One last glance over the idyllic Phangka Beach Resort
Lewis the Lion felt quite sad to be leaving the sleepy and relaxing Phangka Beach resort as the owners had made him feel so welcome there along with their little puppy dog, Shampuay.
Lewis and his friends say goodbye to the kind hotel owners
Lewis the Lion says goodbye to the cute puppy, Shampuay
However, he was ready for his next adventure now and was off to another one of Thailand’s acclaimed paradise islands: Koh Phagnan (or sometimes it is written Ko Pha Ngan).
Lewis prepares to catch the ferry to Koh Phagnan
As he waited for the ferry in the harbour on the other side of the island, he was impressed by a huge, golden Buddha statue as you can see in this photo.
Lewis the Lion spots a huge golden Buddha statue by the port
The relaxation hadn’t stopped in Koh Samui either as one of the first things that Helen did was book in for a head and shoulder massage as she’d had a bit of a stiff neck, possibly from carrying her heavy rucksack? Her massage wasn’t quite what she expected as before long she was being thrown all over the place by her masseuse like a Russian gymnast! “This is what they must call a Thai massage!” she thought in shock to herself.
A Thai massage anyone?
Lewis the Lion on the other hand swung leisurely in his beach hammock right outside of his new beach bungalow that really was right on the beach!
Helen and Sinead stand outside of their beach bungalow
Lewis the Lion once again, could not believe his little luck. What a luxurious holiday this was indeed! He couldn’t have dreamt up a more perfect place to relax. Every morning he would wake up to the view outside his window that looked directly onto the beach and the sea. Hammocks and sun-loungers lay in wait for sunbathers and if you got too hot, you simply had to stroll on into the shallow sea to cool off. At the resort, there was a restaurant and a swimming pool and at times, people would come along and organise beach-volleyball matches.
Lewis the Lion watches Oliver and friends play beach volleyball
In the evening time, Lewis the Lion would enjoy strolling along the beach (as long as he could avoid the stray dogs) to other restaurants; two of his favourites were Milky Bay and Fish at Thips, a sea-food restaurant. (He even got to try some raw prawns here that were marinated in a chilies: scrumptious!).
Watching the sun set from Lewis the Lion’s tropical beach paradise in Koh Phagnan
However, best of all were the people who he met. Lewis the Lion had realised that travelling wasn’t just about the extraordinary places that you visited or the exciting things that you saw and did, but it was more about the special people that you met that perhaps you wouldn’t normally get a chance to meet in your day-to-day life.
New friends chilling out together in Koh Phagnan
There were friends he made here from all over the world such as Alex from Hungary, Aziz from France and Sophie from Georgia (who he will tell you about in another blog) but strangely, there were a lot of friends that he made who had travelled from England too: a group of friends from Leeds (Dawn, Shannagh, Eddie and Marc) and Fred and Jess who worked in London. He even had another friend of his from Manchester, Oliver, who come to join them when he found out that they were staying there. That was a lovely surprise!
Lewis the Lion’s friend Oliver joins the friends in Koh Phagnan
Together the friends enjoyed spending time together and sometimes after Lewis the Lion had gone to bed (as we all know that children need to get lots of sleep if they are to grow up big and strong!). Later on, Helen would tell him what they had done, for example one time, they went to a boat party, another time, they playing pool (a bit like snooker) and on another occasion, the friends caught a Thai taxi to the next bay along so that they could go to a Beach Bar called Cactus in Haad Rin.
Lewis’ friends board a Thai taxi to take them to another part of the island
Here they were entertained by fire-throwers
A fire-thrower entertains the crowd
and were encouraged to take part in some party games such as a balloon bursting game with your feet (which his friend Shannagh nearly won!),
Can you burst someone else’s balloon? Shannagh can!
arm wrestling
Sinead prepares to arm-wrestle
and even limbo dancing under a lit rope: a very dangerous game!
Dangerous fun: limbo dancing under a lit rope!
One of the professionals limbo dances really low under the lit rope!
Helen told him that the best thing though was when they all got to dance at the end of the night as the music was pumped out onto the beach into the early hours of the morning. What fun and sometimes, Lewis the Lion just couldn’t wait to be a grown up!
Like Lewis the Lion, do you ever wish that you could be a grown up now? Why or why not?
What things can children do that you think grown ups would still like to be able to do?
