Nanda & Nathan The Travellers: July 2014

July 24, 2014

Koh Lan เกาะล้าน

July 24, 2014---- Koh Lan is superb! It's a small island located in the Gulf of Thailand, off Pattaya's shoreline, only two-hours away from Bangkok. The sea water is clear and warm, and the sandy beaches are white and soft. Good for a day-trip or an overnight-trip from Bangkok or Pattaya.

Nathan and I took my mom and sister there for an overnight-trip because my sister had two days off from work, which is very rare. We took a van from the Victory Monument, Bangkok, which was only 100 Baht each, and the ride was about two hours to Bali Hai Pier. At the pier, we took a regular boat to the island, 30 Baht per person and it took about 30-45 minutes. Speed boats are also available, but they're very costly.

There are a lot of hotels, hostels, and guesthouses on the island. I would recommend you to book a room online ahead of time because they get filled up quickly on weekends, and I got better prices on Agoda.com. We stayed at Baan Rin Rak, which is right on the shore, and we got good view of Pattaya City across the strait.

There are many beaches on Koh Lan, but the most beautiful and most-visited beach is Ta Waen Beach. If you take a day-trip to the island, I highly recommend you to take the boat from Bali Hai Pier straight to Ta Waen Beach and hang out there to enjoy the warm, clear water and white sand beach. However, if you have more time to spend, you can rent a scooter and ride around the island.

My family and I just rented 4 beach chairs for 100 Baht each and hung out on the beach for the entire day. It was very pleasant and there were a ton of restaurants to buy fresh-made seafood and fresh coconut water.

In the evening we took a boat from Ta Waen Beach Pier back to Pattaya and took a van back to Bangkok. Make sure you check the boat and van schedules before making plans!

Bali Hai Pier ท่าเรือบาลีฮาย

Baan Rin Rak บ้านรินรัก

Puang Payom Kitchen ครัวพวงพยอม

Ta Waen Beach หาดตาแหวน

July 15, 2014

Pakse (Day 3)

July 15, 2014 --- If you go to Pakse and don't visit waterfalls, you are not really in Pakse. Nathan and I decided to arrange our trip to waterfalls through our hotel receptionist. We got a private day-tour to a tea plantation, Tad Pha Suam, Tad Yuang, Tad Fane, and Tad Etu for about 2,000 Baht. This didn't include lunch or the entrance fees to any of the waterfalls though.

We started at a tea plantation somewhere on the way to Tad Pha Suam. Pakse is well known for growing coffee and tea, but I don't like the taste of the tea here at all. Too bitter. The plantation is very small and I don't think it was worth the stop. Then we went to Tad Pha Suam. In Laos, "Tad" means waterfall, and "Pha Suam" means the "bridal chamber." I think it's funny because the word "Suam" means a "toilet" in Thai. hehehe...

Tad Pha Suam is very beautiful. There were some local restaurants in the park, and if you explore a bit, you will find a hiking trail and a tribal village. It's not a real village though. Some guy just created it to preserve the local culture. If you want to take photos of the villagers, you have to pay them. Sounds like a tourist trap, huh?

The next stop is Tad Yuang. It's my favorite waterfall because of its height and the strong flow of water. We walked down the slippery wooden steps to the middle of the fall and were soaking wet from the mist.

Tad Fane is also gorgeous. It's like a big and deep hole in the valley, and two rivers flow down to that hole. I don't know if there is a way to go down to the bottom or not. There was also a restaurant overlooking the fall and the food was plentiful and delicious.

Tad Etu was our final stop. It was beautiful, but there was no good way to access the fall. We walked down the steps to the fall's bottom, but we didn't really get a good view of the fall because of the curvy bank and the thicket of trees.

Overall, the waterfalls in Pakse are all worth a visit. Summer will be best for swimming, but if you go there in the rainy season (around June-October), you can see the stunningly powerful flow of water.