Koh Phangan - Thong Noi Pan

We arrived on the island by jumping off the boat into the sea up to our knees as the beach did not have a pier and we had to make sure our bags were held high above our heads. Ben suggested this beautiful place as an antidote to Pattaya's madness and he was right in that it is an idyllic spot. Times have moved on a bit since he was here though as it is not so remote after all and the boat drops you off right at the heart of the village.



The bay is divided into two beaches, the one on the north (where we are) is slightly smaller but busier and slightly more lively; the south beach is more spacious but has a bit less atmosphere. There are fewer resorts here but there is still very much a feeling of people on a 2 week holiday here to RELAX on the beach. Which is fine but it means that prices are still much more than we anticipated. Even in the shops the beer is the same price as the bars and restaurants so 2 pikey travellers can't even have a cheapo dinner!

We've had a lovely time reading books on the beach but in all honesty we're pretty bored (and perhaps too spoilt for idyllic beaches - poor us: I'm sure your hearts are all bleeding!) and Kieran is keen to get on with his diving course.

So we're off to Koh Tao tomorrow, apparently the "diving mecca" for Thailand. We're hoping that Kieran will be able to find a good diving course and we can find a decent and cheap room and be able to unpack our bags for a week or two and take a few breaths and just STOP for a while. El is going to have to be a barmaid, if she can bear it, to help the funds. Or perhaps she could set up a reflexology mat on the beach...?