Getting ripped off on our bungalows (it happens traveling sometimes!)the night before dampened our spirit for staying on Ko Samui until later in the morning, so we went in search of the local taxi truck early in the morning (after a failure to find a coffee shop along the street,) with a desire to head to the less developed island of Ko Pha-Ngan. The taxi trucks are fabulous! The have a cage rack on top to toss your bag(s) – unless your bag is mine, and it’s far too heavy to lift up there!, and you sit on benches in the back of the truck… simple! And they’re 50 Baht (about $1.50 US)
We finally found our coffee shop in Na Thon – right across the street from the ferry docks. A stroll through town afterwards along the scooter-lined streets, hanging bird cages, and many little tourist shops led us to a travel agency where I happened to notice we had been ripped off a 2nd time! Reverting to negotiating 101, I politely informed the gentleman at the ferry docks that they lied to us (we asked where the 150 Bht ferry boat was, and they said there was none, and played stupid – it was only one pier over) and overcharged us for the same ferry that everyone else would be traveling on at 11am. He actually admitted to lying to us, but was only willing to give us a 50% credit – SHADY! I was actually fine with this, and my German friends were surprisingly thrilled – just had to stand up for us, and other future travelers honestly seeking out the same info. You’d think Kharma would be a way of life for more people around here!
As we arrived on the island of Ko Pha-Ngan we were surrounded by far too many locals offering us taxis & bungalows! It’s quite overwhelming – especially if you don’t know where you’re going! Luckily Ulli had been to Mae Haad before and knew that I’d probably like it since the Yoga Retreat was 1 beach over. We jumped in another taxi truck and enjoyed a much quieter & desolate journey on what was most definitely an island road. The lush palm trees and island green was smelling sweeter by the second! Trucks pass taxis and taxis pass mopeds… that seems to be the hierarchy of the barely two-lane road system!
Mae Haad is a super-quiet, off-the-beaten path village at the northwest corner of the island of Ko Pha-Ngan. There are about 5 different bunches of bungalows and maybe 10 different shops/cafes lining their “main” street. There is also an extra little island that you can walk over to along a sandbar (how cool is that?!)… which also offers a small gathering of bungalows and a restaurant. The beach is pretty well known around the island for having some of the best coral reefs for snorkeling – and boats pull up off-shore in the distance to bring visitors from other beaches who want to take a glance around with their mask. We were able to swim in the wide channel that goes between the coral, and have some nice views through the crystal-clear water at the sea life below! (it’s very shallow – maybe 3+ feet (1m) deep in the 1st 75-100yards off shore)
The bungalows we found were up a quiet road on the way out of the village (a 4-5 minute walk from the beach)… and they sat up high on the mountain side. I was equal, if not higher than the tops of the palm trees! We were the only ones out there, so it was an eerie sort of quiet for the night – especially after the village power went out around 8pm! I luckily had my headlamp in my hand (I had walked into town on my own)… the store owner (where I was on Internet) was so excited that I had the light – I was able to help us to see a few things that we would have struggled to find otherwise!
We finally found our coffee shop in Na Thon – right across the street from the ferry docks. A stroll through town afterwards along the scooter-lined streets, hanging bird cages, and many little tourist shops led us to a travel agency where I happened to notice we had been ripped off a 2nd time! Reverting to negotiating 101, I politely informed the gentleman at the ferry docks that they lied to us (we asked where the 150 Bht ferry boat was, and they said there was none, and played stupid – it was only one pier over) and overcharged us for the same ferry that everyone else would be traveling on at 11am. He actually admitted to lying to us, but was only willing to give us a 50% credit – SHADY! I was actually fine with this, and my German friends were surprisingly thrilled – just had to stand up for us, and other future travelers honestly seeking out the same info. You’d think Kharma would be a way of life for more people around here!
As we arrived on the island of Ko Pha-Ngan we were surrounded by far too many locals offering us taxis & bungalows! It’s quite overwhelming – especially if you don’t know where you’re going! Luckily Ulli had been to Mae Haad before and knew that I’d probably like it since the Yoga Retreat was 1 beach over. We jumped in another taxi truck and enjoyed a much quieter & desolate journey on what was most definitely an island road. The lush palm trees and island green was smelling sweeter by the second! Trucks pass taxis and taxis pass mopeds… that seems to be the hierarchy of the barely two-lane road system!
Mae Haad is a super-quiet, off-the-beaten path village at the northwest corner of the island of Ko Pha-Ngan. There are about 5 different bunches of bungalows and maybe 10 different shops/cafes lining their “main” street. There is also an extra little island that you can walk over to along a sandbar (how cool is that?!)… which also offers a small gathering of bungalows and a restaurant. The beach is pretty well known around the island for having some of the best coral reefs for snorkeling – and boats pull up off-shore in the distance to bring visitors from other beaches who want to take a glance around with their mask. We were able to swim in the wide channel that goes between the coral, and have some nice views through the crystal-clear water at the sea life below! (it’s very shallow – maybe 3+ feet (1m) deep in the 1st 75-100yards off shore)
The bungalows we found were up a quiet road on the way out of the village (a 4-5 minute walk from the beach)… and they sat up high on the mountain side. I was equal, if not higher than the tops of the palm trees! We were the only ones out there, so it was an eerie sort of quiet for the night – especially after the village power went out around 8pm! I luckily had my headlamp in my hand (I had walked into town on my own)… the store owner (where I was on Internet) was so excited that I had the light – I was able to help us to see a few things that we would have struggled to find otherwise!
No comments:
Post a Comment