9th of April, 2024.
Hitchhiking in Thailand: Koh Phangan – Bottle Beach
It seems like a lost case. This road, which Google Maps showed to me as the best route for people coming from the Full Moon Party sucks! There’s nobody coming! It might be, slightly, because it is still early, but even so…
I have some company, though. Three lovely and huge dogs come to say hi. They are gorgeous, some pure and some mix of labrador.
After about one hour, a guy in a motorcycle stops and tells me that it will be very difficult for someone going all the way to Bottle Beach pass here. No way! Really? I haven’t noticed… Just kidding! He is going to a meeting and after talking to a friend on the phone, he says he can drop me off near another main road. Great!
The reason why he cannot take me all the way to the main road is because it is on the top of a hill! Really, with his motorbike he could never take both of us there, plus The Hulk. So I have to climb up (really) for some several metres until I reach the main road. Good exercise for the legs… Pfff…
A really nice man offers to take me somewhere further but I refuse. After a few minutes, I am slightly regretful when… Tatiana stops for me! She is also from Russia and she is a very strong, independent woman. She reminds me a lot of Ievgeniia, from yesterday, because they are both like angels and we also have so much in common. Tatiana also has the most gorgeous eyes!
According to the roads I saw in Google Maps, and some comments online, with a regular car, you can drive until certain point only, and after that only 4×4 vehicles can go. The same for motorcycles. And that’s what I tell Tatiana, as he offers to drive me all the way where I want to go. It is a very enjoyable drive, as we talk so much and about wonderful things. Once we get to the “turn of the road”, from good to bad, it seems that they have repaired the road, because you can actually drive for quite a lot more, in a regular tarmac road, until the sign which shows you two directions: Bottle Beach and The View Point. After here, things get really bad, so Tatiana turns around. Not before giving that I need the most: a big bottle of water! We say many wonderful things to each other and then she leaves.
As there’s nothing around here, I hide The Hulk in the forest, and then go for the View Point with only my small backpack. It is a very short walk, 30 minutes tops. But I manage to get lost. Laugh. Honest mistake, as one sign escapade my sight. When I was coming back, I realized that the sign was quite visible, I just got distracted.
Luckily, I’ve heard some people talking, so I follow the sound of their voices. It is a wonderful Canadian family, made of father, mother, daughter and son. We catch up with each other a few metres before the view point, place where, by the way, things get a bit tricky, as you have to really climb some rocks, and go under other ones. But it is totally doable. The daughter, something like 12 years old, is super excited about it, going ahead and leading the way. Her younger brother, not so excited seems to not understand how she can be so much like that. We chat a little bit at the view point, and they seem like a very lovely family! The father, kindly takes a photo of me.
The view point is magnificent! It is really gorgeous, and I super recommend to everyone to go and check. Even though it can be a bit dangerous, as the surface of the rocks is not flat at all, only enough for you to walk over it, while really trying to keep your balance. If it wasn’t for the strong heat and sun, I would stay way longer here, just admiring the view.
On my way to the Bottle Beach, the road gets tricky. It is not only about the ups and downs, and its huge inclination; the problem is the surface of the road: soil. It is either pure, dry soil, or tiny little rocks. In both cases, it gets really slippery. If you are just carrying some small and light backpack, that’s totally fine, but with The Hulk, things get trickier. Who shows up to save me? Who? Saina and Leo, from yesterday, who gave me a lift almost all the way to Leelah Beach. They recognize me and stop the car, offering me a lift. Yay! It would be about one hour walking, so I am much glad for them!
When I was up at the viewpoint, the beach looked empty. Now, there are some people already, and a few more keep coming through the day.
The beach is gorgeous looking! The water is perfect, clean, calm and shining turquoise and blue shades. It is a very special beach, you know? And I feel that only some selected people come here. No, I am not including myself on that. I am an exception! Laugh. But what I mean is, the atmosphere, the vibe of this part of Koh Phangan is completely different from the rest of the island. It is calm and peaceful, and there is this really good feeling in the air, almost as you can touch the goodness. I can’t explain well, but it is just so quiet and beautiful. I love it!
I find myself a space in the shade, just by some of the accommodations, and that’s where I remain for the rest of the day. I keep using the bathroom of a nearby resort and restaurant. My biggest mistake was not realising that, just outside of the beach, there are some local restaurants and food stands, even a small supermarket! That’s because the entrance of the beach is quite secluded, you can only come in through one of the resorts. Anyway, I get food in one of the restaurants by the beach, the coolest one and less fancy. It is not terribly expensive but I wish I had seen the local restaurants before. I have only noticed them next morning, when I was leaving.
I make my camping at the same spot where I stayed the whole day. Quiet a lot of Thai families stayed overnight in the beach, in some of the many accommodations. Throughout the day, a few boats with tourists come and go, but nothing compared to any of the crowded beaches in Southern Thailand. For that reason, I think that Bottle Beach is definitely one of the best beaches in Thailand, as I believe that two of my favourites, Laem Yay and Bantai, won’t really reach the expectations of many tourists; Bottle Beach I am sure it will.
I leave early morning again. Now thinking, I don’t know why I didn’t stay another day in this little paradise…
10 Years Around the World 