Ton Sai

We arrived at Ton Sai expecting to stay for two nights, then moving on to explore other islands in the area. As we pulled up to the shore, I saw a large banner proclaiming a Halloween Party for Tuesday night. I was already hoping to stay for the party (the beginning of our reluctance to leave the beach).

Our boat dropped us near Mambo Bungalows and not wanting to haul my suitcase through the sand any longer, we moved in. Each bungalow was only 200 baht a night, split between two people it was very cheap. ($3 a night!)

I bought a hammock at the market, and we were allowed to hang it on our porch. The mosquitoes were terrible, so it didn’t get as much use as it should have.

A lot of our relaxation time was spent at the No Name Bar. It had a Rasta/ Reggae theme and Thai’s with dredlocks. The other girls were happy because it also had great coffee.

We celebrated Halloween at the No Name Bar (they had the banner I mentioned earlier). Deep in the jungle, we didn’t have much for costumes, so we became jungle Princesses. Noo, the local tattoo artist, painted my back with black light paint and made me a grass skirt. I was beautiful. The bar filled with brightly painted people as the night progressed. People danced into the wee hours of the morning.

The skirt itched, so I didn’t wear it for long.


What better to do after a night of dancing, than snorkel? We rented a boat, a guide and some snorkels and set out for four local islands. The reefs were not brightly colored, but the fish were. The largest fish I saw was the size of my head. Nothing too scary except the black spikey things on the bottom.

We didn’t pay for the top notch tour, but it was only evident when we found our boat beached on the coral after the tide went out. We ate lunch fearing that we would be stuck all day. Thankfully the tide came in and we only missed 15 minutes of adventure.

This sunset was actually our first night on Ton Sai. It rained most days right around sundown, so we didn’t have another good one until the last night. We were out in Kayaks (without cameras) that day and evening, so it was also fabulous.

I have never seen a more sure sign that it was time to be done on a vacation. As we were waiting for a boat to the main land, the Minnesota pulled up to shore. We didn’t take that boat, but it did put a big smile on my face.