Koh Samui & Koh Pan Gan

The Kingdom of Thailand is an exotic country in Southeast Asia amidst the Andaman Sea and Gulf of Thailand.It is renowned for its tropical weather, lipsmacking food and mesmerizing culture. A destination attracting people all over the world for its beaches, mountains, spas, wildlife and full moon parties.

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After Goa and Gokarna – we had to rush back to Melbourne to make it to our friends Jess & Rudy’s wedding which allowed us to tie all loose ends that that tied us to Melbourne. My friend Jimmy  he told me about this amazing spot in Thailand where once you enter the beach, you can never leave. He told me that he only reason why you want to drag yourself out of there is when your pockets are empty and you need to cash up. As soon as I heard about this – I knew that that’s where I am heading next.

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A few flights later we landed in Krabi and after spending a few days there we made our way to Koh Samui to catch up with our friends Jason, Lindsey and little Aswell. This is us having celebration drinks at Ark Bar.

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The best way to get around at the islands in Thailand is renting a scooter. The roads are really scenic and easy to get your head around.

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Koh Samui has many waterfalls which you can visit. We vistited one called Numuang Water-fall.

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Numuang Waterfall Koh Samui.jpg

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After Koh Samui – we caught another ferry to get to Coh Pan Gan. Had Rin beach is where your ferry normally drops you off and from there you can take a taxi, scooter taxi or a boat to get to other places. The famous full moon parties happen every full moon at Haad Rin beach – and this is really what attracts most tourists to come to Coh Pan Gan.

Unlike most tourists we were given instructions to take a boat to Haad Yuan from Haad Rin and meet Jimmy at Eden. Getting into another small boat we find ourselves sailing around amazing crystal blue water towards a beautiful mini island. Once we arrived we were completely taken aback by how amazing this spot really is.

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A mission to get here but the effort was worth it when we sat down at Eden’s lounge to enjoy this spectacular view with the most amazing Thai food.

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What I loved about Eden was how its rooms were like tree-houses scattered amidst tall trees and rocks which give you a real jungle feel to it. Its VIP rooms have the most amazing view of the sea which is an added bonus as you have the best of both worlds – the jungle and the ocean.

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The rain is amazing to witness from the VIP room.

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Amazing View from the balcony.

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This island is full of amazing treats and is the perfect place in indulge in the ocean, the jungle, amazing food, local fruits, yoga, massage, dance and music. I highly recommend the following must dos:

  1. Mangosteen Fruit
  2. Fresh Coconut Water
  3. Massage at Bamboo Huts
  4. Orange Malibu at Guys Bar
  5. Massaman Curry at Eden
  6. Trek to Wai Nam Beach – with the food and snorkeling.

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As you walk up the hill past the VIP rooms at Eden you eventually arrive at a beach called Haad Thian which is more quiet than Had Yuan.

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I highly recommend going to the parties which happen at Eden and Guy’s Bar on Tuesdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

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Life is a Beach.

End of the World

After revisiting the Daintrees – we left Hannah at Cairns and kept moving towards Townsville past Mission Beach. Just before we left – some fellow travelers told us about a waterfall called Murray Falls that we just could not miss before we make our way towards the center of Australia. They told us that they met many people there who were also heading towards the center for the 21st Dec 2012 end of the world gathering.

So Murray Falls was obviously the next destination on our list. We arrive at Murray Falls to meet our family on wheels towards the center of Australia. This spot is amazing and a must go for all waterfall lovers.

Murray Falls – Photo Credits: Uwe Dedering

So we drive into Girramay National Park – to see a bunch of nudist hippies lying around – drawing, painting, making henna tattoos and just being outright crazy. They had solar powered speakers blaring out music which really amused me when it occurred to me that these hippies really seem to have their shit together.

They had an abundance of food that they picked up from dumpster dives and 2 (which later became 3) of the cars were running on vegetable oil. These guys were pirates breaking free from the system just doing whatever they felt like doing.. which shocked me a little to begin but at the same time something I found quite interesting.

We spent two nights with them at Murray Falls and then we went back  to Cairns to pick up Hannah again. It was great to have her back on road and then our next stop was Townsville. Our convoy had about 6 vehicles which increased to about 9 in townsville.

Pitstop in Townsville – Bindikats jeep was being converted to veggie oil  while we were getting the Eagle ready for the big deserted drive between Townsville and Alice-springs. A journey of about 2100 kms. The Eagle was not doing very well at all – the engine kept overheating and and it was chewing way too much gas. We got an mileage of 2kms per liter and the car kept breaking down every time we raised it above 70km/hr. After meeting several mechanics – we felt a little more confident but not so much but we were really grateful to have Rex and Peter who are two awesome mechanics in the convoy which gave us the assurance to just keep going.

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So the journey begins – nervous but excited at the same time – we find ourselves driving on an never ending straight road with beautiful skies during the day and endless streams of shooting stars at night. It was truly magical and its only just the beginning.

Next stop was Mount Isa where the Eagle completely ran out of fuel. One of our mates needed to go back to the closest fuel station and fill two jerry cans so we could resume. When our mates got back with the fuel – they woke us up to show us 3 Eagles going round and round in circles right above us and then they present to us some dead eagles… which was really bizarre.  I guessing one of the cars on the highway hit a kangaroo and the eagles were probably eating that and all got killed by another car. I did a little meditation to relieve their souls and we kept going.

Next stop after Mt Isa was Tenent Creek near which is a really scenic destination called Devil’s Rocks which is really similar to Hampi in India.

After Devil’s Rocks – was Wycliff Well which is claimed to be a UFO capital of Australia. I think its just a tourist gimmick to get more people to visit it.

After that stop – we are only 380 kms away from Alice Springs which was broken down with a stop at a Roadhouse called Barrows Creek and overnight stay at Aileron.

The next destination at last was Alice Springs!!! We made it but the Eagle collapsed and we had to rent a car to catch up with the rest of the crew at Trorala – Gosse Bluff Conservation Reserve.

And we made it to our final destination – on time to celebrate the end of an era and the beginning of a new one…

On the 22nd of Dec 2012 – we visited Red Rock Canyon – and I was completely blown away from this place. Its one of my favorite travel destinations and I highly recommend it to anyone visiting Alice Springs. A climbers paradise – if you love climbing you will love this spot specially because you can climb up to the caves hundreds of meters high. Since this spot is right in midst of the desert – the weather is really hot and dry – but if you can make it to the oasis where the water body is which is about 1/2 hour walk from the car park you will find the water so super chilled and its the most amazing dip to escape the heat in Alice Springs.

Christmas by far has been my favorite Christmas of all times!! It was at an oasis called Ellery Creek Big Hole. Another spot you must NOT miss if you visit Alice Springs. Loads of climbing to do here aswell and if you can swim past all the way as far as you can go – there is a mini beach with really rich mud that you can cover your body with and sunbathe for hours before you get back into the water again. So for Xmas – we obviously got the solar powered speakers pumping out awesome tunes and all of us brought out all our goodies to munch on and just have the time of our lives. I am sure everyone present there agrees with me (;

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Christmas at Ellery Creek

Murray Falls – “Wooroonooran Josephine Falls” by LecomteB – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Commons – https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wooroonooran_Josephine_Falls.jpg#/media/File:Wooroonooran_Josephine_Falls.jpg

Ellery Creek Big Hole, West MacDonnell Ranges – [http://www.flickr.com/photos/princeroy/2080876234/in/set-72157603344330983 Prince Roy’s Flickr] |Author=|Author=[http://www.princeroy.org Prince R