Emma & Tom's Finest

I was a bit nervous about Ko Pha Ngan, I honestly thought that it was going to be a hovel, similar to the costa del sol in Spain, dirty, trashy, full of Irish and English louts. I was pleasantly surprised. We decided to stay in a place that was a bit more up market because we were worried about our stuff getting robbed, as we had heard that was a problem on the island. We booked into the Milky Bay Resort which was located on Ban Tai Beach. Our hotel room was absolutely amazing! We had air con, tv, dvd player, mini-bar and a shower room!

It seems like everyone who is in Asia for a full moon heads to Haad Rin, Ko Pha Ngan. We met people that we knew from back home as well as a friend of my family that I hadn't seen in a few years. The poison of choice is the infamous Thai Whiskey Buckets...although I cheated and got a vodka bucket because I preferred the taste. It is so weird traipsing along a beach where there are all these makeshift stalls set up by Thai people trying to get westerners custom. I went to Emma and Tom's stall because I thought that Emma had spunk and personality, plus she has a really good name ;) They were really on the ball they would remember you every night and shout your name to come over. If you have been there you would know that there is literally thousands and thousands of tourists on this beach at night, they are skilled at what they do!

Aside from lots of partying I got a piercing...sorry dad! I wanted to get a labaret piercing which I wanted in the crease just above the chin. There was a bit of a language difficulty between myself and the Thai piercer and when I had a look at what he had done I was surprised to see he had pierced just below my bottom lip. To be honest it was a happy mistake, I think it looked good and I saw it as fate. The funny thing was that the only jewellery that he had for that type of piercing was a spike, so that meant I had to walk around with a spike in my mouth for a couple of weeks. You would be surprised by the amount of complete strangers that felt it was neccessary to tell me that the spike was too "gothy" for me....I eventually got a smaller stud when it was safe to do so and was really happy with the results.

While in Kon Pha Ngan we managed to do some non alcohol related activities. We went on a trip to the National Nature Reserve that was near the Island. It was supposed to be the original island from the book "the beach". It was really picturesque, we were treated to a wonderful day of snorkeling with exotic fish, kayaking in the sea trying our best to topple each other over and a walk around a magnificent lagoon. The boat ride to and from the island was an experience in itself, we were hurtled and jolted along the sea at an amazing rate. By the time that we all got back home I think all our backs were a bit tender.

The day of the much anticipated full moon party I woke up with the worst pain I have ever experienced in my life. I couldn't move without excruciating sharp pains shooting through my back. I had to stay in bed all day. In the end much to my disappointment I missed out on the Full Moon Party because I couldn't even walk let alone make it to Haad Rin. My friend went with some friends that we had made so it was all good. I got doped up on painkillers and went to sleep. It was lucky in a way that I couldn't go because the next day it turned out that everyone who had left stuff in the lockers in reception had been robbed. Because I was in the room, we had just left everything with me...so at least we still had our valuables.

Next day I felt better, so I drove down on the moped to pick my friend up who had stayed in Haad Rin for the night. The roads in Ko Pha Ngan are extremely challenging...I have never been on such topsy turvey windy roads in my life. You really had to concentrate just to keep on your side of the road. When I eventually picked my friend up she was still going from the night before so we went for some lunch before attempting the trip back home.

I was up and down all the time, going from feeling like near death to feeling just about human within minutes. Eventually decided that something had to be done so headed to the doctors. He decided that I was having problems with my back which was related to the accident that I had the previous December when I fell on a nightclub floor. He gave me painkillers and anti-inflamatories. They helped somewhat but really I wasn't getting much relief. I would feel fine in the morning and then by evening I would be in dire pain and unable to move.

The party was over and so began the mass exodus. We were amongst the first to get off the island departing the day after the full moon. We got a ferry to Ko Sumai and then a flight to Krabi. We were fighting a losing battle with time and were starting to have to rush our trip.

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