Full Moon Madness

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August 24th 2007

Published: September 20th 2007

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Sun's up and the Party Continues.

Videos: Having trouble uploading the videos, but when I am sucessful in doing so I'll let you all know and you come back and check them out. In the mean time, read on..........

!Wow! Where do i begin with this. Like with the Wat's of Angkor (Cambodia) it's difficult for me to convey in words the experience of Koh Pha Ngan and the full moon party, a wholly different experience to the Wat's of Angkor, but a great one all the same. I'll try to relay what happened and convey the experience as best I can.

Jack, Ben, Kate, Emily, Sara and myself arrived together at Rainbow Bungalows on Hat Rin Nai Beach and booked in. Since the girls had already done the full moon party the month before, their plan was to just come with us to Koh Pha Ngan and go straight on to Koh Toa, however, we persuaded them to stay an extra night and hang out.

Day 1 & 2

The first night we arrived, we were all pretty tired from the journey so crashed out early. The next day the girls chilled by the pool, whist Me, Jack and Ben did the obvious thing and

Mopeds

Ben, Jack and I ready to explore the island

rented mopeds. As we set off I was willing to bet my own left arm that one of us was gonna be coming back on a stretcher, I was just gonna make sure that it wasn't me. After filling up with fuel, in the process of which I broke the left mirror of Jacks bike, we rode for about 10 minutes before Jack pointed out that my back wheel wasn't running true. We headed back to the guest house where we'd rented the bikes so they could change the wheel. Now, it's time for one of those classic Jack Stories, I don't really know how jack manages to consistently get himself in to such situations............well, I do, it's generally because he doesn't always,......he rarely,............no, he never thinks things through.

I came out of the office after informing the rather moody woman behind the desk that the tire needed changing on my bike. I came out to find Jack, screwdriver in hand, unscrewing a wing mirror from one of the other mopeds parked up. Credit to Jack at this stage, he'd thought, that while we were waiting for my tire to be changed he could cunningly take one of the non-broken

Mopeds

steep roads with nice views

mirrors from one of the other hire bikes and swap it with the broken one on his bike, thus, avoiding the 500Baht (7.5GBP) fine we would otherwise receive when we returned the bikes. The plan was almost full proof, he'd procured a screw driver from one of the Thai workers, removed the broken mirror from his moped and removed a non-broken mirror from a neighboring moped ready for the swap. However, and here's the flaw, out of the other 6-8 hire mopeds around, Jack had chosen to take a mirror from a the one moped that was NOT a hire moped, no, it was in fact, the moped of the rather moody woman working in the office, the woman who currently had in her possession all our passports. Not only that, but the moped was parked in full view of the office and it wasn't long before the woman clocked what was happening and came storming out, at which point I was in the process of helping Jack, screwdriver in hand, trying to get her mirror onto his bike.............she was not happy, understatement of the holiday.........she was piiiiiissed. We got an earful of abuse in a sort of Thai/English mix

Malibu Beach

A really nice, quiet beach in the north of the island

of swear words and insults. We then had some trouble getting the mirror back on her bike, but we eventually did it, by which time the woman had made it known to the other 10-12 Thai worker guys around what we had been trying to do. Fortunately for us they saw the lighter side of the whole situation and laughed, and as is often the case, we were able to talk our way out of the situation.

So after this minor setback, the mirror paid for and with my tire mended we headed off to the north of the island to check out some of the waterfalls and beaches. The first stop was a waterfall, but after 10 minutes of walking to find it and meeting people along the way who hadn't been too impressed, due to the lack of water (sort of fundamental to a waterfall), we cut our loses and headed back...........after Ben and my previous experiences with these little expeditions, we were the first to turn back and head for the beach. So we eventually got to the beautiful and quiet Malibu beach, where we got some food, fresh fruit shakes and chilled for a bit.

We

Malibu Beach

Bootifull

decided to head back before it got dark, but on the way we stopped on a hill to take some pictures of the view. Now, this hasn't really been mentioned about Ben yet, but maybe now is a good time, one of the reasons he probably got on so well with Jack and the others, is because he's definitely cut from the same cloth as Jack.........the clueless cloth. He'd constantly be leaving his wallet, camera, bag, etc etc behind at bars or guest houses while he drifted along in his little dream world. There wasn't really a particular incident worth mentioning til now, but this should sort of explain what I mean. By the time we'd stopped and taken our pictures it was getting quite dark so we were keen to head back, however........ Ben had been successful in locking the key to his moped in the seat, which has a storage compartment underneath. Starting to feel like the carer of two special needs children I went on ahead to the guest house with Jack and got the spare key, bringing it back to Ben so he could unlock the seat and get his key.

We eventually all got back

Malibu Beach

Taking advantage of my cool colour isolation camera features with a picture of Jack chilling in the hammock.

and that evening I met Izzy, Amy, Mirijam, Andy and Simon, who I'd been with on Koh Phi Phi before heading to Malaysia. After introducing them to the rest of the group, we all went out together that evening and what was just going to be a night of 'testing the water' on Koh Pha Ngan turned into a night of carnage.

This is probably a good point at which to explain what a 'Bucket' is. For those of you who have been to Thailand, you will know, but for those of you who don't, I'll explain as they are the standard drink at the full moon party. They are basically..........as the name describes....a bucket, a small bucket in which you get a bottle of liquor, usually vodka, or the national whiskey of Thailand; Samsung, then either a can of soft drink and a bottle of Red Bull, or, if you're slightly mental, 3 bottle of Red Bull. Now the Red Bull in Thailand is not the same stuff as in England, firstly, it's illegal in England, since it apparently has speed in it, and if it doesn't, well, it definitely has something in it of a similar ilk. This

Malibu Beach

Jack and Ben relaxing in the hammocks with some fruit shakes.

stuff sends you crazy. One of these buckets is sufficient to keep yourself dancing until the early hours and keep you awake for most of the following day. One of the highlights regarding the 'buckets' is the people selling them, you can buy them from anywhere in the town, but on the beach there is a strip, with about 20 little stalls set up all selling the buckets and all trying their very best to get your custom..........obviously Jack had some fun with this.

The first night was carnage......please see the photo's, in particular the one's of Jack naked on the beach (sorry Jack, but they had to go up). Hat Rin Nok beach on which all the partying takes place basically consists of a beautiful white sand beach, with bars and clubs lined up along it. During the day, it's very chilled out with people sun bathing and swimming, at night it is transformed into what I can only describe as a massive playground for the 18+. The bars have speakers ten feet high, each playing various genres of music, there's UV painting, fire shows..............and best of all, yes, in keeping with the Thai tradition of health and safety,

Malibu Beach

Jack and I got a bit bored of chilling........this is Jack hurdling the mountain.

they have an enormous jump rope. A jump rope anyone can join in, but this is not your standard jump rope............no, this one is on FIRE! Yes, like the Thai boxing ring on Koh Phi Phi in which anyone can jump into and fight, on Koh Pha Ngan, they have an enormous rope on FIRE that anyone can jump in and try. People were coming away from this thing with their hair and clothes on fire........but it was all entertaining. They even had a ring of fire which people could jump through............... and after a couple of buckets, that, I did have a go on.......... so you see what these buckets do to you, they make you jump through hoops of fire.

We left around 7am that morning and headed back to the guest house the fester and recover.

Day 2 - Pool Party

Due to the previous nights antics, day 2 was obviously pretty uneventful. Katie and her friends Amy, Lola and Sophie arrived from Koh Phi Phi as did Ben's sister Ashley and her friend Sammy. We all got introduced and by this time we'd now persuaded the girls (from the Perhentians) to stay for the infamous

Malibu Beach

Me getting some serious air.

pool party happening that night at Coral Bungalows next door.

The pool party is a pretty big event, happening in the guest house next to where we were staying it attracts a good few hundred people. By now we had a massive unit of people and a wicked night was had, see photos.

Day 3

Again we all chilled during the day, but unfortunately we couldn't persuade the girls (Kate, Emily and Sara) to stay any longer so they headed off to Koh Toa, leaving Ben and I to explore mellow mountain and sample the happy shakes.................................

That evening Ben's group of friends from home (including Luke and Chris who I'd met the previous week on the Perhentian's) had arrived and it quickly turned into another night of chaos. Again, best to just see photo's

Day 4 - Full Moon Party

By this day I was starting to feel royally rubbish, the past few days of dancing til the early hours, not sleeping and a knee that was becoming painful,were all catching up with me......simply existing had become a painful effort at this point. I spent the whole day in bed, but finally dragged myself up, taking a fist full

Malibu Beach

Jack flying.

of painkillers to numb my knee, which was really starting to hurt and met all the others to get myself covered in UV paint and begin the nights antics. By the time I met everybody Katie had already covered most people with random slogans and decoration for the night. I decided to get written on my arm in big letters Add Me To Facebook, this sarcastic statement was received well and yes, some people, not quite catching the irony of the statement, agreed to add me, so I told them, "yeah, search for me......Rob Smith". So off we went for the grand fanalle, the Full Moon Party. Despite the now chronic pain in my knee a wicked night was had, maybe not as good as the nights leading up, mainly because it was just so busy, but fun all the same. We all got split up at various times during the night but by sunrise, and I've no idea now I managed to make it until then, the majority of us randomly me up to watch the sun come up, dancing on the beach and in the sea, with some serious drum and bass tuneage in the background......nice. By 9am

Malibu Beach

Me with a Jet Li flying kick.

me, Jack, Katie, Amy, Lola and Soph were defeated so went and got some breakfast and then headed back to the guest house.

Day 4 - The Aftermath

I do not recall a time in my life that I felt like this, I vomitted when I woke, I had a fever and a headache. I stayed in bed most of the day and then found when I did try and get up, I could barely walk, it was at this point when I thought something serious must be wrong with my knee...................

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