What an incredible week! Last Tuesday, Claire and I took a bus to the eastern side of the peninsula, then got on a ferry to the island of Koh Samui in the Gulf of Thailand. Samui is a huge island, and we stayed on Chaweng Beach, which is the most beautiful (and touristy) beach. On Wednesday, we took a day trip to the Ang Thong Marine Park, which is a collection of 42 islands with beautiful limestone cliffs, caves, rain forests, and beaches. Since it is a national park, it is very well preserved and appears mostly untouched by tourism. We were able to go kayaking and explore some of the hiking trails on the islands. We also made the 500 meter trek to the viewpoint at the top of the mountain on one of the islands. It was incredibly difficult - we literally had to climb on the rock-face of cliffs with only a rope to hold onto, but it was definitely worth it once we made it to the top, where you can see almost all of the Ang Thong islands.
On Thursday evening, we took a boat from Samui to the island of Koh Phangan. Since we arrived for the weekend of the infamous Full Moon Party, Phangan was packed with tourists, all in the 20-30 age group. We stayed on Haad Rin, which is the beach where the party is held, at a great resort with a beautiful pool, so that's where we spent most of our time. There were also endless shops and restaurants to appease the flocks of Western tourists. The Full Moon Party was on Saturday night, and it was pretty much as wild as the stories you hear, but it was a lot of fun and definitely an unforgettable night. I painted an American flag on my shirt since the U.S. v Ghana game was that night - a U.S. win was the only thing that could have made the night better!
This week, I am back in Krabi teaching, and then Claire and I fly to Kuala Lumpur on Friday. We will spend a few days there and then go to Singapore for the rest of the week.
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