Thailand, Koh Samui & Koh Pha Ngan, June 2001 Dear Reader, 6 days on Siam's dream islands, here my minutes: BOAT TRANSPORT Between Samui / Big Buddha Pier and Phangan / Had Rin (Sea Flower) THB 100 per person + THB 100 per bicycle (if you bring one) Departures to Had Rin: 10:30, 13:00, 16:00 Departures to Big Buddha: 9:30, 11:40, 2:30 Between Samui / Na Thong and Phangan / Tong Sala THB 115 per person + THB 50 per bicycle (if you bring one) Departures to Tong Sala: 9:00, 11:00, 17:30 Between Samui / Na Thong and Mainland / Surat Thani Departures to Surat Thani: 8:00, 14:00 Between Phangan / Thong Sala and Mainland / Don Sak (Surat Thani) Departures to Don Sak: 10:00, 14:00, 18:00 Departures to Thong Sala: 7:00, 11:00, 13:00 ACCOMODATION (all prices dated June 2001 = low season): Samui: - Viking / Chaweng Beach: Starting from THB150 (double, fan, shared B/R). It's OK for what you pay, but shared toilets need maintenance. Phangan: all below places on or near the beach, all places OK, staff nice, restaurant, many have I'net. - Laem Song 2: Starting at THB100 (double, fan, bathroom). Particularly nice staff. - Great Bay: Starting at THB100 (double, fan, bathroom). - Mae Had Bay Resort: Starting at THB200 (concrete hut, double, fan, bathroom) - Pha Ngan Bungalows: Starting at THB150 (double, fan, bathroom) - Palm Beach Bungalows (Had Rin Nai): Starting at THB150 (double, fan, shared bathroom) - Panburi Village (Nai Pan Noi): Starting from THB300 (double, fan, bathroom, includes THB50 food voucher) ABOUT THE ISLANDS / THE TRIP Getting from Bangkok to Samui is very convenient, just a bit expensive (Bangkok Airways, low season special price THB 5000 return). Lots of flights a day, airport in Samui very relaxed and close to beaches or boats to Pha Ngan. Bringing a bicycle on the flight, I had to remove front wheel and saddle, deflate the tires, then tie it all together. There was some damage to the bike due to improper handling. Staff seems to believe that a bike can be dropped and hurled around just like a suitcase. I suggest to remove fragile parts, before checking the bike in. When I picked my bike up, I found that someone had reduced the tire pressure to zero, this was more harm than good. For my bike, it was one of the worst air trips so far. A lot of people on the islands work in the tourism industry and speak English. Communication is easier than in Bangkok. I expected cold and unfriendly people who are after my money only, which was then not the case. Seems that locals have gotten accustomed to tourists and often treat them like normal people. I met mostly nice folks. Shopping on the islands is not too special. They sell nothing that you couldn't get in Bangkok. If Bangkok is on your itinerary, buy there. Wider choice, lower prices. All over the islands, there are coconut palms. I worried that I could be hit by such a nut, with so many of them high in the sky. The operator of the Samui go-cart circuit explained that coconuts had 3 eyes to make sure they don't hurt people when they drop. At another place, I was told that the ones that are likely to fall are being cut down. Another thing that can be found all over the islands are Internet terminals. In remote places the charges are steep (but dropping) and the links are less reliable, due to long (and lousy) telephone cables. Expect that it doesn't work after a storm or rain. Getting around Pha Ngan: The road that leads north-west from Hat Rin is a real challenge for a mountainbiker. Those strong enough to pedal up have a good chance to destroy the chain, freewheel, BB or crankset. For the way down, you need to be very, very sure about your brakes. (Note that in the salty air, brake cables tend to rust. I found the exposed parts of my front brake cable look OK but when I took it out, I saw one point black from rust. It snapped, when I bent it a little bit.) During rain, this road becomes highly dangerous. It's as bad as cobblestone or snow. I did this stretch during a downpour, and I'm not going to do this again. I saw one foreign couple on a dirtbike (motorbike) that almost went off the road and down the slope on a downhill stretch (the part where they put stacks of tires). They locked the rear wheel and lost control, going zig-zag down the road. Fractions of a second before it was too late, they accelerated and gained the control back. Just minutes later, another foreign visitor fell off her rental bike when the rear wheel slipped and broke away sideways while she was working her way up. As I did this stretch, the rear wheel of my own mountainbike slipped on the way up. I got off to push. My wet sneakers slipped even more, I almost couldn't stop the bike from going down backwards. Barefoot t'was a bit better, but still slippery. I walked at the very side of the road, the outer 20cm are more grippy. Downwards, I went really slow. The slightest touch on the rear brake locked the wheel. The front wheel locked now and then for a second or so, but this caused no harm. The rim heated up rapidly. The other day, I saw 2 crashed motorcycles by the side of the road. The road that leads south-north to Nai Pan Beach (and Bottle Beach) has more dangerous parts. Some stretches have steel mesh coming out, there is erosion and sections with polished stones. I saw no accidents there but several foreigners who turned back. Others went through, they said they were careful and had no problem. This road can be done on a mountainbike but it's more fun with a motor. Beyond the terrain and mostly in the afternoon, evening and night, cycling is made difficult by a large number of aggressive dogs. The evenings are as well popular with boys on noisy motorcycles who race up and down the road, passing a stranger at minimum distance to show off. Throughout the day, one has to watch out for inexperienced motorcycle riders in the shape of foreign tourists. Nai Pan Beach was almost completely booked out for no good reason (I was there in the low season). American visitors were dominating, some far too cool to talk to me. Honey Bungalows had few visitors, the receptionist was a bit weird and though it looked good from the outside and the price was low, I didn't stay there. I chose Panburi Village, cost a bit more but included food, had the better location, a nice restaurant, very nice staff. Nothing wrong, there. A 2-lane road is being built from near the Nai Pan intersection to Bottle Beach. It's just being bulldozed (June 2001). Soon, a pickup truck will be able to go through. Bottle Beach receives a lot of visitors, they mostly come by boat. Hat Rin, famous for its full moon parties, was a bit of a disappointment to me. I came down from the mountains at 8pm after a tough day's ride, hoping to find a relaxed techno-trance-drink-seafood place like on Koh Chang (Trat Province). Well, most places played music from the 70s and 80s and visitors seemed to be the parents or grandparents of generation X. Later at 11pm, I strolled up and down the beach and found merely 2 places doing techno-trance. I expected it to be a bit more massive, but seems that the locals need to relax between full moon sessions. Hin Lat Waterfall on Koh Samui has an easy trail running up on the right side. Take 30..40 minutes and you reach a scenic spot where you can rest and swim. Beyond, it gets difficult. To find more waterfalls as well as several above-mentioned places, download my GPS files SamuiPhangan.wpt and ~.plt ----- Bottom Line ------ Koh Samui and Phangan are OK places for a visit. Surely the beaches are nice, a lot of people there speak English, a lot of foreigners are around and it's just a very convenient place, with everything available that a visitor may want. On the other side, these islands are not cheap and they are far from "untouched". If you happen to be in Bangkok, you may find that Koh Samet or Koh Chang on the Pattaya-side of the Bangkok Bight are a lot closer and cheaper. Though much less the target of advertising, the beaches are not inferiour to those on Samui or Phangan and all sorts of tourist services are available, too. eof