Trip down to Ko Phangan

After 17 days in Bangkok, it was time to head out of the city down south to the islands, specifically Ko Phangan. Located in the Gulf of Thailand, it is here that I plan on doing a 1-month yoga intensive at Agama Yoga as well as explore the island and enjoy the ocean. My bus left Bangkok at 9pm ish to make the overnight trek down south. Through Sarin I was able to obtain a cheaper than normal ticket as she gave me a wholesale price without any markup profit for herself. This cost me 500 baht, or about $15. Typically prices are 550 baht on up to over 1000 baht for taking a train.

I was lucky enough to grab a seat with no one sitting next to me. As a result I could stretch out more freely and ride in more comfort. It was still tough to sleep and reading was out of the question after about an hr. as they turned off the lights in the bus. Also playing on the television screen in the front and middle of the bus was some crazy horror/vampire flick with lots of screaming and bloody dismemberment. Was a weird choice of movies to play.

After several stoppages along the way for food and to stretch out, we made it to the wharf in the town of Chumphon along the gulf of Thailand. Here I grabbed a speedboat to make the last legs of the trip to Ko Phangan. This portion turned out to be more exciting than I was expecting. The ocean and waves were extremely active and choppy during the 2 hr voyage to the first stop, the island of Ko Tao. The boat was undulating up and down and it felt like being on a roller coaster. Off to the sides you could see small, isolated and probably deserted islands, but for the mostly part if was overlast and grey at the moment, about 7 am.

Pretty soon it became apparent why they had plastic bags all over the tables between the benches. After about 15-20 minutes of riding up and down in high, choppy waves many people were getting nauseous and grabbing for bags to vomit into. I myself was beginning to feel a bit of lightheadedness and sickness in the stomach. The motion of going up and down constantly on the ocean did a number on my stomach. I decided to walk outside the cabin for a moment as someone explained that it could alleviate some of the nausea and sea sickness. However the moment I stepped outside I inhaled a strong breatheful of cigarette smoke from the thai boatmen outside smoking. This did nothing but worsen my condition and I had to stagger back inside as it was tough keeping balance with all the motion of the boat. A moment later I joined the folks inside in grabbing myself a plastic bag to unload myself. I hadn't ate too much but did have a stomach full of digesting orange juice from drinking a huge container, about 30 ounces or so, of it on the busride down. I got a good deal from a vendor on the street in front of the bus back in Bangkok just before leaving and had decided to drink healthy on the way down. Consequently my vomit had a lovely orange hue to it. After puking I felt much better and laid myself down on the bench and went to sleep.

Shortly after we arrived at Ko Tao, an island slightly north of Ko Phangan and regarded as one if not the best scuba diving islands in the region with all the coral reefs off the coastline. The views from the boat of Ko Tao were spectacular, with bungalows doting the coastline on up into the hills. Palm and coconut trees were everywhere to be seen. However it was still overcast and cloudy so visibility was not superb to see too far into the distance of the high hills/mountains of the island. After docking for several minutes to pick up more passengers and let off others, we were on the way to Ko Phangan. The ride on the sea at this time was much smoother and peaceful, thank goodness as the boat was jam- packed and would have been a horrible time for everyone to be getting sick and throwing up.

Approximately an hr later we arrived at Thongsala, at the southwest tip of the island and the main docking and loading station of the island. Visibility was still back as the weather was very overcast and cloudy and slightly drizzling. At least it was warm out. A far cry from previous days in Bangkok where it seemed everyday was full of sweltering sunshine and it never rained once. I had met another solo traveler on the boat, a guy named Eelco, 35, from Holland. He had recently quit his job as a police officer and was taking 4-5 months for himself in Thailand. We decided to save some money and share a room together. We were able to find a decent guesthouse in the town with 2 double beds for 300 baht apiece. We decided it would be fun to check out a thai kickboxing contest later that evening.