Full Moon Madness

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My travel mates and I arrived in Thailand on the 28th of June, a few days before the start of our next volunteer placement on the island of Koh Samui, located off the East coast of the country. As fate (or meticulous planning) would have it, the 29th happened to be the night of the full moon, and with Koh Pha Ngan and its famous Full Moon Party just around the corner, how could we resist? Not only was this a great opportunity to participate in the world's biggest beach party and get sloppy drunk, but it was also an occasion for reunions. A couple of old friends, neither of whom I had seen in years, happened to be in the same general corner of the globe, and without much difficulty I managed to convince them both to rendez-vous on Koh Pha Ngan. Rowan, my former roommate from undergrad who is currently studying in Vancouver, and Courtney, a friend from Australia both came ready to party. Courtz brought along 6 of his mates, 4 of which he attends vet school with in Perth, so technically you could argue that this entire outing was done in the name of professional networking (or not).

Despite an inflated price tag, we stayed in some beautiful beach front bungalows on the Northeast corner of the island, giving us a comfortable cushion between our place of rest and the party itself, which takes place on Hat Rin in the Southeast. Following an afternoon of preparation for the long night ahead, we hopped in a boat-taxi to get to our destination. We could hear the party long before we could see it, and rounded the final corner to the sight of 10,000 drunken tourists dancing in the sand to pounding electronic beats. The atmosphere (as well as the music) was electric... some parts of the beach were packed so thick that it was difficult to move, but towards the edges you could find enough space to grab a patch of sand on which to sit for a rest and/or collapse upon. The beach was lined with bars, food stalls, black-light tattoo merchants, fire spinners and much much more. The drink of choice for the evening had to be the ever popular "Bucket", consisting of a mickey of your choice, a can of pop and a Red Bull served up in, you guessed it, a bucket.

While the details from there on out are a little hazy, a great time was had by all and everybody made it home in one piece. Those of us who were still relatively upright at the time managed to catch a beautiful sunrise on the beach in front of our bungalows. The party itself had been an absolute blast, but it was the company that really made the experience memorable. The rag-tag crew we had assembled from around the world hit it off straight away and we ended up spending a couple days together after the party. Our last night together was spent at the Jungle Club on Koh Samui, where Courtney and his friends stayed for a couple of nights. Located atop a mountain overlooking the lights of the main beach, this place is the steal of the century when it comes to accommodation. The bungalows are top notch and the view is incredible. The pool, which appears to drop off into nothingness down the side of a cliff, is also divine. All of this for only $30 CDN/person/night, and to top it all off, we more or less had the place (and the entertaining Thai staff) to ourselves.

For those of you who may be wondering... I will in fact be getting around to doing some more actual work in the near future, but you've gotta take take advantage while you can, don't you? Next update from the Dog Rescue Center Samui.

Mike

***As I did not trust my drunken self to not lose my camera or drop it in the ocean, all photos for this entry are courtesy of Rowan Barrett***

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Photos

Full Moon Madness
A fire spinner overlooks the massive crowd on Hat Rin

Roomate Reunion
Rowan and I reminisce about the good ole' days over a bucket or two

Dancin' Devil
My friend Courtney, all the way from Perth , Australia.

Hard At Work
My colleagues and I hard at work.... chowing down on some late night munchies, that is

Sleeping On The Job
Courtney's mate Aaron demonstrates the first step in getting sent to Thai prison

Comments

[Laurel]

Green with envy
What can I say Mike... other than how completely and disgustingly jealous I am of you kids... glad to see you all hard at work down there! :) Keep up the good work with the blog, tell the girls I say hello!