Koh Phagnan

Koh Phagnan (pronounced koh pan yan), is just south of Koh Tao on the west coast of the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand. It is a bit less developed than Koh Tao, although slightly larger. Erin and I arrived by catamaran in the evening and had to find a taxi which would drive us nearly an hour over unpaved roads to our hotel, which honestly left a bruise on my bum. However, it was well worth it.

The beach that we stayed on had body surfing waves and more restaurants with great Thai food. The atmosphere in this part of the island was a lot more serene. There were couples and folks who were a little more our age. We didn't see "drunk girl" from SNL once. We also took advantange of the quiet and remote location by sleeping in every day and catching up on our reading.

Somehow, our luck with rain continued. It has been following us since we left Seattle, and we chuckle about how we even brought rain to Australia which was having a THREE YEAR DROUGHT. Fortunately, this coincided nicely with the Thai new year.

In Thailand, the new year (called Son Kran) is celebrated with a huge waterfight. Actually, it isn't a "fight" as much as it is a mutual soaking. Everyone soaks each other with squirt guns, and pails, and anything that holds water. I even got splashed out of a soda bottle which had obviously been re-filled a number of times.

I can't say for sure what the waterfight represents, but this is our third New Year's celebration of the year. We are having a blast experiencing the cultural differences of each celebration, and I will never view a New Year's the same way again.