To explain each day would be tedious, and read a little slow, for an island life in all honesty is a very relaxed one. So a synopsis is probably best.

Koh Phan-ngan was the first of our Thai island experiences. The trip we had to make to get to it was a bit of an ordeal, but after many an hours journey we reached the little island on Thursday morning. And it was indeed a tropical beauty. We rented a scooter, for this island is one of the few that is actually quite large, with most of its resorts and beaches far apart and separated by steep hills. Our resort was situated on the north-west coast of the island, and turned out to be quite lovely for the price we paid. It was inaccessible from the roads, and so one had to make a trek across the very soft sand to reach it (this proved to be quite tiring each day, walking back and forth on the heat whilst sinking into the stony sand!).

We were very fortunate, for the beach upon which our resort was built had a very large coral reef just off the shoreline - and our resort allowed us to use the goggles for free! Every morning we would wake up early, fetch the goggles and snorkel, and then snorkel for an hour or more amongst the gorgeous coral beds, and bright tropical fish. It was so refreshing and calming, to see God's creation in such a vivid and breath-taking way.

The one day we decided to scooter about the island and do the suggested waterfall hikes. We were disappointed every time: the first waterfall we could not find. The second two waterfalls were completely dried up. But at least the walks on the forest areas were pretty!

The three days on that island were spent sight-seeing, swimming, having beers where we could actually afford them, and relaxing. We once or twice zipped into town to enjoy that bustling scene and buy cheap street-food snacks; we had an evening where we spent hours talking to German couple outside our new resort (their children were at the full moon party - something we most definitely could not afford!) which was quite entertaining and educating; and we snorkelled to our hearts content.

Koh Phan-ngan is known as the party paradise, where everything is created for young and old that want a big party scene. The unlucky thing for us was, that this made the island really expensive to live on and to enjoy. We did our best, finding random beaches, or buying our own alcohol and enjoying it on the beach, or going for long drives. But we soon left it to go to it's quieter neighbouring isalnd, in the hopes of finding cheaper places to have fun and live. Koh Phan-ngan was beautiful though.