A week in paradise!!

Being on the 'backpackers' trail is like a pilgrimage of sorts.  You meet people from all over the world.  Although you may have different backgrounds or priorities when on the 'trail' you find that we all have one thing in common: touring through different countries in search of new experiences, territories, culture and of course adventure!!

When I did my 'pilgrimage' through Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia before heading back to Thailand (where it all began!) I met many people along the way!!  Some of whom I traveled with for a couple of day, some of which we planned to meet up with later when we knew that we were both going to be on 'that island' or in 'that city' at the same time.

When in the north of Vietnam I met two girls from the U.K.  Our paths first crossed on a bus in Vietnam, then randomly at a bar, then later on a boat.  We made friends, they were cool and we all hit it off.  With failed attempts to try to coordinate a time and place to connect in Cambodia we decided to give it a rest but stayed in touch only to again randomly run into each other 2 weeks later in Bangkok!! There I was, drinking a cheap beer, sitting outside the restaurant, when one of my 'backpacker' friend's sat down casually and said, "Hello!"  This is how it goes when you are on the trail!  Bangkok being one of the main travel hubs for SE Asia, we both were just passing through but we decided to make definite plans to meet up again after Christmas.  This is when I came about the inside info on 'paradise'. 

When meeting up we of course filled each other in on where we'd been and what we'd been up to since we saw each other last.  This is where you pull out your camera and show off all the spectacular things you have seen and done!  The girls told me about this amazing island that was in the middle of nowhere located in a National Park.  One glance through the pictures and I was sold!

After spending Valentine's Day in the north Marc and I headed south to the magical island of Koh Phra Thong.  With not much more than a half page of minimal information in our guidebook and a name of a Thai guy that my friend's said we should call we were ready to get to this island and see it for ourselves!!

After a long overnight bus ride from Bangkok we ended up in Kuraburi in the wee hours of the morn'.  We didn't know what to expect and it didn't look like there was much there but from the girls' pictures we recognized our Thai tour guide, Choui.  With is reggae man- rasta look he can't be missed

Mr. Choui, our trusty guide and bar tender!!

To say the least we were relieved to see Choui there at the bus depot!!  He escorted us to the pier and then on to the small boat that would take us to paradise!  

Once we arrived we were not disappointed!  It was quiet, it was peaceful and we really did feel like we had found the paradise we were looking for!  It was a very simply lay out, there were 8 bamboo huts, the bar/restaurant (where they made the best banana pancakes I have ever had the pleasure of eating and Choui was like a chemist when it came to the mixed drinks!!) all built bu Mr. Choui himself.  Oh and the beach, the luscious beach!!  It was miles and miles of sand, warm waters and stunning sun sets.  There was so much beach and so few people we almost felt like we had the island to ourselves!!  

There wasn't much to the island.  It wasn't your typical 'touristey' island with tons of bars and a 7-11 around every corner.  There were only four resorts on the entire island and only about 2,000 people who lived on the island, most of which earned their living by fishing.  There was no electricity anywhere on the island, it was all run off of generators and solar panels.  What was most amazing for me was to see Mr. Choui's photo album of the before and after pictures of the tsunami that hit in 2004.  Choui had an amazing story to tell about that day as well.  After the first wave hit he ran to the nearest and tallest tree and climbed to the top just in time to hang on tight as the second wave hit.  The water came all the way up to his waist!!  It's amazing how devastating the tsunami was and you can still see it's aftermath.  But with the help of an older German couple who had just left the morning the devastating wave hit (had they been there two hours later they probably would have been swept away!) Choui was on a plane to Germany and through his German friends was able to raise the funds to rebuild his rhasta hang out.

Beautiful sunset

Marc and I enjoyed wading in the luke warm waters and taking long strolls along the beach.  Every night we were sure to not miss the spectacular sunsets!  It was really cool to see the crabs migrate from their sand holes towards the ocean.  There were hundreds if not thousands of little crabs moving towards the ocean all spread out along the sand.  Then as soon as the sun set the crickets would come alive and light up the island with their chirps.  Their chorus was so loud it was almost deafening but only lasted for about 20 minutes which sort of became our bell to go back to Mr. Choui's restaurant and order a delicious meal (some of the best food I ate in all of Thailand!) and wash it down with a cocktail made with ultimate precision.   

What a way to end our travels in Thailand!!!

That's all for now...