Island Adventures

Pics:  http://picasaweb.google.com/briswann

  On the 4th of July weekend,  Paul, Carter, Megan and I went to Koh Yao Noi, an island close to Phuket. I have to say that it was pretty much the most fun trip I've been on the whole time I've been in Thailand! It was an adventure from start to finish. We took the bus to Phuket, got off at the roundabout, and then tried to find a song thaew (taxi) to the pier, but we couldn't find one, so we hitchhiked. (Not as dangerous as it sounds- Paul assures me that he does it all the time, and he grew up in Asia). We sat in the back of a pickup truck and got there in no time. We caught a speedboat to the island, just about 30 minutes away. While on the boat, Paul made friends w/ a girl who let us get on her truck that was waiting for her at the pier, and they took us around to find a bungalow. We settled on a cute one with hammocks in front and a lot of privacy. The tide was way out, so the beach didn't look too nice, but that didn't matter b/c we could drive to another beach. We rented two motorbikes, and I got my most extensive driving experience since I've been in Thailand- before that I had only driven to the beach and on the small roads near the beach. What I didn't expect was that I'd be driving off-road, through the mud, and up and down very steep hills. That was on the 2nd day, when we went in search of the elusive "Paradise Resort." But I discovered that this type of driving was beyond my capability as a new motorbike driver with a passenger on the back (bless Megan's heart, she was brave), and on a very steep downhill part, we landed in a hole! Nobody was hurt, but I broke my flip-flop and Megan and I had a good laugh about it. 

  Another funny instance was when we went to the beach at night to collect firewood and made a fire, but we underestimated how far the tide would come back in. We were lying there, enjoying the stars and the fire when we heard water coming nearer and nearer... so we ended up wading back to our bungalow in water that was higher than my waist! Megan and I were kind of freaked out about it, which resulted in nervous but constant laughter the whole way back! 

  On Saturday afternoon we found a beautiful beach with no one on it except the four of us, and on Sunday morning we went sea kayaking out to a little sandbar with gorgeous white sand. The island itself is just a small local village, and it's not touristy at all, especially compared with Koh Phi Phi and Koh Similan. That's probably why I liked it so much. 

  On the way back, the adventures weren't over yet. As we were walking out of the pier road to hitchhike back to the roundabout, I had to sacrifice my freshly-cut mango to a band of vicious monkeys that surrounded me and would have attacked me! They were small, but I wasn't about to tangle with about 10 monkeys with sharp teeth! And then we returned home in a bus- made for maybe 40 people- but filled with 100 or so! It was the fullest bus I've ever been on in my life. I sat on Megan's lap, and people were sitting 3 to a seat and standing up from front to back, with about 13 people in the front area gathered around the driver.