Ko Pha Ngan - Full Moon Party

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Apologies for not writing for the past couple of weeks but though Id would give you all a break from reading, and myself one too.

We are now home safe and sound, but still wanted to write about our last couple of weeks!

So the last time I wrote was nearly a month ago when were leaving Laos. Monday 25th Jan we crossed the border back into Thailand, all went smoothly, got shoved onto a bus heading to Bangkok straightaway without even having time to ask how much or how long it was. Luckily it was only 7 pound each and it got in about 9pm which gave us enough time to get the over night train down to Chumpon right in the South. A lot of travelling. Our train arrived early Tues morning and once again we got shoved onto a bus to get a boat over to Ko Phan Ngan, the Island infamous for its partying - specifically the monthly full moon parties where literally thousands (between 5-10,000) of people head to. Luckily the full moon party wasn't until the 30th which gave us enough time to not be really stuck for accommodation, plus a few days to enjoy the beaches and the warm up parties.

The boat heading across to the Island summarised what the next week was going to be like for us. It was like we were on some 18-30's holiday heading to magaluf or something. Once off the boat, a minibus took us down to the main town Had Riin where we began our hunt the best and cheapest accommodation. Our plan to arrive early hadn't really worked as loads of accommodation was already full, or were charging double their price because it was the run up to full moon. Luckily these 2 thai women said bungalow 300 baht (6 pound) so thought we give it a look and it was perfect. Away from the beach so not too noisy at night or day for that matter. Plus it was on a little hill so gave us a great view at sunset and of the sea. Perfect! We headed into town to get a feel for the place and it was just mental. It was as though nothing their was for the locals, everything was for the tourist, tons of internet shops, tour agencies, hairdressers, clothe shops, souvenirs, tons of restaurants all showing movies and then hundreds of people wandering around. Crazy! We went along to sunrise beach which is the beach the party actually takes place on and it was a weird sight. Quite a nice beach, with gorgeous sea but then dotted along the coast was all these tacky wooden huts which were closed but were where they sell the bucket cocktails for the party, seemed really dingy in the daylight. Later that evening we headed to this pool party we had seen advertised everywhere, even though we were pretty tired after all the travelling we thought we should go and see it. Once again it too was pretty manic, most of it was pretty harmless, people just having a good time until someone does something stupid like deciding to jump off the roof off the bar into the pool but falls through the roof beforehand and completely cutting their leg open and getting taken to hospital...luckily it wasn't me or Ste who did this! Randomly met a couple of lads who were from Neston, up near Ste's home.

Weds 27th we headed over to see the other beach, sunrise beach which was the best decision we had made as it was just so peaceful. It had a few restaurants/bars along the beach but was just so quiet, had some music playing where we could just lay and chill out in the sun. We stayed their all day to watch the sunset and later on met a couple Adam and Karina from London who we got on pretty well with, said we would meet them later on as their was another pool party tonight. Ste and I headed into town for dinner and found a great little restaurant. It was one of the cheapest around, had friends playing on the Tv (I know we are sad...) and had great staff. Although his english was awful and everytime we went he kept getting something wrong but it was just a really nice little place. We popped down to sunrise beach to see what was happening at night down there. Loads of bars had been set up along the beach, it was quite nice, had lots of cushions on the floor, it would have been a great little chill out place except everyone was smashed!!! There were loads of fire shows going on, some pretty stupid like a giant skipping rope that was set on fire and everyone had to jump in and see how long they could go before they tripped up and then burnt themselves. Needless to say neiter Ste or I faniced giving this a try. After having a taster for what the full moon party had in store for us we bought ourselves a couple of cheap buckets (3 pound each) and headed off to the pool party where we met up with Adam and Karina and stayed till about 5am.

Thurs 28th we had a huge lie in after the silly hour we went to sleep. Headed out for some brekkie in this restaurant near our bungalows which always has loads of films showing when it started raining so heavily. SO we decided to stay and watch some movies until the rain cleared up. Went back to sleep later (these late nights really dont work well with me...) and then headed back out for dinner where we bumped into Adam and karina again. We ate together and decided to head down to sunrise beach for the "warm up" full moon party. It was similar to what Ste and I had seen last night, slightly busier. Was having a really good night, watching loads of stupid games, dancing etc until randomly we saw a fight right in front of us, this Thai guy was absolutely battering some white bloke, the white guy had a completely cut up face (aparently he had been bottled by the thai guy as he though he was stealing something) then right in front of us the thai guy smacked him onto the floor then booted him in the face, it was awful. We obviously moved away and it seemed to all calm down when suddenyl Karina fainted! Ah it was horrible as she still had her eyes open. I ran off to the shop to get some water and by the time I had come back she was up and about talking like nothing had even happened. They headed off back home while Ste and I carried on for another hour or so wondering along the beach to see what was going on in the different bars.

Fri 29th - we went back down to the nice sunset beach for a chill out day. Even though it had only been 2 days since we had last come it was sooo much more busier. A huge group of Australians were next to us being really rowdy so it didn't really have the same relaxing feel as when we were here before. Later that evening we headed into town for some dinner and to watch a film in one of the movie bars, we had decided to have a chilled out night and save our energy for the full moon party tomorrow. We actually ended up watching the beach film which is a strange film to watch when you are travelling in Thailand. It showed some scenes from the town we were staying in and of course the famous maya beach that we were planning on visiting in a few days.

Sat 30th - Full Moon Party! Went for a walk during the day down to sunrise beach where the full moon party takes place. It was pretty busy as usual with lots of perfect tanned bodies lined along the beach sunbathing...even though it wasn't sunny. We found a nice little beach bar to chill out and have a drink in. We then walked along to this other bar called Mellow Mountain which isn't on a mountain at all, just have to walk up a few steps to get to it but it gives you a great view of the whole beach. It was pretty chilled out so we just stayed there all afternoon. On the way back to our bungalow I noticed some hairdressers and asked how much it was. £4 for everything she said, everything being wash, cut, blow dry and straighten!!! Yes, straight hair. I had not had straight hair in nearly 5 months, so that was it, I sat and got my hair done! It was so nice afterwards. Went back to the bungalow with Ste where we had a little nap. Got suddenly woken up by all the power going because of torrential rain!! Yes it started raining the only day I have straight hair! Nightmare! Anyway, we got ready (in the dark) doing my make up with a torch was not fun! Luckily by the time we were ready the rain had stopped, power still not on so took us a while to find somewhere for dinner that had a generator and were still serving food. Then the power came back which was lucky otherwise the whole night would have been ruined with no sound system and thousands of people waiting for a beach party. It rained again whilst we were eating but that was it, no more rain for the night. Met with Adam and Karina again for dinner before heading off down to the beach for this infamous party. It was pretty much how it had been on the other nights but with hundreds more people. The night suprisingly went really quick. We had a great night, as you walk along the beach there are different sound systems playing different types of music depending on what you like. Before we knew it we had been dancing for 9 hours straight and the sun was rising!! Was a lovely sunset, got some good piccies. Once it was daylight again we said our goodbyes to Adam and Karina and we headed off for some brekkie before going to bed!

Sun 31st - Slept most of the morning and afternoon! Then headed into town for a lazy day in one of the movie bars just watching films all day long! Very nice after our late night!

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