Koh Chang

After spending about a week enjoying historic sights in Cambodia and the company of the Khmer people we headed straight for the closest Thai island.  Koh Chang is a solitary island in South East of Thailand.  We traveled here with Jeff’s family and spent a few days on this quaint little island.  We stayed on White Sand Beach, which is accurately named for it’s long stretch of soft white sand.  One day we participated in another Thai cooking class.  This class was much more educational than our cooking class in Pai.  We made 5 different types of curry, pad thai, tom yam soup and ended with sticky rice and mango.  Yummmm. We all had a great time.  Jeff’s birthday was while we were in Koh Chang.  It was a special day especially since we were with his family.  We rented motorbikes, which is always a blast, and cruised around the island to a different beach.  Afterwards we jumped into a fancy resort’s pool and had a couple pina coladas at their swim up bar.  Not a bad way to spend your birthday.  After Koh Chang we traveled back to Bangkok where we said goodbye to his family and continued our journey down the country to another set of islands.

Thai cooking class is Koh Chang

Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan is a tropical paradise know for it’s monthly full moon parties.  Every month on the night of the full moon this little Thai island is jammed packed of backpackers, covered in neon paint and clothes dancing til the sun comes up.  Attending a full moon party is right of passage for any travelers backpacking around South East Asia.  It is a little crazy but unlike anything in the world.  Jeff and I stayed in a cute little bay only accessible by long tail boat.  This beach is a hidden gem and not mentioned in any travel books, we heard about it from my sister who stumbled upon it during her travels here.  This little beach was one of our favorite spots so far on our trip.  It had everything you could want. The full moon party night was a lot of fun, we danced all night, made some fun friends, and danced some more. Dance, swim, dance, swim, its perfect. 

Koh Tao

The scuba diving island. It is one of the cheapest places in the world to receive your scuba license.  The best part about this island for me was that my sister Jacy and her boyfriend John met us here! After not seeing any of my family members for 5 months I broke down in tears when I first saw my sister.  My sister and I have both had our scuba licenses since were were 13 years old.  We have been looking forward to diving in Koh Tao since we planned this trip.  Jeff signed up to get his scuba license, which is a 3 day course. I was able to go with Jeff on his last few dives which was really fun, the water is warm and clear and there is much to see around the coral reefs. It was a great experience but because the diving is so affordable some of the dive sides get somewhat crowded. But we can’t blame the backpackers who dive in Koh Tao when one dive is only $30. You can’t beat that price anywhere. We are very excited for the end of our trip when we go on a live-aboard scuba dive boat with Angs parents in a remote area of Indonesia called Raja Ampat. We rented stand up paddle boards and also rented scooters to explore Koh Tao.  After Jeff was officially certified we headed off to Railay Beach. The fun in Thailand continues, three more weeks and then off to Bali. 

Railay Beach and Tonsai

Koh Lanta

Oh my Lanta, we loved this island in Southern Thailand.

A Night on Maya Bay

Maya bay is located on Koh Phi Phi Leh, the tiny island next to its much larger sister island Koh Phi Phi Don. This is where they filmed the movie “The Beach” with Leonardo DiCaprio. This incredible beach closes down at around 6 PM. Jeff and I found a tour that allowed us to stay the night on a boat anchored in the bay for the night. We were two of 30 people who stayed after hours at the beach. They do a big BBQ dinner on the beach, give you a few cocktails and let you enjoy one of the most beautiful places in the world. The entire group was back in the eating area while we sneaked off for a stroll down the beach on a near full moon night. It was peaceful and seemed too good to be true. During the day this little bay is very crowded so it was an amazing feeling to be the only ones on this beach at night. After a fun night we went swimming in the dark with photo luminescent plankton that live in the bay. The plankton glow bright when you disturb them, like underwater fire flies. It was magical to swim and dive down into the darkness with only glittering lights around you. It was definitely a night we will never forget.

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