[Remote Year] Welcome to Koh Phangan, Thailand!
We’ve now been here almost 2 weeks, and it is truly a paradise. It’s definitely got the honeymoon / hippie haven vibe going strong, so I’d highly recommend it if you don’t like shoes, love vegan food, are in a romantic relationship, or, I suppose, are traveling with 40 other people.
From the start of RY, I knew I wouldn’t plan any side trips for this month. The idea of spending a month on a small Thai island sounded like one of those lifelong dreams people imagine doing someday — and I wanted to fully immerse myself in the experience.
What if you get bored? Before I rush away to try and cram 10 other things into my weekends, let’s go ahead and test the theory to see if I’ll get bored living in paradise for a month.
Remote Year set us up in a natural resort (update: owned by a monk!), so every room is pretty comfortable, and I do have a nice beach-front view. I rented a scooter for less than $3 a day (and always wear my helmet, dad!) to drive to our workspace, though I could also traverse a beach to reach BeacHub, “the world’s chillest coworking space.”
I’ve been eating pad thai and curry regularly, balancing it with many banana-cacao-coconut milk smoothies and trying vegan dishes (grilled tempeh: surprisingly good). I finally found a mediocre cappuccino yesterday, so I felt awake for the first time in two weeks — the 80•F heat and 80–90% humidity (and the crystal under the island?) tend to make everything feel sluggish.
Speaking of, the only real challenge has been keeping up my half-marathon training in the conditions (16 days away!). My only option here for running is head down the main road towards Thongsala, which involves many more hills than I’d like, and even at 7 am is too sunny, hot, and humid. My pace is 30–60 seconds/mile slower even than in Kuala Lumpur, and I finish runs drenched and swollen. At least fresh coconuts abound.
Travel Day
We took a bus to a plane to a bus to a ferry to truckbed taxis to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Koh Phangan, about a 12 hour travel day:
Accommodation
My more basic room (compared to the swanky private pool villas of other remotes; also no fancy towel animals for this single gal) is a nice little beachfront “cottage”:
Workspace
BeacHub is beachfront indeed, which means we have lovely views and stunning sunsets while we work, though often also quite warm and humid.
Koh Phangan
Sri Thanu, our little area of the island, is simply beautiful and so relaxed.
Things to Do
Pad thai at Mama Pooh’s…
…scooter riding and a massage class…
…lantern lighting after a beach bonfire and fire show…
…a bike tour to a coconut processing plant + rubber farm + temple…
…my beachfront view, vegan food, and kratong boat making…
…the full moon party…
…town hall at secret beach…
…and more.
12 days left in paradise…
Katherine is a digital nomad, working remotely while she travels the world — on the road since June 2014. She’s a member of Remote Year 2 Battuta, living around the world with 75 other digital nomads from February 2016 to January 2017.
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