Where to start?

I've been trying to Vanquish Elona as my monk, and I have done some areas of the 'noob island', and Gandara, the Moon Fortress. I'm wondering where to go next, in terms of difficulty. I've heard, from a friend, that the Desolation is easy with the mostly wurm areas. Is that so? What other areas, besides the Desolation, are also a good place to stat in mainland Elona?

The wurms in desolation make the sulfur areas easy sure, but keep in mind theres a bit of rocky areas that you'll have to get out and beat enemies the old fashioned way.

i found the very first section to be very easy

Yup, Istan is very easy to handle, whether or not you have had much HM experience. You might want to pick an area with a small amount of creatures. I've avoided Lahtendah Bog so far, not because it's hard, but because there are 400+ monsters .