Hike to Haad Khontee from Haad Rin

Did a relatively short yet tricky hike on Sun Feb 3 from Haad Rin, the sunrise side of the town where the full moon party occurs, up the coast to the next beach, named Haad Khontee. In looking at the map of the island there was indicated a trail leading from Haad Rin over to Haad Khontee. I had a hell of a time attempting to locate where the trail begins as the map doesn't go into exquisite detail listing and noting all relevant landmarks. After searching in the area I assumed the trail would begin, I was luckless in finding a definitive trailhead. I decided to try my luck in following a path leading up to and beyond some bars and bungalows along the coastline. The path ran out and I decided to just hike and climb along the huge rocks and boulders along the coastline, many very steep in themselves. This was much fun at the beginning as I had lots of energy and the scenery along the coastline was quite beautiful with the ocean crashing into the rocks below. However, I didn't make the hike as easy as possible for myself as I was wearing flip flops and hadn't brought any food along with me. I have gotten used to wearing flipflops as I have worn them everywhere I have been in the last month and a half, including on some short hikes in the woods to various waterfalls and landmarks. I also assumed their would be somewhere to grab a bite to eat upon making it to my destination. The hike appeared to be very short as one can see a section of the beach of Haad Khontee shortly up the coast and around a bend from Haad Rin. It took me about an hour and a half to to get very close to the beach I was aspiring to reach. Haad Khontee is a very small beach with only one resort present on it. From a near distance away I got a good glimpse of the beach and didn't notice a single person lounging or hanging out on it. The actual beach itself didn't appear to be too pristine or luxurious as lots of debris and fragments of nature looked to be washed ashore. I decided not to travel the last portion to arrive at the beach.

It was getting later in the afternoon and I didn't want to risk traveling back in the dusk and soon to be approaching nightfall. It wasn't a large hike by any means but a bit tricky navigating myself through the boulders and steep slabs of rocks. There were also areas where I had to work my way through thickets of foliage, including some areas with some nasty prickers. Several times while working my way through thickets of bush I managed to acquire numerous less than friendly ants all over my legs. I would frantically work to slap them off myself as I felt them treating me like dinner. After I had hoped and assumed that I had them all off of me I would feel a nasty bite high up in my shorts and work maniacally to smash it. Finally, dead tired, sore, and thirsty, I made it back to where I started. After getting myself something to drink I made a quick trip to the ocean to cool down and clean myself off of all the caked on dirt and grime plastered on myself. The ocean felt wonderful and the surf was much different from on the other side of the island. Lots more waves although not ones large enough to surf on. Upon getting out I noticed lots of scatches and small cuts on my body acquired from navigating through the boulders and folliage.

After cleaning myself up in the ocean resting a bit on a lounge chair, I decided to wander back up to the streets to get myself some food. One of the first places I bumped in was the Cobra Bar, a lovely establishment showcasing nightly snake and scorpion shows, with their cobras as the main event. I was checking out a large poster in the front with pictures of the cobras and of thai women with scorpions crawling all over their bodies when a beautiful thai girl came out with a large python wrapped around her shoulders. We started talking a bit and she noticed all the scratches and nicks all over my body from the earlier hike. She told me to come inside and stay put as she was going to grab some first aid supplies. Minutes later she reappeared with a first aid kit including hydrogen peroxide and other ointments to put on my cuts. She took care of my wounds and I found her name was Ooy. She was down from Bangkok for a short time to help out with the business. I bought her a water and we talked for a while and I showed her all the pics on my camera and I learned more about the business of operating a Cobra bar. While they had some cobras on the premises locked up in some crates, they didn't possess a king cobra as they were apparently quite expensive to acquire. I jokingly offered to go up into the hills to find them one if they would pay me well. After hanging for a while I got Ooy's phone number and promised to come back later in the week to hang out with her and watch one of the shows.