Ao Nang/BKK - Boats & Beaches

From the busy Koh Phi Phi, I took a ferry to another busy beachside town, Ao Nang. It is my last stop in Thailand's south before I head to Bangkok for a few more days to meet up with Vanna, a friend from Cambodia (market, rooftop, nightlife, and, again, boat trip) - see last three pics.

Anyway, with only 1 full day in Ao Nang, I was told I had to see the Hong Islands. So, after a bit of chaotic planning, I organised a private boat with 9 fellow travelers and set sail (well, longtail boat). This time, we had 4x stops around the Hong Islands, three of them were beaches and one was a lagoon.

The first beach was small, a bit tucked away and nice, but got crowded quite quickly, unfortunately.

The lagoon, however, was magical. Since we had a private boat, we could take a different route and avoid the crowds in some places. The colour of the water was beautiful. Swimming was a bit tricky due to the presence of nasty jelly fish, so we opted to do a little photo session instead.

The third island was mainly a sandbank, but with some big rocks in the water that provided a gorgeous backdrop.

The last stop, Hong Island, was the highlight. The white sand, clear water, the view from the beach.. it was a perfect setting. We also climbed up a few hundred steps to the top of the island that gave us amazing views over the nearby bay and the beach itself.

By the end of the boat trip, 9x strangers become a funny and social group. So we went out for some dinner at the local night market together and then went to one last party in Thailand's south to just dance the night away.Read more