Memento Mori

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Asia Trip 009 - Koh Phangan, Thailand - 003

A quiet sunrise from day 93 of the trip.

So I’ve been traveling a lot lately and quite a bit has happened in the past month. I finished bar tending at my hostel in Thailand, Cate came to see me and we traveled all around Thailand for two weeks, I went to Malaysia and now am in Singapore waiting to leave for Jakarta and Indonesia in about two days. Currently scheming how to find a job in Bali and live there for a month or two.

Asia Trip: Day 91 - Koh Phangan (4/15/19)

Daily Highlights:

  • Picked up Cate from the ferry

  • Said goodbye to everyone at the hostel

    • Everyone was so visibly sad

    • I will really miss that community and place

  • Packed up all of my things

    • I sowed patches from all of the different countries I have been to on my backpack and they look bitchin

  • Went to Thaan Sadet and moved into our new bungalow

    • It is right on the water and SO NICE, but it has no A/C and no internet :(

  • Had dinner on a rooftop restaurant in the jungle on the side of a cliff

    • Papaya salad, red curry with rice, and ice cold beer

  • Tossed and turned all night because it was so blisteringly hot with no A/C

Not a bad place to call home for the next few days.

Asia Trip: Day 92 - Koh Phangan (4/16/19)

Daily Highlights:

  • Didn’t sleep at all because it was so hot

  • Woke up to see the sunrise - INCREDIBLE

  • Got coffee and hung out at reception which was a shack on the beach and has sand as the floor

  • Rented a scooter and went all around the island

    • Stopped on the side of the road and got shakes (pineapple papaya) from a woman who grew all of the fruit in her backyard

      • She proceeded to practice her English and show us all of the fruit and which trees they came from in her yard

    • Got a late lunch

    • Got another shake - mango pineapple

    • We got A LOT OF SUN

  • Came back and found out that we stayed at the wrong place

    • Our original place was up the hill, but the person at reception told us that we had a reservation at their place

    • So this one beach apparently has three very different and distinct bungalow businesses, but there are no signs or references anywhere on the beach

  • Complained and got a two night refund (the woman now hates us)

  • We hiked up the mountain to go to bungalow business number three (number one was our original reservation - now they are sold out, number two was the bungalow place where we got Shanghaied)

    • This room was cheaper than originally planned and had A/C and internet

    • Plus the restaurant was a short, thirty second walk from our room

Cate enjoying her essential iced coffee.

A view from the top of a mountain where we almost got macheted by a local.

Asia Trip: Day 93 - Koh Phangan (4/17/19)

Daily Highlights:

  • STAYED AT THE BUNGALOWS ALL DAY

    • Went over a little rickety bridge to an abandoned area

    • Investigated why an oil tankard was parked in our little slice of heaven - our investigation was inconclusive

    • Read books in the shade

  • WATCHED SUNRISE AND TOOK PICTURES

    • Got coffee

    • Got great brekkie

      • Thai omelettes, homemade toast with sunflower butter

  • Had a little photo shoot on the deck

  • Showered and then went back for dinner

    • We had spring rolls, coconut curry, and pineapple fried rice


Asia Trip: Day 94 - Koh Phangan (4/18/19)

Daily Highlights:

  • We packed up and left paradise for a touristy resort

  • We took a long cab ride to our resort in Haad Yao

  • We arrived at the hotel, were lead through a maze of stairs and alleyways entirely uphill to our room

  • Both went to explore the beach

    • Cate stayed, I went back to the hotel room, moved the bed closer the TV, watched TV, and then took a nap

  • Got dinner at a small restaurant on the beach

    • We got a strange noodle dish that was not ours

    • Our actual order was a papaya salad, pad kapow and two icy changs

  • Went to the Secret Bar for a drink and to watch the sunset

    • I got a Cuba Libre and we listened to Latin music

    • Felt like I was in Cuba and digged it very much

  • Did salsa lessons and killed it

    • THE DANCE INSTRUCTOR WAS EXACTLY LIKE THE ENCOURAGEMENT GUY FROM COUPLES RETREAT - see video reference below

  • Went back and watched Chef’s Table - the Thailand episode I thought was fitting

  • We tried to watch Forgetting Sarah Marshall, but the internet was shit

Asia Trip: Day 95 - Koh Phangan (4/19/19)

Daily Highlights:

  • We slept in and went to Bubba’s Cafe

    • I got a matcha latte with honey and cinnamon

  • WENT TO FULL MOON PARTY

    • Pregamed with a bottle of Sam Song on a quiet balcony at our hotel

    • We went to Shenanigans (the hostel I worked at) and saw everyone

      • Got free beer all night

      • Helped behind the bar a bit

      • Great seeing everyone

    • We all hobbled over to the beach and HAD A NIGHT

      • Jumped through fire

      • Did a pull up contest

      • Danced and danced and danced

      • Stayed out until 5:00am

Asia Trip: Day 96 - Koh Phangan => Krabi (4/20/19)

Daily Highlights:

  • Woke up at 8:00am and felt like death

  • Took an 11:00am bus to the Thong Sala Pier

  • Took a 12:45pm ferry to Surrathani

  • Took a bus at 3:30pm to Krabi

  • Got to Krabi at 7:00pm and then took a 1/2 an hour taxi ride to town in a sawed off school bus

  • Got off the bus and booked the first hostel we saw (SUPER NICE!)

    • Hands down one of the nicest, if not the nicest hostel I’ve stayed at this whole trip

  • Got food and then passed out early