Full Moon Party!!

We did it. We gave in to the hype of every teenage and twenty-something's island dream and followed the masses to Ko Phan-ngan, home of the legendary Full Moon Party, perhaps the largest, most popular beach party in the world. As the sun sets on Hat Rin beach, the sand comes alive with dancing backpackers, fire jugglers, thumping, pulsating music, and hundreds of buckets of booze. I don't know why we went. These types of parties are usually not my cup of tea since I am much more of a low-key, jazzy bar, small pub sort of girl. The idea of half drunk, drug induced, day glo wearing westerners isn't exactly appealing. However, we figured that while in Thailand we had to experience at least one FMP - kind of like riding an elephant.

We only had one week to accomplish our goal for we were due to arrive in Cambodia on the 28th of April. After a hurried two days in Bangkok where poor Liz had a miserable case of upset tummy, we climbed onto a us bound for the southern islands. I knew something was out of place the second I stepped into the huge van. Usually I am met with curious stares and straight out funny looks because we are often the only white girls in the transport vehicle. However, for the first time, there was no pause in the flow of conversation because everyone else was a westerner as well. Oh joy!!! I was actually able to talk to other bus patrens without sounding like Mr. Rogers using big arm motions. I happily settled back in my chair and stretched my legs out in front of me (yes, this was a bus that was built for westerners, complete with reclining seats). However, my legs were promptly squished as the guy in front of me reclined his seat. No worries though - with a toot of the horn, we pulled away from the curb and were off to dreamy, white sand beaches and coconut islands.

It was another night bus, meaning we began at 7 p.m. and were dropped of on the pier at 5 a.m. to wait for our ferry. Of course I didn't sleep a wink. Between the loud action movies (in Chinese for some reason) and the freezing AC (for some reason the driver must have thought we needed to be properly frozen before roasting in the sun for a week), sleep was impossible. Liz has a knack for being able to fall asleep anywhere, anytime, so she awoke bright-eyed and busy-tailed. - - lucky, lucky girl. The ferry arrived two hours later and the whole gang was sheep herded onto the massive boat for a four hour trip to Ko-Phangan.
I had forgotten how much I missed the ocean. It was wonderful to be out on the open water again, even better to pull up to a wooden dock surrounded by sky scraping palm trees, island tunes playing in the distance, and sea gulls crying overhead. Postcard perfect!

Not wanting to stay in the middle of the throngs of blonde travelers, we opted to slumber on the northern edge of the island and catch a ferry to the party side. This was a smart idea for we spent two quiet, glorious days on the nearly deserted beach digging our toes in the sand and shell searching. I was reluctant to strip off my bikini and pull out my party clothes, but the time had come to follow the crowd to Hat Rin.

The beach was action packed when we arrived, filled with the young and old alike, bare skinned, tan, and ready for a crazy night. Basically, there is a large strip of bars running up and down the beach, each trying to outdo the other with neon blinking lights and pounding music. We found some tunes that we actually recognized, bought ourselves some drinks, and settled down to people watch. All "beverages" are mixed together and served in child sized plastic sand pails, complete with a million straws. Liz finally managed to drag us out onto the dance floor after midnight and we spent the next 3 hours dancing in the sand, trying to avoid being stepped on by some of the more "happy" dancers. We made new friends and experimented with body paints (which I might add did NOT come out of my new tank top). Jen and I had some fun creating silly dares -- poor Liz. I made her write an addition to my journal about why she lost one particular dare. Yes, we were being silly, but when you don't drink as much as the other dancers, you have to do something to occupy your time. Her story follows...


LIZ - - "To begin, I did not loose. I simply came in third place. It was a night we will always remember, one filled with pulsating music, crazy travelers, and funny dares. The music tempo still flows through my mind as I recall the events that eventually led to my ultimate defeat. The night began simply enough. Ash had a dare. After placing her bucket oh the talbe, she looked up with a gleam in her eye, grinned and declared that by the end of hte evening we each needed to acquire 3 pieces of glowing flare. A quick scan of the crowd had drawn our attention to the neon braclets, necklaces, and headbands worn by many in the dancing mass. With a slight chuckle, I though to myself that if worse comes to worse, I could always buy them. Ash must have sensed my new thoughts and quickly added some amendments to her dare (who actually adds amendments to a dare?). Amendment 1 - you can't buy anything. Amendment 2 - Each item had to come from a different guy.
Granted the dare wasn't very difficult, but without the slight impairment of alcohol, I had a hard time talking to random guys and asking for their glowing jewelry. I should have devised a plan, attack the weak and go in for the kill quickly. The weak would have been any of the 1/2 drunk, slightly coherent dancers to my right or left. Yet as simple as a quick dance, kiss on the cheek, or sip of drink would have been, I never mustered up the courage to follow through. I thought about many, many times, but my motivation was easily lost to the rythems of the music.
I did have a chance, but blew it. Jen had found an Irish lad to chat with. His friend wasn't quite my type and I tried to avoid dancing with him for a while. However, I soon realized my mistake when, after a brief rest from dancing, Ash swooped onto the dance floor, grabbed the guy, whirled him around, and then received her first piece of neon attire. He gave her his bracelet. I kindly asked for his other one, but was rejected. He wanted to keep that one. I assisted Jen in acquiring her first item and she was soon wearing a bracelet given to her from her Irish friend. I was already loosing. As the night wore on and Ash and Jen quickly acquired the neccesary items, I was unmotivated to compete. I was honestly more interested in dancing in my own little world than in trying to persuade random guys to give me their neon toys. Oh well!"

HA - HA, I have to hand it to Liz. She tried. We all had fun though and got some great pictures. I can't say that I will ever have the desire to attend another Full Moon Party in this life, but it was interesting to see one at least once. It was actually more fun to sit and watch the completely obliterated drunks trying to walk around the beach, sometimes stumbling into the ocean, dancing on the rooftops, etc. I do have my three pieces of neon jewelry tucked away for safe keeping!

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