Weekend 2 in Koh Phangan

Not having had enough of the beach in the first nine days, we headed back to Koh Phangan the following weekend. This time, being a little more travel savvy, we took the second class sleeper train instead of the bus. I am now a big fan of sleeper cars in overnight trains.

The train didn’t look all that comfortable at first sight. Each side of the car had pairs of wide leather seats facing each other separated by a storage closet. Luggage racks stood on alternating sides of the isle in front of the storage closets and there were removable table tops to place between the seats, tucked underneath. We spent the first few hours playing cards and reveling in the fact that we weren’t on the bus. Around nine o’clock, men came by to set up our beds (the bottom two seats formed the bottom bunk and the top bunk pulled out of the ceiling). Each bunk had a mattress as long as I am tall and a curtain to separate your cozy little bunk from the rest of the train.
When I woke up in the morning, I walked out to where you could sit on the steps and watch the world go by through nothing but the crisp morning air. The countryside was dotted with farms with upper-class Thai houses and fields blanketed in morning mist. We had the last car on the train and I could also sit at the very back and watch the tracks following behind us for miles in the distance.

Our ferry ride to Koh Phangan was made much more pleasant by our choice seats in the bow of the boat with our backs up against the pile of backpacks and our journey to our air-conditioned room, a mere five minute walk off the pier due to our foresight the weekend before in booking the closest room to the pier.

We had made friends with, Odd, who worked at the Sea Mew, the weekend before and he welcomed us back and gave us our key. Having had a great night’s sleep on the train, we set right out to do everything we had planned to do the last week, but never got around to.

On Friday morning we rented scooters and tooled around the island, enjoying the view, the breeze and the freedom of not having to pay the taxi fare to get around. Saturday morning, Lucy and I went for Thai boxing lessons and learned how to punch, elbow, knee and kick with style. I thoroughly enjoyed myself and may have to price punching bags if/when I ever get my own house. Although my future boxing space would pale in comparison to Koh Phangan without the babies and dogs walking in and out of the ring, not to mention a muscle bound Thai instructor.
That afternoon, we went up to Mae Had and rented kayaks and explored around the small island off of the beach. The water was so clear that you could see right down to the bottom and the water around Mae Had is filled with coral reef. We found a cave on the outer coast of the island and went in as far as we could, with crabs scurrying up the walls around us and bats squeaking from the ceiling. We made our way back and headed back to our air-conditioned room, very pleased with all that we had accomplished in such a short time.

Leaving the second time was harder because we knew we wouldn't be back. We said good-bye to our new family at the Sea Mew and made our way to our fourth ferry ride. Remembering the misery of the heat on the last trip, I made a bee-line for the VIP cabin and happily forked over my 40 bhat for the comfortable seats and air-condition of the top floor. They even showed 'I, Robot' making my journey even shorter and more pleasant.

The train ride back was just as nice, although I wasn't able to sleep very well and arrived in Bangkok exhausted at 6:30 on Tuesday morning with just enough time to shower, change and head to work. I spent the day dreaming of my bed and hammocks on the beach.