Five Spots You Can’t Miss at Koh Phangan
It started with a crisp blue sky morning over at my parents’ hotel room, me perched on an apple green couch with dad seated by my side, both of us staring at at least 5 different brochures that tried their best to convince us of the most ideal island hopping package in Phuket.
Half an hour passed and we were still undecided. Every company promised more or less the same thing, with only a slight variation in terms of price. If I were alone, I’d most probably went with the cheapest. Yet, when making decisions for your own family, you want to give them the best. So I left the decision making to the boss.
The next morning, lucky for us, was also a crisp blue sky morning. The difference was that we had an additional member to our wolf pack! É flew over from Malaysia to join the family vacation and as he preferred the Koh Phangan itinerary over Old Phuket Town’s, off to the jetty we went.
What made our decision-making easy was when a boat tour salesgirl divided our options to “all people from China” or “only Europeans”. Which would you go for? – I will not tell.
Here I’ve rounded up the 5 spots you can expect and must visit when in Koh Phangan.
1. Enter the Belly of Ice Cream Cave
Here’s the only spot where you need to wear a helmet unless you want to bruise your head into a Flowerhorn. One may think it’s unnecessary but trust me, É actually banged his head helmet into a huge ass sharp rock!
Make sure to have your flash on (and a little bit of patience) to capture the beautiful glitters on these formations.
Follow your tour guide till the end to see the light a scene that actually brings back memories of the epic drama series, ‘LOST’.
Exit the cave using the same route. Keep in mind that you’re advised to go in barefoot and that the muddy ground in the caves can be very slippery, so watch your steps!
James Bond’s Girl outfit post here.
2. Take Picturesque Shots at Khao Phing Kan Island
James Bond movies, The Man with the Golden Sun and Tomorrow Never Dies were both shot here, so what reasons do we have not to participate?
<3
3. Kayak Through the Mysterious Mangroves at Koh Phangan
This is my favorite experience of the entire trip.
Was it just my imagination or does this also look like 4 hung dead people to you?
4. Seafood Lunch at Panyee Village
This is my least favorite part of the tour. Firstly, we were fed with ONLY chicken dishes instead of a supposed seafood lunch considering we were on an island. Hence, here’s a takeaway if food matters to you as much as it does me: Ask your tour guide about the kind of lunch they provide. Some serve on the boat itself, which based on my many island vacations, I can simply imagine exactly what it’s like and loath to death. The rest take you to floating restaurants, yet it didn’t cross my mind that we would be fed solely on deep fried poultry. By the time you reach this part of the tour, you’d most likely be so hungry and naturally, looking forward to a good meal rather than disappointment.
As Panyee is a Muslim island, it has a floating mosque, which seems to be ‘the’ monument for tourists to see, after the floating football stadium.
Scooby Scooby Doo, where are you? Spot the Scooby Doo?
End of boat tour.
More on Phuket travels:
8 Must Do’s at Phuket Old Town
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