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Published: December 13th 2006
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Cholesterol Burger...
It's not exactly Alberta beef, but they make up for it with heaping amounts of cheese, mushrooms, and bacon. Uh oh, my heart stopped... ahh, there it goes! That's right my pretties, Rob and I came back to Bangkok from the island of Koh Phangan a few days ago. Ko Pha-Ngan's an interesting place, almost the exact opposite of Ban Kruit. It is Tourist Central, with Europeans and Australians as far as the eye can see.
For anyone that doesn't know, this island is famous for Haad Rin Beach and its Full Moon Parties. Not that anyone really cares, but the beach is actually divided into two beaches: Haad Rin Nok (also known as Sunrise Beach) and Haad Rin Nai (Sunset Beach), with the Full Moon Parties held on Haad Rin Nok. Funny story, we got ripped off on a cab ride as soon as we got off the ferry. Our hostel was only 100 meters from the pier, but we both had a couple beers in us and didn't completely read the directions. Long story short, the cab took us in a big-ass circle, then dropped us off right in front of the hostel. As soon as we got out, we saw the pier and... son of a bitch! Consider the lesson learned.
Rob and I weren't really planning to hit Koh Phangan for the Full
Just Say Yes! Oops, I Mean No!
It's obviously a bit of an issue here in Thailand. Moon Party, it just kinda ended up that way. It was an interesting experience, if nothing else. I'm not exactly much of a party guy (more of a Stiffly Stifferson, really), but I'll try anything once. And surprisingly enough, I had a good time!
The Full Moon Party is basically just a 24 hour rave party on the beach. The Poi performers are amazing, spinning fire with blazing speed! People are quick to sell you glow-in-the-dark accessories or body paint. There are bars right on the sand cranking various types of music - anything from top 40 to hip-hop to trans- and stands set up selling various mickies with mix that you pour into a plastic bucket and drink down. The price is pretty good too, about $5 - 7 dollars CDN each. Booze in a bucket... hell, I could set up my own place and sell that back home... with blackjack! And hookers! Ahh, screw the whole thing.
Where was I? Oh right, the party. As with any place that's Tourist Central, there's always a darker side. For instance, a bunch of creepy Thai guys walking around looking for tourists passed out on the beach so they
Haad Rin Nok
Also known as Sunrise Beach. can pick their pockets (and for God's sake, don't pass out on the beach; even if you don't drown, guys are constantly peeing in the water!). Like any big party, there's the standard drug scene, and don't get me started on the hookers walking the beach selling their wares. One grabbed me by the pecker and asked if I had a condom. Hello! That'll get your attention. Stupid hooker, my dick's practically still in the packaging - when I get home I'm gonna try to get a refund.... or at least return it for a bigger one... shut up!
I have to say though, the people in charge of this party did their best to make sure things were as safe as could be. Lots of lifeguards were around, and there was even a couple of sleep areas set up where people could crash. The lifeguards also used this spot to drop off people who passed out to close to the water.
Rob and I really didn't do anything too exciting here, we just walked around and checked out the scene. We met a few people, had a few drinks, and Rob even helped pull one drunken guy
Bucket of Booze
All I need now is a breast in one hand and a greasy slice of pizza in my mouth... or vise versa! off the shoreline. He thanked him by saying something to the effect of, "I'll have your job for this.". He seemed nice.
Outside of the Full Moon Party, we didn't really do much else on Koh Phangan. We found a gym and had a couple decent workouts, which was nice, but that's about it. Oh yeah, we did have one more Brokeback Mountain Ride to Than Sadej Koh Phangan National Park and checked out another waterfall, as well as a nice viewpoint. Again, totally not gay.
I have to say, Koh Phangan really wasn't my cup of tea. Sure, the beaches are beautiful and there's some great scenery, but it's too full of people, most of which are only here for the Full Moon Party and just wanna get fucked up. Plus the roads are shitty and the weather wasn't very co-operative, which didn't help boost my opinion of the island any.
Oh, one last thing! I want to tell a little story about the friendliness of Thai people. This just happened a couple nights ago, when we came back to Bangkok. The Asian Games are currently going on in Quatar, and one night me and Rob
Poi Performers
These guys are on Haad Rin every night putting on a show. I could do that, but I hate 3rd degree burns. are watching some of the games before going to dinner. The game we were watching is basically volleyball, but there's three players to a side instead of six, and you can only use your head and feet. Lets call it soccer-volleyball, shall we? Anyway, it was the women's gold medal game, Thailand vs. Vietnam. It was a pretty intense game, but we were getting hungry so we turned it off and left.
During our search for food, we came across what basically was a little restaurant in a garage (I don't think I'd eat there), and everyone there is watching the game. We stop to watch for quite literally about 5 seconds, and within that time these people have pulled out chairs for us and want us to sit and watch with them, which we of course do. They pull out some Thai brandy and water for us, and get into the game. We all start cheering, hooting and hollaring, and THAILAND WINS GOLD! Kick-ass! We could've stayed after, the win, but we were getting really hungry by this time. So we thanked them all and took off, but not before some handshakes and photos.
Anyway, we found
some grub at a great seafood buffet and stuffed our faces, and started walking back. And who should we come across again but our new friends, only this time they're watching the men's gold medal soccer-volleyball match, Thailand vs. Malaysia. They implore us to sit and watch with them again, and of course we do. One guy got really wasted between our first encounter and dinner, and kept trying to talk to us in drunken/broken english. He did his best, but that's not saying much when english isn't your first language and you're drunk. It was really quite funny though, because all his friends and/or family were making fun of him . Rob asked him how he was in Thai and one of the ladies responded, "He is not well!". Funny stuff. Anyway,we're all into the game, cheering, hooting and hollaring, and THAILAND WINS GOLD - AGAIN! Awesome!!! Needless to say, more shouting takes place and there are hi-fives all around. At the end of the night, they want to drive us back to our hostel, which is maybe 100 meters away. Fucking crazy!!! To me, this is what travelling is all about - experiencing a culture first hand. This
We See You...
What are you looking at, stoopid? kind of thing happens rarely happens, so when it does, you have take the ball and run with it.
The Thai people continue to amaze me with their friendliness. I've heard they're even more friendly up north, so I'm looking forward to finding out for myself - we're going to Chang Mai tomorrow. And with that, I am officially up to date! I've got nothing else to write about - hooray for me! This is Tom A.G. Haarman, over and out!
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