Ko Pha Nang, Haad Rin

We rented a motorcycle (150 Baht) to cruise around the island and find out what the other beaches have to offer. Sandra, the German girl, turned out to be a very good driver, so I didn’t have to worry and could enjoy the beauty of the island. We stayed near Thong Sala at a small bungalow village and from there we took the road along the coast all up the northern part of Ko Phangan. Most of the roads are in good condition, but unfortunately the island is very hilly. Sometimes I had to jump of the bike so Sandra could make it up those hills. The Thai People always laugh at us. I think its unusual for the guy to sit on tha back and let the  girl do the driving.

I have to admit that the northern beaches are much more beautiful then southern beaches. Far less tourists and sandy beaches. In the South you get a lot of mud an corals (I got scratches all over my feet). Around 4:00 p.m. we arrived at Haad Rin, the mass-tourist part of Ko Phangan. The whole town is one big „party“ and is well know for the „Full Moon Party, which was just three days before we arrived on the island. After dinner we went straight back to our bungalows on the other site of the island.

12th of July, Ko Pha Ngan, Hiking to Long Beach
Since the weather was very fine, Sandra and I decided to do a “beach walk” up to the “Long Beach” (very nice place!) which we had discovered just the day before. It was a 10 kilometre walk, most of the beaches on the way were in a horrible condition, lot’s of rocks and dirt. Just the last two kilometres before Long Beach turned out to be a little bit more friendly. Not knowing about the distance back to our bungalow on the road (15 kilometres..) we decided to do some “hitchhiking. Three or four kilometres, roasting in the sun and tired of walking up and down the hills, we decided to use a taxi instead. Hitchhiking seems to be not very common on the islands..