Koh Deutschland, Thailand
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
Hey Folks, sorry it's been so long since my last entry, but I've been on an island that time has forgotten in Thailand. Unlike my favorite island, this island has been discovered for many years, but has managed to maintain the warm hospitable feel of old school Thailand. Landing on these shores has transported me back 18 years to my first visit to Thailand. The moment I set foot on this island, it was as if I could see dinosaurs freely roaming around in the lost world, Site C? I walked up to a place called Sunset Bungalows and the lady that greeted me was and is the nicest and most friendly woman on the planet. Her husband is the same. Before I knew it I was playing Frisbee with Mr. Moo and volleyball with both of them and all the other guests that formed the Sunset Family. This is the Thailand that I've been looking for the past year and a half since I arrived here in August 2006. I was on my way here a year ago, but a friend needed my help so my quest was sidetracked and shelved for another year.
I really regret that decision as this was the kind of place that I'd been searching for since the beginning of my trip 2 years ago. I will not make the same mistake that I made last time by telling everyone and their mother about how great Koh Phanghan is and how to get there. I will call this island, Koh Deutschland or Koh Z to follow my naming convention. Although it is well populated with an overwhelming number of Germans, these are the Germans that you WOULD take home to mother. They are not the stereotype Germans walking around with their fat bellies and 14 year old prostitutes. It's really quite odd that almost everyone on the island speaks German even if they are not German. Some are Austrian, Swiss, Dutch, Danish or some other ethnicity, but they all speak German. After a month and a half on this island and its sister island, even I can speak a bit of Deutsch and feel more at home in the Fatherland. I've stayed in 3 different resorts here on the island and all of them have their own unique signature that could make you stay forever. Sunset has a great family environment, KZ Resort has the most beautiful balconies on which I sat on for a whole week and the Hill Resort has Q and her mom running a very strange, but pleasant bungalow operation that would be more fitting in Bangkok than on an island. But when I found out that they live in Bangkok ½ the year, it sort of explained everything. I was the first guest of the season for them and am often the only one or 1 of 2 guests staying there
. They don't have a menu, but mom manages to cook up something yummy every night. If there is something particular that I want to eat, like giant prawns, they go out to the fishing boat and get them for me. One night we asked for 2 Kilos of Giant prawns and on my plate came a prawn right out of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. It could have swallowed the Nautilus whole. It was quite possibly the largest prawn I'd ever eaten in my life served up with a mouth watering garlic, chili and lemon dipping sauce. I've stayed since the end of December off and on with trips into the city for supplies and money and 2 trips on liveaboard dive boats. The only problems with this island are also its saving grace. There are no ATMs, electricity has to be generated and only for 4-5 hours a day, no real transport so you have to walk everywhere, the sea isn't crystal clear, but very pleasant to swim and the Lonely Planet doesn't have much nice to say about it. Stephan Loose, the German guide book writer, does like the island very much which could explain why there are so many of them here. If I ever meet him, I'll be sure to give him a piece of my mind. I've been told by the "regulars" that have been coming year after year for 10+ years that the island has retained much of the original feel that hooked them on their first look so many years ago. I hope that when next I return that you actually CAN go back unlike Koh Phanghan for me after 14 years.
Comments
Agreed about Phangan
I may hit you up for the name of the island someday, but for now I'll just link you to this article about Phangan, by someone who shares our opinion.
http://www.worldhum.com/dispatches/item/the_full_moon_partys_over_20080115/
Re: Agreed about Phangan
Thanks Julie! That was a great article. His story and times pretty much mirror my own, but his style is so much more eloquent than mine. I felt a lot better when I found out that he works as a travel journalist tho.