Jill & George's trip: Bottle Beach revisited

I spent quite a while deliberating whether to go back to Bottle Beach on Koh Pha Ngan. I had stayed there for a while during my previous travels 7 years ago and had very fond memories of the beautiful crescent shaped beach which was cut off from the rest of the island by wooded limestone cliffs. Would it still be the same unspoilt paradise? Would the laid back atmosphere have changed? Would – horror of horrors – 7-eleven have appeared on the beach along with a string of western style restaurants? I had told George so much about the place that I finally decided that we should pay it another visit and if my worst nightmares came true, we would escape and pretend we hadn’t seen it!

Our ferry from Koh Tao pulled up to Koh Pha Ngan and we were met by a representative from Smile resort, who ushered us into the back of his 4x4. I remembered the resort from having dinner there many times before, so took this as a good sign and hopped in. We balanced ourselves in the back of the truck, along with all the luggage and hung on tight as we made our way across the hilly centre of the island to the northern beaches. When I had visited previously, the only access to Bottle beach was by longtail boat from the next beach along and so I was slightly alarmed to learn that there was now a road and had visions of scooter loads of tourists buzzing around the beach. When I saw the road, I realised why we were in a 4x4 – it was an incredibly steep, pot-holed dirt track, punctuated by streams and fords which we had to pass. We did see one determined man trying to make his way down on a scooter – brakes on full but still skidding at quite a speed through the gravel. I crossed my fingers that we would see him on the beach later enjoying a cold drink! (We never did, but I’m hoping it was because he gave up and turned back.)

When we finally made it to the beach, I saw the glistening turquoise water, white sand and swinging hammocks and breathed a sigh of relief – it was as lovely as I had remembered! The long curved beach had remained unspoilt and had managed to escape mass tourism development. We were shown to our bungalow in the hills overlooking the sea, which was an upgrade from the ramshackle bungalows which had stood before. To be honest, that’s one bit of development I don’t mind - outside toilets were never something I had got used to! We were advised that electricity was only available between 6pm and 10am and the showers were cold water only. We then had to shoo away a snake from the front door, which we were assured wasn’t dangerous, and I realised that Bottle beach may have smartened up, but it was still loveably rough around the edges.

We spent the next four days enjoying beach life – relaxing on the beach, swimming or snorkelling in the warm sea and spending time reclining back on axe-pillows in each of the 4 restaurants, where the staff all seemed to be having at least as much fun as the guests. The laid-back, friendly vibe seemed to be catching and everyone on the beach spent their time happily throwing Frisbees, playing volley-ball and generally having fun, it was addictive. I slipped into a routine of running along the beach every afternoon as the sun was setting, before we settled down for an evening barbeque, cold beer and competitive game of cards or backgammon (well, we tried to learn how to play backgammon, taught by a couple of French men after a few beers).

It seems that I’m not the only one who developed a fondness for the beach – we met people who had been coming back every year, as one guy described it “We leave and then 8 months later start getting withdrawal symptoms and book another trip back”. We even heard a rumour of one man who arrived 7 years ago and still hadn’t left! I was delighted that we had come back and I can imagine the withdrawal symptoms will start setting in around September time....