It is sad, really sad, but my time in Thailand is coming to its end. In only three days I will fly back to Germany and leave this fantastic land behind. Maybe it is this thought or yesterday’s experiences that gave me one of my best moments—at least of my island trip—today.

Yesterday I did an all-day long trip to the Ang Thong marine park. It was really nice. We went snorkeling at a lagoon, did a short kayaking trip and had nice lunch on the boat that brought us to to the park. The nicest moment of the tour was just at the end of it. We stopped at the visitor center. From that we had the opportunity to hike to a viewpoint that has—according to my travel guide—one of the most beautiful views in Thailand. So I did not hesitate for a second and went there. It again cost me a great amount of sweat and right before the end some climbing skills, but the view was definitely worth that.

View over the Ang Thong marine park.

While this tour was a good experience, at the same time it was really not an individual experience. On our boat alone were more than 50 people and we were by far not the only boat there. Just when I came back from the viewpoint all other boats had already left and we were more or less alone on a beautiful beach which made sure that we had a nice ending of our trip.

Today I started another hiking trip, this time to the next beach in the north. It is called Bottle Beach and is supposed to be one of the nicest beaches on the island. I really enjoyed this two hour trip as I could walk by my own pace, stop or take pictures just as I liked. After arriving there I was not quite exhausted enough to go into the water straight away, so I looked for another destination. I found a nearby viewpoint on my map and decided that this would just be the right amount of workout I would need.

The ascent to the viewpoint was harder and steeper than I thought, so I arrived on the top after half an hour quite exhausted. What awaited me there, however, was simply the nicest thing I experienced on Ko Phangan. The viewpoint was just a big rock you had to climb on. Sitting on that rock I had a magnificent view to Bottle Beach with nothing but air underneath my feet and wind around my head.

View over Bottle Beach on Ko Phangan.

On the way back to the beach I was in quite a blissful mood knowing that I just had the best ending I possibly could have had. And you know that you should leave right at the best moment…

Now back to the title of this article: Which of the views do you prefer? I already made my decision. And this time, it not all about what you can see in the pictures.