Koh Pha Ngan - paradise on an island

I arrived in Koh Pha Ngan 2 days ago, after travelling by sleeper train (highly recommend this - slept most of the way) where I met an English 'bloke' called Robert who was heading off to do a 7 day detox fast/ cleanse. That got us started on a pretty in-depth conversation about tactics and options for detoxing. Probably would have bored most people to depth but I found it fascinating!

A bus (on which I met 2 Irish fellas from Coolock!) picked us up from the train station & brought us to the boat. The crossing to Koh Samui ('Koh' means 'island') and then Koh Pha Ngan was long enough for me to get burnt to a nice crimson (through clouded skies of course) by the time we arrived. I decided to go to Haad Rin at first (Hat Rin - Hat means 'beach') which is famous for full moon parties (basically buckets of booze until dawn), but to the quiet side, as Hat Rin is more populated than other parts of the island. I had hoped to meet fellow travellers there. Stayed one night which was long enough to find out how commercial it was (akin to Koh San Road - see second blog entry) and left yesterday to travel north to Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi beach (noi means 'little). I settled into a bungalow at the very end of this idyllic beach and have been happily lounging here. I'll plan on staying here for a few more days as I bumped into one of the most colourful characters I have ever come across - "Mr. Blue". He is a 50-something engineer/ ship's captain who works 6 months and plays 6 months. When he plays he is an outrageous exhibitionist (to the point where his piercing was hanging out of his swimming trunks.....if you get my drift...). Mr. Blue, I and Sylvan (from Montreal) have got our own little gang going for now. The one complaint we have is that the whole island is populated almost exclusively with couples!!!!WDF?? (Whatdefuck?) Blue said that a couple of years ago it was all single backpackers and it was great fun - now it's just dowdy thirty-something couples sitting alone at their boring tables, providing no entertainment for the rest of us (how thoughtless of them....!). Argh! Seems like I won't be meeting many backpackers until I head north into Chiang Mai.

Off to go snorkelling today, so hopefully will get some good piccies. I snorkelled the Pan Noi beach yesterday and it is shocking how much dead coral there is. I snorkelled for a good mile along the shoreline hoping that the further away from the beach I got (and thus away from the sewage) the cleaner the water would get and the more coral would be visible. It never changed. Visibility was less than 5 feet, the sediment layer on all the dead corals is CLEARLY from greywater/ sewage seepage off the beaches. It is a bloody disgrace. They could have snorkelling trips in their own back yards if they just cleaned up the sewage problem. I am reluctant to put my head underwater at this point having seen what is in there with a snorkel and mask.

The compounding problem with the sewage is that there is virtually uncontrolled building - huge concrete resorts RIGHT ON THE BEACH!!! for god's sake... and no sewage rules as far as I can gather. These behemoths are eating up local resources, will drive up prices for food, bottled water, everything, and the locals will pay the cost so that the rich owners of these insults to Nature can accumulate more money. And for what? So they can bring it with them when they die? What a dreadful waste of Nature's bounty just so one person can feed their greed.....

Moves to an old part of town and the Grand Palace in Bangkok

Moved to a much better hostel yesterday. I had booked into a quiet, cheap place off of Khao San road, as Jeroen had recommended the area for easy access to internet cafes, travel centres, et c. Cost was B200 (baht) per night which is outrageously cheap (6 bucks or so) but the bed was nearly the size of the room, and the location near to Khao San road [KSR] (backpackers' supposed haven...uck!) was not what I would call 'fun'...non-stop being shouted at to get a tuk-tuk ride/ buy something/ eat somewhere/ have a massage; I didn't like KSR at all; the Thais working there were completely jaded by tourists and it was all one big money grab - not my scene, by a long shot.

I had to move and found a GEM of a hostel called Villa, which was only 50 baht more expensive per night (i.e. $1.50) but it is a colonial, teak-wooden house on a quiet alley with a garden! The room is furnished with antiques, has a huge window and a fan from the 1930s (I'm not kidding!!! the fan works a treat - smoother and quieter than the other piece of modern crap in KSR)...I am in heaven! It has made me realise that the aesthetics of my surroundings are very important to me. Had my first good night's sleep since I arrived here, and I fully attribute it to the 'energy' or atmosphere of the place. Couldn't stop beaming for near to an hour when I found it and moved in! I love this place and already am making plans to use this as my hub when travelling north and south in Thailand. I can't believe they charge so little to stay at this living relic of history. It doesn't have A/C or hot water or a TV or internet, but who the hell needs all that crap anyway? I'm not here to watch an electric box flash marketing messages at me (that's called hell-o-vision), nor do I need A/C; it's typically 28 C most days so far and then the afternoon monsoon cools everything back down again.

So much more to say - could go on for hours about so many details I've noticed since I got here, like the profusion of old, white, wrinkled, grey-haired men and their (20-year old) Thai 'dates' (ahem) - most of them women(!). Had my first Thai massage and went for another today - got an even better woman today, who was amazed that she couldn't twist my body by 180 degrees (I don't know the Thai words for 'endometriotic lesions' or 'organs cemented together by internal bleeding each month' so I just smiled at her). I'll go back to her again.

Haven't made any friends yet but its kind of hard given that most travellers I have so far crossed paths with have another traveller attached to their hip (couples mostly...BORING!!). Yawn, so yes, do tell me more about your boyfriend/ girlfriend....how fascinating...no, please, I insist you tickle each others tonsils in front of me - that's most thoughtful of you to include me in this adorable public display of mutual ownership......

Paid a visit to the Grand Palace (or 'palais' en Francais...) today which is not possible to describe in mere words...even as I snapped photos left, right, centre, above and below me of all the mind-blowing, colourful, ornate works of craftsmanship on every surface around me, I realised the futility of my attempts to capture even a whisper of the beauty, devotion and love that is embodied in these incredible buildings. The Emerald Buddha was tiny - 3 feet high (for some reason I thought it would be huge, but then how big can one emerald be, I guess...?!) but perched atop a 40 -foot pyramid of a cast of gold, supporting bodhisattvas, enlightened beings and creatures. The whole room was pure gold, so I turned to the walls to rest my eyes only to be assaulted by even more artistry (damn them!) - murals of minute, intricate detail on every square inch of the 100 foot high walls...Michaelangelo, eat your wimpy Italian heart out!