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The ferry to Koh Phangan left Chumphon at 7am. We stopped at Koh Tao on the way through - it looked so beautiful, it's a shame we couldn't get anywhere to stay there. It took about 5 hours all up to get to Koh Phangan so we got there around midday. It appears our bags weren't tampered with or anything so at least if we were scammed on the price, we didn't have anything pinched. Once we got off the ferry we were mobbed by taxi companies and we got a ride to the charming village with the most awesome name of Hat Salad for 200B each.

The place we stayed there was very nice - Smile Beach Resort - a short walk to the beach but close enough. The rooms are all bungalows with private bathrooms. Quite simple but we have aircon so what more do we need really?

The beach was smallish and quiet, which was just perfect for lyng around doing nothing on for a few days. It was around 32 degrees and very hot in the sun in the middle of the day - I got a bit burned (as usual) the first day so we hid a bit through the other days. The water at low tide is very shallow in the bay and it's protected by a reef, so the water is really warm, just like a bath. There were resorts all along the beachfront but the place wasn't busy. There were a lot of Germans and Italians about (as it's their holiday season).