Brett and Bernii

Well this update is a little bit late 🙃

Three weeks ago a friend from Brisbane came to visit us in Bangkok. We have travelled extensively with him in the past, including Thailand. We spent the first few days reacquainting ourselves with some bars and friends in the Nana area before taking the bus from Ekkamai Bus Terminal to Hua Hin – a trip that Bernii and I did in December last year.

We spent two nights at Hub Hua Hin 57 (AU$44.87 per night) and spent the days and nights between Buffalo 23 bar and exploring Soi Bintabaht (the walking street).

We then caught a bus to Lomprayah Pier at Chumphon to catch the ferry to Koh Phangan. The total trip cost THB1350 each (about AU$63.35) and an additional THB150 each (about AU$7) for a van to transfer us to our hotel when we arrived at the island.

The bus took about 4.5 hours and the ferry was about 3.5 hours to Koh Phangan with a brief stop at Koh Tao.

The ferry trip was really good, especially as they had cold beer for sale onboard – something we were not expecting. Bernii was a little seasick, but nothing too serious.

When we arrived in Koh Phangan we transferred to the Island View Hotel (AU$109 per night) which was located about a 10 minute walk from the downtown area.

During our stay on Koh Phangan we went to Mae Haad Beach and Chaloklum Beach, and also spent a day at Haad Rin Beach – a highlight of our time on the island. There was a great German bakery just nextdoor to our accommodation and we had breakfast there each morning. Our afternoons were often spent at Coco Beach Bar. The nights were spent in the downtown area, mostly at The Ugly Duckling Irish pub.

We found Koh Phangan to be very relaxed however it was quite expensive to get around, up to 700THB (almost AU$33) to get from one part of the island to another. This was also the case on Koh Samui.

After three nights on Koh Phangan, we made our way back to the Thong Sala Pier where we caught the ferry to Koh Samui. It took about 30 minutes and cost THB350 each (AU$16.40).

We stayed at the Ibis Samui Bo Phut for the first three nights on Koh Samui. It was a bit like a resort with a swimming pool and bar area overlooking the water. It cost AU$134 per night. It was located near the Fisherman’s Village which we visited on the first night but found it to be overly touristy.

The second day on Koh Samui we went to Chaweng Beach. Again, we found this area to be very touristy and mostly setup for nightlife. We left that area and found a small bar called Sip’s Bar which had really friendly staff. We returned to Sip’s Bar multiple times during our stay on Koh Samui.

After three nights at Bo Phut we travelled south to Lamai Beach where we stayed in bungalows at Magic Resort for three nights (AU$112.85 per night). It was a really good area with multiple beach bars/restaurants. We spent a lot of time at Astro Beach Bar and ate at Namaste Samui Indian Restaurant each night – it was delicious.

We then returned to the northern side of Samui for our last two nights as it is closer to the airport. We stayed at The Shore Samui and were not expecting much from the accommodation. It was AU$110.43 per night and was booked at the last minute. It turned out that we had booked the King Room with Sea View – a suite that overlooked the beach and had its own private plunge pool. The reception sold beers for THB50 (AU$2.35) so we stocked up and spent the afternoon watching football on the laptop in our living room overlooking the water.

After our last night on Koh Samui we woke before sunrise to make our way to the airport for our early morning flight back to Bangkok, and back to the Ibis on Soi 4 at Nana.

On the Monday we caught a Grab to Baan Ploen Dee to go on a Hidden Bangkok Boat Tour of the Yai Canal. We bought a few beers and relaxed on the boat as it wound its way through the canal. We stopped at the Artist Village, where we restocked some beers and continued on the canal past the Wat Paknam Giant Buddha before making our way onto the Noi River and past Wat Arun before reaching our dropoff point at Rajinee.

From Rajinee, we caught a river ferry to Sathorn Pier and walked to Jack’s Bar where we enjoyed a refreshing beer before making our way on the BTS from Saphan Taksin back to Nana.

Our friend flew back to Brisbane last night, and we have four more weeks in Bangkok before we head in separate directions for our independent three week adventures. This will be a good opportunity to detox, do some training, and make sure that my new hiking boots are worn in.