Paradise Island-Part 2-The perfect massage

So as I was saying before, I broke away from my little bit of paradise at Wai Nam beach to go to the northeast of the Koh Pha Ngan island to Mae Haad which also has a small island called Koh Maa that is connected by a strip of sandbar. When the tide is low you can walk over and have a look and even get a drink at the local Reggae bar(something I’ve yet to do so perhaps in the next couple of days before I leave) It’s a smallish bay that is known for good diving and snorkeling. Since I arrived the weather has been very windy and the sea rough so not good for visibility. Hopefully before I leave I’ll get to enjoy some great underwater scenery.

It seems that while my stay on the east side was with an ocean view and focused on doing a lot of yoga and hiking the jungle, my accommodation here has been in a jungle/garden atmosphere and doing walk/runs in the early morning and at sunset time getting a massage on the beach. I know, it sounds decedent and my goal has been to find the perfect massage. A Thai massage is a lot of stretching and deep pressure on points of the body which is often quite intense. An oil massage is what westerners are most familiar with. I have discovered a Thai oil massage and this in my opinion is the “perfect massage”. A combination of the wonderful Thai massage stretches with a deep tissue massage done with coconut oil to moisturize the body. I’ve had three so far and the best was last night while watching the sunset over the ocean.

In my photos you will see a picture of a Great Horned Beak bird and we saw it on our hike to the remote beach (Ploy beach) on the other side of the island. It did seem quite tame and was taking a banana out of a woman’s hand. So the story continues here in Mae Haad. The first morning I was here I went for a run and was dive bombed by a bird and it nearly landed on my head! My heart was racing and I stopped to look at it and sure enough, it was the same type of bird that I had seen on the east side. Come to find out later at the local breakfast spot “Four Tables” that this there used to be two birds here and apparently a number of weeks go, one went missing. The one remaining is a menace and tries landing on people, taking their food and beach accessories and is just plain obnoxious! I showed some of locals my photo of the other bird and they think it’s the same one and is the male. I think the female here is bored without her mate so therefore causes havoc with the tourist.

Island life……it’s hard to beat and even harder to break away from and if it weren’t for the fact that I’m leaving next week for Bali I’d be really sad to leave. I really have enjoyed my time on the islands and feel the most relaxed since I left the states.
Follow this link to see all my photos from Koh PhaNgan www.picasaweb.google.com/tonibodeau/KohPhaNgan