These boots are made for walkin

From our beautiful bungalow in Haad Tian, we decided to embark on a walking adventure to get to our next destination rather than go for the overpriced taxis that dominate the island. Not only to save money but to explore our beautiful surroundings in more detail. We had met a lady from Czech on our taxi down to Haad Tian who was staying somewhere called 'Orion' - that being our only point of reference to anywhere further down the island, we used that in Google maps and it said it was 4.5km / 1 hour away. We expected it to take a little longer as the terrain is hilly at times, and today happened to be the first day that the sun was peeping through the clouds so the heat would probably slow us down.

As we bid farewell to our lovely hosts at Haad Tian, they all shared a similar look of quiet confusion mixed with bemusement when we explained we would be walking following the huge rain storm of the previous night. The owner insisted we take a taxi as, 'road fallen apart' but we laughed jovially and said we'd be fine, hoiking up our backpacks and turning on our heels.

As we made the ascent on to the main road, we realised that the road had indeed fallen apart. We could still navigate it though; it was just soft stone and earth that was squishy and rocky. The journey began up and down a few hills which was quite hard work with 15kg on our backs and the sun coming down, but we pushed forward and took some pictures of our surroundings. The lush green forestry and the beautiful views out over the bays were really quite breathtaking. We stopped off at a roadside restaurant about 40 minutes in which was at the top of a hill and offered beautiful views. We shared a fried rice for breakfast and guzzled some ice cold water, and we were ready to go again.

After a bit longer, we came across a sign for 'Secret Beach' which we decided we had to take a look at. Down a rather steep hill, we came out on a small bay with white sand, the sea lapping against the shore and some very cool people lounging around at the restaurant / guest house that sat on the bay. It was stunning.

We didn't come across much else for a little while, then ended up in a slightly more populated area with some fruit stands, a couple of delicious smelling BBQ stalls and various odd shops. We must be headed for civilisation! The sweat was pouring off us at this point, and we were continuously turning down offers from bewildered taxi drivers who thought we must be crazy for walking and in desperate need of rescuing. At one point we came to a huge flood in the road and as mopeds sped past us making light work of it, we managed to navigate the floods by scaling some rocks and leaping across marshlands. By God we were walkers dammit and some mere rainwater wasn't going to stop us walking!

It was approaching midday at this point and the sun was hot. After passing various bits of 'land for sale' which prompted a conversation as to how we'd make our living out here - walking tours?! - We finally came to the area where Orion was based and it was horrible. And expensive. We decided to carry on into the vast unknown - there must be loads of places just up ahead. Surely?

For the next 15 or so minutes we didn't come across a single guest house. Disheartened, we stumbled across a strange looking place offering rooms and the owner, freshly awoken from a nap with leaves stuck to his head and a long gone out cigarette hanging off his lower lip, was incredibly apologetic when the only 'room' he could offer us was not big enough for the two of us, essentially a pile of sticks propped up in a tent formation.

We soldiered on and finally came to a row of guest houses along a fairly quiet road. The first place we went into asked for 2000 baht (4 x what we paid at Haad Tian). Because it's the week of the Full Moon Party here on Koh PhaNgan, all prices are hugely inflated. But this stretched the budget far too much so unfortunately we had to say no. The next place was fully booked (the incredibly heartfelt apologies you receive when their rooms are full is either worrying that they are that sad to see your money walk away or really genuinely human), and as we stumbled into yet another place hoping desperately for a room, the topless, bronze English man who owned these few bungalows said he was all full. He asked where we had come from and we said we had just been walking around and he took pity on us, saying he would ask his neighbour if he had any rooms. After some wild gesticulating and shouting in Thai about god knows what and to god knows whom, he told us to follow him as he walked back in the direction we had come from. And into a bar that was full of a bizarre assortment of signs, colourful lanterns, model ships, fishing gear and musical instruments, all held in one of those buildings that was definitely built by someone on drugs. And we had somehow managed to walk right past it.

And we were in luck! A bungalow was available and the price was much more acceptable than what the previous place was offering. We gladly snapped it up, threw off our packs and collapsed onto some cushions looking out at the sea, mere metres from the bar. We had a well deserved beer, snoozed alongside the resident cat who has no understanding of personal space and walked out to a small sandbank only accessible at certain times of day when the tide is out. It was then that the rain decided to return with a vengeance, and like true Brits we decided to carry on walking down the beach in the rain wearing our sunburnt shoulders, noses and necks with pride (whoops!).