View over the Than Sadet beach on Ko Phangan.
No, that is not a picture from a postcard. I actually have been on that beach today. And with that, welcome to Ko Phangan!
A couple of days ago I found a bungalow resort that had just one room left, so I did not think twice and booked that room. The resort is located on the northwestern part of the island on the Thong Nai Pan Yai beach. It is not on the beach you see in the picture but one beach to the north. As it is located at the end of the beach it is very quiet around here which I really enjoy.
After a long and exhausting bus and ferry combination I arrived on the island yesterday in the afternoon. On that day I did not do much apart from taking a short swim in the sea and then going to bed early. Today, however, I had one of the nicest days so far. After breakfast I started a hiking trip to the next beach to the south (the one in the picture). That took me about an hour and a great amount of sweat. During the hike I stopped at a small bar on the hill that had this magnificent view and also a delicious mango shake. I then continued my walk to a series of nearby waterfalls. They seem to be quite famous around here, because several kings, including the current one, visited them and left there signatures carved in stones there.
As soon as I finished the small sightseeing program I proceeded to the beach, took a swim and then had a spicy mango salad at a restaurant. After that I felt refreshed enough to go all the way back. On that way dark clouds started to appear in the distance so I stepped it up a notch. Just when I was ten meters away from my bungalow it started to rain. This is what I call perfect timing!
So far it really has been great here. The temperatures are just right: Hot and sunny during the day so that you enjoy taking a swim in the sea. In the evening it gets a bit colder so that you do not really need an A/C in the bungalow (which I do not have anyways). For tomorrow I booked a tour to the Ang Thong area, a marine national park, that will include snorkeling and more swimming on exiting beaches. Now sun comes out again, so I might go for another swim. See you soon!