Readme before you journey
BACK TO THE EARTH
Tick, tick, tick, the notification sound from LINE
"When is Beer going to Japan?"
"Next month I want to go to Surat Thani from 9th to 12th, are you interested?"
It takes about 3 seconds to think.
"I'm interested."
"But can I get it for 6-10?"
..
"Wait 7-10 seconds"
"7 8 9 10" (Why count...)
..
"Okay, let's go!"
Next, I started researching travel options, flights, and accommodation. My destination was **"Koh Phaluai"**. Many people may not have heard of this name. Some even asked, "Where is that?" with a confused look, as if I was going to another country. But no, **Koh Phaluai** is one of the islands in the Ang Thong National Marine Park, located west of Koh Samui. It is the second largest island after Koh Wua Talap. This island will use clean energy entirely. Electricity will be generated by wind turbines and solar panels. Water will need to be pumped from the bay's water reservoir to houses or resorts, as there is no piped water system yet. The authorities are currently working on this.
Of course, an island that not many people know about like this must have something good about it. That's what I thought.
"Beer... We're staying at Ang Thong Beach Resort."
"Okay, sir."
It's really comfortable, I don't have to find accommodation, someone found it for me. Then I searched for information on Google... "Ang Thong Beach Resort" found Facebook of the resort. I went in and looked. Okay, the atmosphere is good. Anyway, let's see the website. I opened it and stumbled upon these 4 facilities...
- Electricity available from 19:00 to 6:00
- Not allow to use hair dryer and any high power electrics
- No hot water
- No airconditioner
First thought... How will we city kids survive without air conditioning in the heat? We'll definitely die. But hey, I survived at Khao Chon Kai during ROTC training, so this shouldn't be too bad. Plus, it's right by the beach, so it must be cool (self-reassurance). And that's why I named it Back to the Earth.
DAY 1
4:30 AM, the sound of Sungha Jung's song Riding a Bicycle rang out. Suddenly, my brain ordered my weak hand to reach for my white iPhone 6 and press Snooze immediately (just another 10 minutes). After 5 minutes, I remembered, "Oh, I have to go on a trip today. Flight at 8:30..." I got up. Luckily, my younger brother said he would take me. Another easy day. Otherwise, my life would be very difficult.
Pack your bags and get in the car, heading to Don Mueang Airport. Check-in, load your small bag into the belly of the plane, and then walk through the airport security checkpoint. Once inside, we will find the food zone, which of course I will not miss. The three or four of us walked around looking for a restaurant and didn't forget to drink black coffee from my favorite shop.
We chose to sit on the right side of the plane so that we wouldn't have to face the sun. The flight wasn't long, and I didn't even finish reading 3 chapters before we arrived at Surat Thani International Airport. Now, the adventure begins.
Thank you Thai Smile Airways for not taking me.
There are two ways to get to the Koh Phayam pier:
- The easy way
Book a private car from the airport to the pier through the resort for around 1,700 baht. - The difficult way
Take a bus from the airport to the city, then transfer to a small van to the pier.
At this point, we have chosen to travel in a ... "comfortable" way.
Upon arriving at the port, the question I heard was, "Is today an even or odd day?"
"Today is the 7th, an odd day."
"On odd days, we have to board the ship here."
In my opinion, this is like parking on the side of the road with designated even and odd days. If you park on the wrong day, your wheels will be locked.
As this is a pier mainly used by locals, there used to be no daily boat services. Boats only operated on even-numbered days. However, there are now daily services, but passengers need to board from different piers. The two piers are not far apart, though, and it takes about 3-5 minutes to walk between the Even-Day Pier and the Odd-Day Pier.
At exactly one o'clock in the afternoon, with no delay, the boat slowly departed from Donsak Pier, heading towards Phaluai Island. Inside the boat, the atmosphere was quite rustic. The boat had two floors, but before boarding, the boatman told us to sit on the upper floor because the lower floor would make us seasick. So we went up to sit on the upper floor, but there were no chairs like on the lower floor. We had to sit on the floor under the roof of the boat. But if we wanted to sit on a chair, we had to walk outside the eaves and sit on the long bench that was used next to the boat.
After sitting for a while, we started to crawl and finally fell asleep. Two hours later, I woke up and found that only 30 minutes had passed. What? Where are we? It will take another hour to arrive. I picked up my iPhone and opened the map. Oh, it's not that far, why is it taking so long? So I walked to the back of the boat and found the truth. This boat is very environmentally friendly. The water is not rippling like when we are on a speedboat, but it is as still as if the boat is not moving. But in fact, the boat is sailing very slowly, which is completely opposite to my thoughts. After a while, I heard a faint voice that we had to stop to pick up and drop off passengers on two more islands. This time, I couldn't help but groan, but whatever, let's sit and wait. We'll be there soon. This is the real slow life.
Left hand opens the bag, right hand picks up the camera, walks out of the eaves and starts to take pictures of the sea in a minimalist way (how can it not be minimalist, there is only sky and sea in front of you). Not long after, the boat we were on slowly slowed down, and after a while, a small long-tailed boat came alongside. The people on the boat carried fresh seafood, small boxes and envelopes and handed them to the people on the boat to take to the villagers on the island. I later learned that this was "Som Island".
And not far away is Koh Paluay, our destination for today.
After another 20 minutes, our boat docked at Koh Phluay. We were about to carry our bags from the lower deck to the shore when the boatman came to help us and took them to the resort's car. The resort provides a shuttle service between the pier and the accommodation. While walking to the car, I saw two large sea bass being loaded onto the car. Feeling hungry, I thought that the fish must be our dinner... But... No, it was for another group of guests. Pat, a resort staff member who drove the limousine to pick us up at the pier, told us that.
It took about 10 minutes from the pier to reach the hornbill viewing point ... That's right, hornbills were flying around, looking for food in the area. Pat parked the car for us to watch for a while, then said, "I'll walk out and take a look myself." Because the resort is on the right-hand side. What could be better than this? I was born to see a hornbill for the first time, and it was so close! I was so happy. Southern people call it Nok Gaek.
After that, we picked up our bags from the car and it was finally time for the most thrilling part of the trip: walking into the room with no air conditioning or lights. When we entered, I was a little surprised. It wasn't as hot as I thought it would be, but it was still hot. This is because the room I stayed in was at the very front of the resort, facing the sea. There was a constant breeze all day, which was great. The interior of the room was decorated like a typical bungalow, but with an emphasis on wood. Overall, the room was okay for an island like this. However, when I walked around the room, I found a broom, which was a good thing. In a room that's right on the beach, you're bound to run around on the sand, and it'll follow you into the room. This makes the room feel gritty and uncomfortable until the staff cleans it the next day. With a broom like this, I could sweep it myself and keep the room clean.
After packing up, Pat volunteered to drive us around the island. The highlight for me was the viewpoint, which Pat called the "Director's Viewpoint." I'm not sure why it's called that, but it doesn't really matter. The view from the top was breathtaking. When I visited, it wasn't quite finished yet. Pat mentioned that once it's completed, there will be a 50 baht entrance fee. In my opinion, it's definitely worth it. The view is worth much more than 50 baht.
After returning from the viewpoint, we went back to the resort as it was getting quite late. We were planning to catch the sunset at the beach.
As the sun began to set, everything quieted down, leaving only the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. I sat and listened, standing and listening, while occasionally pressing the shutter. Afterwards, it was time to shower and eat. The food was simple, local fare, made with whatever ingredients the cook had on hand that day. The southern flavors were delicious.
After a satisfying meal, it was time to ... sleep ... but the resort owner said that the sky was dark at the moment, so don't rush to sleep. You might be able to see the Milky Way. Well, I've never taken a picture of the stars before. I've learned some theory from the teacher on Google. Today, whatever happens, it has to work out somehow. So at 10 pm, I walked back to my room, picked up my small tripod, and it took about 30 minutes to try and aim. If it was a DSLR camera, it would have been faster. I managed to capture 2 photos. Actually, I wanted to stay longer, but the fatigue from the journey made my upper and lower eyelids fall in love with each other immediately.
"Want a beer? I'll grab some for you," Red asked. With such an invitation, I immediately turned and said, "Sure, thanks." Red is the one who will be driving the boat to take us on a trip tomorrow. After sipping some beers and chatting with Red for a while, it was time to go to bed.
Tomorrow we will take a boat trip to Mu Ko Ang Thong National Park.
DAY 2
6:00 AM. The sound of the song "Riding a Bicycle" played again, but this time I didn't hesitate. I got up and walked over to pick up my old iPhone and pressed Snooze again. Just another 10 minutes, please. I didn't feel sticky when I woke up. In the early morning, around 4-5 AM, the air was so cold that I had to cover myself with a blanket. 10 minutes passed. I used my index finger to swipe off the alarm clock and then used the same finger to rub the sleep out of both eyes. I used all the energy I had to take a shower and brush my teeth. Today I wore blue cargo pants and a blue shirt to match the atmosphere of the sea. I opened the door to my room slowly and took a deep breath of the air on Phaluai Island. Then I heard a voice from the dining room saying that he was waiting for me alone. I didn't wait any longer. I walked to the dining room to find something to eat immediately. Today's breakfast was quite simple, American style.
On an island of this size, it's the ultimate fin.
Then, the same old Red walked to the dining room, picked up a lunch box, and went up to the boat, saying, "Today at noon, we'll have shrimp and crab fried rice. You can eat it at Three Sorrow Island or at your private island." I only caught the gist of it later because the southern people spoke so fast... or maybe my brain hadn't given the order yet.
The first place we're going to is Khao Ma Cave. It's not really a cave, but a hole in the mountain. It's very small, the entrance is about the same width as the long-tailed boat we're in. But when you go inside and look up, there's a hole where light can come through. I say go inside, but we didn't actually go in because the waves were quite strong and there was a whirlpool inside, which was quite dangerous. Brother Red told me that someone had gone in before and their boat had hit a rock and been damaged. It took them a while to get out. Brother Red told us to use our imagination.
We drove a little further and passed Ao Song Phi Nong, which is characterized by two adjacent bays separated by a large rock. We didn't go in, we just took pictures from the boat.
Next to Khao Ma Cave is Khao Ta Pu... a nail, but not the kind you hammer. There's a similar one in the Ang Thong Islands, but it only looks the same from one side. From this angle, it looks like a penguin, don't you think?
If you want to see something that looks like Khao Ta Pu in Phang Nga Bay, you need to look from the opposite side of where I took this photo. I didn't take a photo from that side.
After that, Phi Daeng drove along the edge of the island until he reached Talay Waek. You don't have to go all the way to Krabi, Koh Phayam also has Talay Waek. We walked down to take some photos, but the water was quite low, so it wasn't as beautiful as it could be. If the timing is right and the water is just above the sandbar, it will be much more beautiful.
The sand in this area is quite rough, some parts can even cut your legs. Be careful when walking.
After enjoying the view at Talay Waek for about 10 minutes, Phi Daeng called us back to the boat. It would take 30-45 minutes to travel from Koh Phaluai to **Talay Nai**. I sat and enjoyed the view for a while, then started to feel sleepy, so I lay down on the floor of the boat. After a while, I fell asleep and woke up when we arrived at Talay Nai. At this point, we paid the entrance fee of 40 baht to Ang Thong National Marine Park. However, we only had to pay once and could visit any island within the park, as long as we kept the entrance ticket. Talay Nai is an area surrounded by mountains in a circle, with seawater flowing into the area. However, to see it, we had to climb over a ridge. It took about 10 minutes to climb, and then we finally saw Talay Nai. The stairs that the park had built were quite steep. If you looked straight ahead at the stairs, you could see the 4th or 5th step from the top, less than 50 centimeters away. The stairs were quite steep, and each step was only about the width of a hand, so we had to be careful. However, it wasn't too dangerous.
I turned around to take a picture of the path I had climbed up. It was really beautiful.
And the other side is the sea in
From there, there will be a walkway to experience the sea up close. Yes, how much you go up, you go down.
From where I was standing, looking down at the seabed, I could see a multitude of fish. And to my surprise, I saw a queenfish. Many people may not know it, but if I say Barracuda, I'm sure everyone will say "Oh...". And then time ran out, and I had to go back up as much as I had come down. ...
We met up with Red, who greeted us with a mocking question, "Tired, huh? Haha!" I nodded and went to sit on a bench before continuing our journey. Red asked again if we wanted to go to the private island or the three-island group. We chose the three-island group because it had some shade and benches where we could sit and eat. Red's definition of a "private island" is an island that no tourists visit. Most tourists who come to Ang Thong National Marine Park come from Koh Samui. If you're staying in Samui, you can buy a tour package.
It didn't take long for us to reach the Three Sad Faces Island. The island got its name because the mountain in front of it looks like the faces of three people in a state of sadness. If you have a good imagination, you can try to see it for yourself.
We ate rice under the big tree on the island. Then we moved to the beach where there was a swing. I didn't hesitate to walk and sit on the sand next to the swing immediately. And soak up the atmosphere for a while before falling asleep on the soft sand. This island offers kayak services for tourists to rent and paddle in the bay.
The beach allows for snorkeling to see coral and tiger cowries.
Note: I heard this from someone else.
The beach is relatively quiet now, as the large group of tourists has just left.
We spent about an hour here before continuing our journey to Koh Wua Talap, which took about 20 minutes. This is because Phi Dang drove us around the scenic islands, such as Koh Thong and Koh Wua Talap. As mentioned earlier, Koh Wua Talap is the largest island in the Ang Thong archipelago. The highlight of this island is the Pha Chan Jaras Viewpoint, which offers a 360-degree view of the Ang Thong islands. However, due to my unpreparedness, I did not change the camera strap from a hand strap to a neck strap. This made me hesitant to climb to the top, fearing that the camera would hit the rocks. The only way up and down was a single rope.
The distance is about 500 meters, which is not very far, but it is quite steep. I walked to the 200 meter mark and didn't dare to risk going any further.
View from 100 meters
The view from 200 meters is worth the effort of climbing up. I wanted to reach 500 meters, but I didn't dare. I'll have to come back again.
After returning to the mainland, I snuck away for a quick walk on the beach of Koh Wua Talap. The sand was incredibly soft! If you've ever been to Koh Tachai, the sand here is just slightly coarser.
The boat you see here is similar to Red's boat, but Red has added a roof to it so that it won't be exposed to the sun at noon. That's the only difference!
This island is the last island in the Ang Thong Islands trip. We traveled back to our accommodation, which took about 1 hour and 45 minutes. At first, I thought I would fall asleep like on the way there, but... the wind was very strong, to the point that I was a little scared. But we arrived at our accommodation safely.
Upon arriving at the resort around 5 pm (but not checking in), we rented a kayak from the resort and went out for a paddle. We originally planned to go to Banana Island, which was on the left-hand side, but the waves and wind were very strong. We could only paddle in front of the resort, and no matter how hard we paddled, we couldn't go anywhere. The waves kept pushing us back to shore, so we decided to stop there. After that, we showered, had dinner, and went to bed. We went to bed early today because we were tired from our trip to the island.
6:00 AM. The same song played again, this time I rushed to take a shower. Because the resort's car will take us to the pier at 6:45 AM, and the boat will leave at 7:00 AM. Before leaving, I didn't forget to take pictures of the hornbills, or hornbills, that flew down to eat the yams near the resort.
I carried my bag onto the back of the Limousine, but this time I sat at the back in the open air. Taking in the fresh air for the last time before boarding the boat.
Some people might think that I won't be back, but no, I will be back if I have the chance. The boat arrived at the shore around 9 am. We had a plan to chill out in Koh Samui, but I won't tell you about that. Let's end with the serene silence of the Gulf of Thailand in the morning. I will tell you more when I have the chance.
If you want to experience nature, Koh Paluay is another place worth visiting. The journey may be a bit difficult, but the happiness is definitely more.
My journey
Friday, September 27, 2024 10:02 AM
