We stopped for breakfast at Cool Runnings restaurant, where the food quality was pretty good and fairly priced. Across the street, we visited a market and stocked up on some fresh produce from locals, and then got the remainder of our groceries from the Big C supermarket behind it. Here, for the second time since visiting Thailand, I had to put our selection of beer and wine back on the shelf, forgetting that alcohol is only available for sale from stores between 11:00-14:00 and 17:00-24:00.
After returning back to our Phangan home for the week, we posted up poolside, going back and forth from working and taking breaks in the pool. While both the Gulf of Thailand and our pool’s water are on the warmer-side, paired with the humid, mid 80’s Thailand temperatures, plunges were still refreshing.
I made dinner reservations at a nice beachfront restaurant on the west side of the island, hoping to catch a good sunset with our meal. Being on the opposite side of the island, it took about a 30 minute motorbike cruise to get there. We arrived at Pirate’s Beach just moments after sunset, when the sky was still lit up with vibrant red, pink, and orange colors. After a nice short stroll down the beach, we had arrived at Frangipani. Frangipani is a resort with bungalows, a pool, cabanas, and a restaurant, so the atmosphere is favorable for day time lounging or evening dinner plans. Thankfully they had some bug spray on hand, because after sun goes down, jungle island bugs like to come out to play. I suppose we have that in common. I enjoyed some seafood red curry and rice that was very flavorful and the perfect spice level, while Joseph and Morgan each ordered a pasta dish, and we split a nice bottle of house red wine and a coconut based dessert.
On our way back to our Air BnB, I stopped at the Big C market again. This time, without being stopped trying to purchase alcohol within the legal time range of the day. Morgan and Joseph had a late night work meeting (we’re +9 hours ahead of Pacific Time) and then stayed disciplined and worked for the evening. I had a different prerogative.
I made my way to the island party of the night at Samsara Beach Club, located only 1.5 miles from our Air BnB. It took a few hundred steps down to the beach from the parking lot and 500 Baht, but I entered the party after making friends with a cool group of Turkish travelers on my way in. Samsara had a nice beachfront section, a large pool with some people swimming, a fun Photo Booth, and a large bar bordering the dance floor. I admired the DJ booth which was centered inside the open mouth of a large cat (I want to say panther). Over about 3 hours at the party, I hung out with my new Turkish friends, made a couple other friends, got some fun propped photos in the Photo Booth, and satisfied my dancing appetite before making my way home.