it was a short pack-and-go trip, not a last minute plan though, considering i’ve already planned for the trip last month. on my earlier post i discussed on travel idea KL to Ko Samui, with the initial idea to get there for my holiday trip. unfortunately my partner decided not to go due to some difficulty, so there i was, sitting at home doing nothing on the day before my 5-day leave.
on that very day, i got a sudden high-fever, real bad. perfect timing, getting sick on leave.
somehow my other friend got to know that i’m on leave, so happen that he was on leave, too, and that he was going to the same place in Ko Phangan. great, i thought to myself. since this is a last minute grab-and-go, my head was already spinning with hight fever + flu and now thinking how to get to the destination on last minute? i bet flight ticket been fully booked and bus and train ride will take longer time which definitely not a good idea.
direct flight is available from KL to Ko Samui and from there, it’s only a boat away to Ko Phangan. as i thought, the tickets fully booked so no chance to get there direct. despite of me being sick, we still decided to get there no matter what, and after we did a little check, there were a few seats still available on Malaysia Airlines from KLIA to Phuket Airport. so we thought that was the best idea, where we can then get a bus ride to Ko Phangan. nice.
so we managed to get Malaysia Airlines ticket, and guess what, the ticket price was much cheaper then when i check much earlier. sometimes, last minute deal is super great. in earlier post i mentioned the price ranging around RM900 for return fare, but now its less than RM600.
and i’ve read somewhere that airlines websites are using some kind of booking system that changes the price everytime users enter their sites (following some complicated method), and i did a quick check in Malaysia Airlines website. first price check KL – Dubai is about RM2000 for return fare (not including taxes and other charges), then i closed the browser and reopened, did the same search for the same date and guess what, the price changes to RM500 for return fare (on selected date – as instant promo).
i’ve never experienced this with Airasia though.
anyway, so now that we had arrived in Phuket, it was quite late then (6pm) on friday evening. there were no bus operating to Ko Phangan at that time so we had to stay for one night in Phuket. best place to stay in Phuket, Patong.
the night was crazy at Patong, plus, we get to stay at a hotel nearby Bangla Road so we did not let the night gone with resting. we went out, got a chance to get to know some local people, tourist and students from various country mostly from Finland and Russia. the next day, our travel agent in Patong fetch us at 6.45am in the morning. so early that we almost didnt make it (too tired enjoying the night!).
the van ride took 1 hour to reach Phuket city before we change to a bigger bus, and ride again for another 5 hours (one stop at Suratthani) to Suratthani international port. we took a speed boat to Ko Phangan (1 and a half hour ride), and from there we took our last ride, taxi, to Haadrin beach, our destination :)
the ride took us all day long, we only arrived at Haadrin beach at about 6pm in the evening. 12 hours of van-bus-boat ride was really exhausting. spare a lot of water if you decide to take the same ride.
i definitely cant imagine how if i were to take a bus ride all the way from Kuala Lumpur…
Ko Phangan at first impression was great, i was thinking if Haadrin were actually a studio set! it all look so nice to me and it was all young adult around the corner. the only elderly you can see is the locals, and maybe one or two tourists. i know the fact that Haadrin beach is where Full Moon party is held, maybe that was why.
it’s just a little island, but Ko Phangan has so many great view to offer, plus, Ko Samui and the beautiful Tao island are in the surrounding of Phangan island. visit any travel agent counter, you are set to go to any short trip within Thailand.
it was only my second time in Thailand, and i definitely love it more now.
photos taken in this trip, will be updated soon when i have time to process it :)