Circular hike Koh Phangan

Our day started much earlier than planned today: Just after five o’clock, we were roused from our sleep by the loud crowing of the neighbor’s rooster—and he was still crowing away when we left the house at 6:30 a.m. Today’s route was set to take us over 15 kilometers, past a decommissioned warship and various temples. Since we were mostly skirting the mountains this time, we had significantly fewer climbs to tackle than we did on Koh Tao.

Very close to our accommodation, V-View Beach, a river flows through the mangroves. We were lucky and got to observe a huge monitor lizard swimming calmly through the water—complete with a duckweed-covered head. It’s just a shame that the river is heavily littered and the footbridge that once crossed the area has been left to decay for years. Unfortunately, the tourist priorities here seem to lie elsewhere.

Our first stop took us to Wat Rat Charoen Temple, where the monks were already busy sweeping. That seems to be the locals’ favorite pastime here anyway, because all day long, someone is sweeping leaves together in their yard somewhere.

After a few atmospheric photos in the soft morning light, we continued on to the King Rama IX Memorial Statue and the impressive Phangan Royal Navy Ship. You can explore the ship at length, and there’s even a jogging path with a special surface running around it. A group of Europeans took advantage of this and did a few laps there. Jogging with a view, so to speak.

Crossing a bridge near the coast, we then continued to Wat Umphawan Koh Phangan Temple, which impressed us with its beautiful statues. 

The next highlight was Wat Maduea Wan: Here, an imposing staircase lined with snake statues leads up a hill. The climb to the shrine there was absolutely worth it.

As our final stop, we spontaneously decided to visit the Phaeng Noi Waterfall in Than Sadet-Ko Pha-Ngan Sok National Park. After the long walk along the road, I really wanted to experience some nature. At the ticket booth (100 baht per person), we were warned that the waterfall currently had very little water, but we mainly wanted to enjoy the surroundings anyway.

However, the narrow path quickly became very steep and root-covered, and after a good ten kilometers with little sleep, we began to have some doubts about our plan. But I decided to keep going anyway, since we had already paid the entrance fee and we were finally surrounded by some untamed nature. So Simon headed down to the nearby café for a much-needed break, while I fought my way onward.

The path was partly rough and not always clearly marked. There were several climbing sections over roots or downsloping rock; a few times I used the (not always) available rope for the ascent. It was quite an adventure, but beautiful. You feel a bit like a little monkey—shimmying from tree to tree to hold on to the steep path.

I passed a total of five waterfalls (the claim that they had little water was actually an exaggeration, since apart from a small trickle here and there, no water was flowing at all) and in between there was nothing but jungle. 

I even encountered a deer that let out a startled grunt, and a few monkeys were swinging through the trees. There were many different butterflies and dragonflies to see. Most of the time I was on my own, except for two other visitors, who, however, turned back at different points. I was a little unsure whether I could make it all the way, but since the trail wasn’t always entirely clear, I accidentally ended up taking the longer loop with the viewpoint. 

Once I reached the top, there was a sign prohibiting climbing on the rocks—but the information board with the island names is actually located on the second-to-last group of rocks before the cliff, and to really see the islands, you have to climb all the way to the top.

All in all, we added another five kilometers through the rainforest to our planned route, but it was well worth the effort.