Moon Dolpin, Koh Phangan

Our entire time in Koh Phangan, we hardly ventured from the grounds of Tommy Resort, except for our trip to Thong Sala for the night markets.

Conveniently though, at the end of the driveway, was Moon Dolphin. I love the way Brett described this place when we first arrived "It's just like a Thai street vendor with a roof". Sweet!

The larb muu was first on the list. We tried this little spicy gem at the karaoke party a few nights before. The pork version was loaded with all bits pig, mince, intestine, liver, heart and plenty spicy with a plate of crisp vegetables on the side.



The yam sam krop was next. The awesome salad of three crispies, this particular variety with pork rind, squid and prawns packed with cashews, tomato and baby celery in a glistening chilli sauce.



Moon dolphin was also a perfect lunch spot, whipping up a mean khao kru gupi, fried rice with shrimp paste and loads of condiments.



And a breakfast staple, johk, with pork meatballs floating around in rice soup with ginger and white pepper.



We stopped here daily on our time in Koh Phangan, as it was also an excuse to play with the cute little puppies.

Looking for the day markets, Koh Phangan

We were looking for the day market in Haad Rin to find some lunch. We thought we received pretty good directions, but walked right past it .... Nevermind, we found a little Issan place down the end of the road serving up the staples from Eastern Thailand.

We feast on a plate of larb gai. The minced chicken dressed in a tangy lime dressing, with chunks of chilli, sliced shallot and lots of fresh herbs. To the side, a plate of fresh cucumber, snake beans and Thai basil.



Next we share a bowl of the aromatic beef soup, packed full of herbs and vegetables with thin slices of beef and a sprinkling of roasted rice. Yum!



Oh, and of course we found the markets on the walk home ;p and also stopped for a delicious ice-cream.

Full Moon Party, Koh Phangan

We pry ourselves away from the beautiful Koh Samui and take the 30 minute ferry ride to Koh Phangan. We had avoided Koh Phangan on previous occasions, the whole too many tourists thing. But we arrive a few days before the Full Moon Party, and check in to Tommy's, right on Haad Rin Beach. We meet Brett and Takayo here, who like us, after 5 months of snow just need to get away and soak up some sun-rays!



Our first night we end up at a local girls birthday party, eating delicious food, drinking beer and even knocking out a bit of karaoke. (Lucky I had one Thai song under my belt ...... dek me ban haa haa, haa fen mai dai loi ter - boi bai gru purr purr purr tao bai ruk, krai krai)



The night of the party starts with a slice of pizza, to get something in our tummy's!



Then we move onto the also-nourishing buckets of vodka red bull ....



It was an awesome night (well, from what we remember), about 8,000 people there for off-season.



We're allready looking forward to our next trip back to Koh Phangan and another Full Moon Party!