Goodbye Koh Phangan

Melancholic greetings from the ferry. The ferry service is running again, the weather warnings are over, and I'm about to leave beautiful Koh Phangan. Even though I only spent a week there, I completely fell in love with this amazing place and the people I met there, making it incredibly hard for me to say goodbye. I'm just not a person who is good at goodbyes, which is unfortunate because it's a recurring theme when traveling. Well, there is a silver lining: If you're so emotional and reluctant to leave, it shows how wonderful the time you had was. And my time on Koh Phangan was definitely great - different than expected because of the bad weather, but still a super exciting experience. In my last blog post, I gave you a weather update and it was pretty clear that 'Pabuk' wouldn't hit us, but other storms were predicted, so our hostel recommended that we spend the night outside of our rooms and be cautious, as falling trees could potentially injure us while we sleep. Every weather station and every Thai person predicted a different time for the peak of the storm, so we had to stay alert even though nothing bad happened. I still find it astonishing how calmly we handled it all. To cope with the uncertainty, we all drank heavily and smoked more than ever before, but at the same time, we had the time of our lives. We (by the way, we are my roommates and a few people from other bungalows) found a cozy table outside, played music, danced on the tables, played games, ran through the rain, swam naked in the raging sea, and lived our lives as if there was no tomorrow (which might have been the case...). When we couldn't go on, we tried to sleep in our bungalow and be mindful of how bad the storm was. Of course, we hardly slept, the rain came into our room, and the storm sounded very loud and threatening due to the thin wooden roof. But even fear and the night were bearable because as complete strangers, we held each other together and supported each other. The next day, the biggest danger was over, but the weather was still too bad (constant heavy rain and wind) to do much. At first, that annoyed me of course, because I had the mindset that I wanted to see as much of the island as possible. In retrospect, doing nothing turned out to be very enjoyable. So I treated myself to a wonderful Thai massage that day (great quality for only 10 euros), we went to the sauna, visited different bars (cocktails are affordable, in my opinion, Thai beer is better than German beer) and cafes (Thailand has very delicious iced coffees), and got to know each other better. Do you remember that in one of my first blog posts, I complained about the British people in my hostel who drink too much? The alcohol king of this group also stayed in the hostel during the storm, so I started a conversation with him and once again asked him, with far too many prejudices, why people have to drink so much on vacation. After he told me that his best friend had a fatal accident last year and his partner committed suicide, and now he wants to enjoy life and drink and travel as much as he pleases, I fell silent. He was far from just being an English drinking buddy, but an incredibly emotional, interesting person who appreciates the art of enjoying life much more than I do. It's amazing what you can learn from people who have experienced great tragedy and have transformed their lives through those experiences. Simply enjoy more, do what makes you happy, don't just think about tomorrow, because it could be over at any moment. During the many conversations with people who initially seemed superficial to me, I realized once again that everyone has an interesting story to tell if you simply open up to them and give them unbiased attention. And I realized that even with people from different parts of the world, you can form small families, no matter how different you are. If only we could always accept each other as we are and be unconditionally there for each other without great expectations and simply enjoy life together...

Although the time of relaxation was fun, I was excited that yesterday we had the sun on our side again and could do something. And what do you do on Koh Phangan when you have the urge to explore and the weather is good? That's right, you rent a scooter. Fortunately, Connor agreed to be the driver again, and 3 other guys also rented scooters, and off we went on a discovery tour. My goodness, what a beautiful island! We zoomed through mountains, jungles, along the coast, hopping from beach to beach, from panoramic bar to panoramic bar, and from waterfall to waterfall, and had a lot of fun. The waterfalls here in the jungle are an absolute natural wonder, swimming in this clear water is incredibly beautiful. With so many men, I naturally had to face some challenges: for example, I climbed a tree, hung on a rope like Tarzan, and jumped into the water from there. I must admit, I was terrified to swing down from the tree with the rope. But in retrospect, it was a lot of fun and I was really glad that the guys challenged my courage. We also jumped from high piers into the sea and cruised down unpaved roads with the scooter, so I had constant adrenaline rushes. As fun and easy-going as it is with so many men, it was difficult to motivate them to go hiking. They preferred to chill in a bar now and then for a beer, so I had to give up my beloved running. But sometimes even compromises are okay for me because spending time with great people has become more important to me than doing things alone that only I want to do. We watched the sunset at Zen Beach, a well-known beach on Koh Phangan where many hippies gather, especially at sunset. They drummed, danced, and enjoyed a few joints as the sun set. Unique atmosphere, and I finally had my hippies, who were one of the reasons for my visit to this island. Unfortunately, this experience was overshadowed by an encounter with a sea urchin in the sea. I can tell you, it hurts like hell, I don't know when I last experienced such intense pain. Fortunately, an old Thai couple saw my pain and immediately ran over with limes and a beer bottle. They dripped lime juice onto the sting (I can tell you, it burned like hell) and then repeatedly hit the injured areas with a beer bottle. It was a sight to behold, if it didn't hurt so much. I have never been treated so hilariously at an injured spot and I hardly believed in their seemingly banal healing method. But let me tell you: after a few minutes, that nasty pain was gone and the bleeding stopped. Luca, my Swiss travel buddy, continued to tap on the sting with the beer bottle for a while, so I could actually walk again in the evening and we could go to the night food market in Thong Sala - the capital of Koh Phangan. It was an Asian food market as you would imagine. Asian dishes were grilled or cooked fresh on request (hygiene may not be a top priority, as long as it tastes good ;)). While the guys were disgusted by it all, I dared to try some unusual foods, the craziest thing I tried was probably a crispy grilled grasshopper. Taking that thing in my mouth was really disgusting, its eyes were still looking at me, so I almost felt sorry for it. However, the taste was really good, I didn't expect it to be so delicious. I'm trying to describe the taste to you, but I can't find an adequate comparison. So try it for yourself when you get the chance :).

In the evenings and this morning, the mood was slightly dampened because many of us had to say goodbye and go in different directions due to the resumption of ferry services. I hope I will see some of the people again, as three of them live in countries that I absolutely want to visit (USA, New Zealand, and Scotland). Otherwise, I guess I just have to learn to enjoy the moment and be grateful for people without necessarily holding onto them.

My conclusion about Koh Phangan? It is a beautiful island, diverse and relaxing. The beaches are white and clean in some areas, surrounded by jungle or rocks in others, and in some places, there are pebbles or you have to hike to reach the beach. Thankfully, hardly any of the beaches are overcrowded with tourists, the same goes for the beautiful, numerous waterfalls that make the island so beautiful in my opinion! The presence of mountains and so much jungle landscape make it very diverse and offer many activities. I think you could easily spend a month on Koh Phangan without getting bored. Although I'm spending surprisingly large amounts of money, the island is quite affordable compared to my trip to the US. Koh Phangan has its charm, especially with its small bungalows that serve as tourist accommodations instead of hotels and where locals also live. The bungalows are beautifully located on the beach, in the mountains, or in the jungle. If you're just looking for peace and want to unwind without needing too much luxury, you should come here for a few weeks, it's also ideal for families.

Although the pain of saying goodbye is great, I'm now also looking forward to the jungle. I will now go to Khao Sok National Park (a jungle park) and I'm very excited to see what awaits me there. Of course, I hope for some great hiking trails with exotic animals and plants. Update: I'm actually going into the jungle tomorrow and will be staying overnight, so I won't have internet for a while. Don't worry, it will be an exciting experience :)