Koh Phangnan

Arriving in Koh Phangnan we were not too sure how much we were going
to like it. It was more of just a stop over for us on our way to koh
Tao. Koh Phangnan is the island of the infamous full moon party.
Fullmoon is basically Burning Man in the tropics. People get nuts!
They have it every full moon, but they also have half moon, no moon
and quarter moon parties. Basically the island is a party all of the
time. These parties get really crazy. Almost everyone we met that went
to one had some sort of injury (mainly burns.) There apparently is
fire jumproping and fire hoop jumping as activities. Mix that with
alcohol and drugs and you have a recipe for disaster. We of course did
not see any of it first hand because we were inbetween parties. Our
hotel was called the Drop In Club which sounded like a party of it's
own. Neither of us wanted to party, so when we walked into our room to
find a gigantic (concert size) set of speakers on the balcony for the
pool parties all we could do was laugh. While on the island we figured
we should check it out since we were going to be there a couple days.
We booked a tour of the island that included elephant trecking,
snorkeling, a hike to some waterfalls and lunch on one of the beaches.
I think we paid about $30 each for the day.
I was a little worried about the elephant trecking, just becuase I was
affraid of how they treated the animals. Luckily they were treated
very well. Nik and I shared an elaphant (Zamore), she was 40.
Apparently they live to be about 100 years old. Anyways, Zamore was
great!! Her guide would just talk to her in Thai and she would listen
and follow. She had a bench attached to her back that we sat on, but
each of us took turns riding right on the back of her neck. It felt
like I was riding on the shoulders of one of the characters from Where
the Wild Things Are. Her ears would go back and grip my legs so I felt
secure. It felt like she was holding on to me. Elephants are such
amazing creatures. So gentle and kind. We took turns feeding them
bananas and petting her. Afterwards I played with a monkey that was
obviously the owners pet. He was on a leash. It was a baby and he took
turns bouncing on my feet then jumping up on my shoulders. He was so
playful and full of life. Then, Nik fed him a watermellon and we
watched him scarf it down. What a great experience.

We then hiked to a waterfall which proved to be pretty pathetic. This
is the dry season and the streams aren't as full as usual, even though
we have seen buckets of rain almost everyday. Nik swam in the stream
though and we both agreed that was probably the cleanest water he has
been in since traveling. On the hike though, we did go to an overlook
of the island and it was spectaular. Koh Phangnan is about the size of
Maui. The day was finished with lunch at a private beach and some
snorking. Snorkling was a little murky, but we still enjoyed ourselves.
Couple hightlights-
Watching a gigantic bird (not sure what it was, but it looked like a
toucan with a large bump on top of its beak.) mess with one of the
island dogs. The bird sat in a palmtree while the dog jumped
repeatedly to try and reach the bird. The bird would stick its beak
down and poke back at the dog. Then, the bird would fly off to another
tree at a low level with the dog chasing and jumping after the bird.
It was hilarious!! The two had a crowd of people watching and
laughing. It could have been a show at the zoo or something.
Eventually the dog gave up and quit. Our guide told us there were only
2 of these birds on the island and they think both are the same sex,
so they will not reproduce. They also don't fly well so none will come
from other islands.
Our guide was fantastic! Her name was Jay. She was a Koh Phangnan
native and she taught us so many incredible things about the island
and the Thai culture.
Overall Koh Phangnan wasn't so bad, we actually loved the island. We
never saw too much craziness. I think because we came between a full
moon, half moon or no moon. Not sure....