After leaving Phuket sick, and disappointed by how underwhelming Phuket, we were apprehensive about wether we thought we'd enjoy the islands. But we definitely had nothing to worry about. They were absolute paradise. I'd of course seen lots of photos of crystal clear blue water, white sand and lush greenery, but a small part of me never believed they actually looked like that.
We went from Phuket straight to Phi Phi Don, and what a stark contrast of locations. Phi Phi Don is a tiny tiny island, you can walk from the beach on one side of the island, to the other the beach on the other side in just 3 minutes. We only had two nights there but we did do the most incredible island tour around Phi Phi Don, visiting some of the most beautiful spots around the island; Monkey Beach, Bamboo Island, Viking Cave, and also the famous Maya Bay.
While on the tour we went snorkling for our first time ever. I hadn't expected it to be so terrifying? We stopped at a spot called shark point first, right in the middle of the sea. I put my snorkel on, stuck my head underwater and totally freaked out aha. Not sure if it was the mind over matter of breathing under water? Or just seeing how deep the sea was, but it totally panicked me. Chris also panicked, and ended up getting out. I stuck at it but swam right next to the boat for peace of mind. At the next stop, which was a beach, we decided to take our snorkels and just practice in the shallow water to get used to it, without the added anxiety of deep water. Eventually we got there, and at the next snorkelling spot we jumped in this time wearing life jacket though, and both felt so much better about it. We saw so much fish, coral and sea urchins. It was fab! We both left feeling pretty proud of ourselves.... and unfortunately incredibly sunburnt!!
After two nights on paradise, we headed to Krabi Ao Nang. We checked into a party hostel, looking for something more social. We instantly regretted it aha. I was still poorly and exhausted, and this wasn't a good place to rest! Ao Nang itself was lovely though, although very touristy which isn't really our thing - lots of high end western restaurants, resort hotels and fast food chains. We decided to take the few days to relax and rest, with just one day adventure to a well known beach called Railay Beach which was lovely! Really chilled, laid back place, with lots of monkeys! The only way of accessing the island is by long tail taxi bot, something quite fun about just hopping onto a boat and zipping around the corner. More fun than a car for sure.
After a few days in Krabi though we were longing for a more quiet, local, less touristy spot and so hopped on a bus to Khao Sok Nationa Park. Typically people stay actually in the island, but this was way out of our budget. So instead we opted for a really lovely bungalow in the town centre of Khao Sok, and a day trip to the national park, on a boat to the caves and snorkling spots.
The national park is just the most peaceful and beautiful place. It was originally a canyon, with nine small villages living there. But in the 80s it was decided to resettle those hard to reach villages out of the canyon, and to build a dam and create this national park. The park itself holds the largest watershed in Southern Thailand, powers local villages and towns through hydroelectric generations, and is a wildlife conservation. Interestingly though, those original villages are still under the water, so just 13 below our boat was schools, hospitals and houses!
Our final stop on our 1 month in Thailand, we spent 6 days on the most incredible island - Koh Tao. We had a pretty interesting journey there though, on an overnight ferry from Surat Thani. Instead of the bunk beds advertised on the booking site, we had a lovely row of 20 single (tiny) mattresses in a row. Shoulder to shoulder with strangers. I had a pretty rough sleep, but it somehow wasn't so bad once we arrived in paradise.
Koh Tao is stunning, a petty small island, with lots of chilled out bars and spots. We stayed in the most magical spot, in a little bungalow right on the beachfront. Waking up to the sound of waves crashing every morning was really special, not to mention the sunset swim every evening.
As we had a good few days here, we took things easy, but did rent a scooter one day to explore various beaches and viewpoints. We also did a snorkling tour, again, around the island. This time we both felt very comfortable with snorkling, and as a reward, we saw sea turtles! What magnificent animals! It felt like such a privilege to be able to see these incredible animals up so close. And as the most random souvenir ever, they made personalised plates with our face on for everyone on the trip. At £3.30, how could we not pick ours up!
And just like that, our one month in Thailand was over. I cannot believe how quickly it went but also how incredible it was. Although about half of the places we visited I saw back in 2020, but I experienced them so differently, and did so many new things this time. It felt like an entirely new adventure. I love Thailand so much, and it will always have a special place in my heart. But, equally I cannot wait for our next spot, Cambodia 🇰🇭
Comments