whom I met during the trip for making it so awesome in their own way. Will be back to Ko Phangan for a longer duration once i ORD-ed. Gonna try out Half-Moon/Black Moon Party the next time. Planning to do a Dive Master at Reefers and stay at Ko Phangan for a few months. Will try to cover more on food and lodging in my next post. Below is the map of the island for your reference.
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