Beach in Ko Phangan (Nov. 10, 2014)

Today I spent a lot of the day, down at the beach which is about a 5 minutes walk, across the road, from the hostel. I thought it might be raining all day, but that wasn’t the case. It was cloudy and a bit wet in the morning, but then it cleared up and was nice and sunny, around 11:00. I sun screened myself up, grabbed my hat and some water and took off to hang out on the beach. It was fantastic. I stayed in the shade for the most part, but swam quite a bit which wasn’t in the shade, though it was amazing. I found a remote area with no one in sight for miles, and lovely sand. I laid down in the top of the surf and let it wash over me for a while. It was so relaxing and peaceful. I was able to stay there for over an hour, and then it looked kind of black and like rain so I went back to the hostel. I sat under the cover of the bar and in a matter of 20 minutes or so, it cleared up, got sunny again, and I returned to the beach. I was able to stay there for a few hours, and totally enjoyed the shade, the water and the peace. Around 3 pm, I came back to the hostel, showered and am now relaxing on my front porch, away from all the action. It is wonderful.

Selfie at the beach

The beach

It is overcast and looks like it might pour, so I am happy to be clean, refreshed and chilling on my own. Great day.

Oh, I almost forgot, here are some photos of the 7/11. Jon, you asked for theses, to see what the place looks like so I took a few random shots in the 7/11 for you. Thanks for the request. Great idea. I know others will find it interesting.

Best treat here is dried seaweed.
Livi, you'd love it!

Noodle soups

Long range view of the store

Slurpee area, but no slurpees

Front of 7/11 complete with bank machines.

Well, it didn’t rain after all, so I took the opportunity to take a walk the other way down the street to see what I could see. This is a real beach and tourist town and there are nothing but hostels, guesthouses, restaurants and massage places all up and down. In between there are some other types of shops which you can see below.

Clothes and laundry store

Hardware store

I wandered for about an hour before I decided I’d like to go back to the beach yet again and watch the sunset. It was spectacular. I sat there listening to the waves wash up on the shore, while the blue blue sky slowly turned pink. There was still some sun peeking out, but that soon vanished. I watched a family who had a little boy around 2-3 years old, running up and down the beach. He would dig with his shovel, then try to take the full shovel to put the sand elsewhere, but by the time he got there, it was all empty. He was really cute and played ‘catch me’ with his father. Finally, the sun set and I walked back. The mosquitoes come out in full force once the sun goes down.

Sun setting

Sun setting #2

Tomorrow I will get up early, take off around 7:20, if the taxi shows up that is, and catch my boat to Ko Tao. I am really looking forward to seeing that island as well, and especially to take the diving course. It should be really interesting. More tomorrow, once I reach the Crystal Dive Resort in Ko Tao.