"The Beach" no more

You know the movie "The Beach"? With Leonardo Decaprio? Well I went to the island where the movie was filmed, just like everyone else who had the chance I guess, and it's not that I didn't expect 100,000 people there but... I didn't expect 100,000 people there. Ok maybe my number is a bit high but well it was just too crowded. I knew that it was going to be busy and I thought, well that's alright for a few days and its supposed to be gorgeous there right? And it is, its frickin' fantastic with the scenery except that there are so many damn people in the way! Don't get me wrong, I wasn't miserable or anything it really is very beautiful. It's just when you have a picture in your head about what something should look like its hard to shake the reality. So we only stayed three nights. The tour we went on was nice, we went to a lot of places but again too crowded and the garbage! That really disturbed me. What is sad is that there is no governmental intervention to restrict the overwhelming growth in Tourism. There is not even sufficient water to sustain the growth. The water in our overpriced guesthouse was brown with silt. Read Dan's thoughts


No one disputes the beauty





Ok no time for more pictures to post but you should still check them out

So now we are really looking for that island paradise, or at least a beach to ourselves. We plan on finding it on one of the islands in Ko Touratau Marine National Park. The park is really close to the Malaysian boarder and apparently not quite 'discovered' yet... We'll see. We are planning on camping on a beach somewhere in the park Rawi island is my bet but it depends upon what the park rangers recommend. If we can not find a fresh water source we have to carry all our water in. I really hope that it works out to conclude our islands visit as it is soon time for another visa run... Laos is in sight.