It's All About The Moon

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Hello again. Monday night was the Half Moon Party in the jungle. All the parties here seem to be based on the phase of the moon. The big one is the Full Moon Party that happens once a month and thousands of people come from everywhere to party on the beach. Since I am here in between full moons, I get to attend some of the smaller parties. The party site is a bit of a distance from where we are staying, so I was a bit concerned about how we were going to get there. My friend, Augustine said, “Let’s just ride our motorbikes!”, and I replied that it is pretty far and it will be late at night. “So what?” was his response. Well on the way there he took a turn too fast and wiped out. When we finally all caught up to each other he was in bad shape. The skin off of his knee was gone and his hand and arm were all scraped up. “Let’s just ride our motorbikes…”

The party was fun and the music was great, real electronic, big beats. At these parties the drink of choice is The Bucket. It consists of a pint of rum (Sang-Som, made in Thailand), a bottle of Red Bull energy drink (which seems much stronger than what is sold in the States), and a can of Coke served in a sand bucket like one you would use to play in the sand. Several straws are inserted and everyone in the group sips until the next one comes along. There were lots of girls there, and people were painted in fluorescent paint that glowed in the black lights.

The next day I checked out of the Jungle Huts and went next door to the Pha-Ngan Cabana. I took another long ride on my bike and found another waterfall. This one was quite impressive. It was long with several falls and a big one that dropped off at the end. Since I was on top of the falls I didn’t get to see the dramatic end, but I got another surprise instead. (See picture)

We found another hang-out called the Amsterdam Bar. It is on the side of a steep hill and has an amazing view. There are short tables and cushions on the floor for maximum relaxation. Oh, and if the name of the bar suggests anything to you, then you are right on track.

Riding through the island is quite an experience. The sights never get old. The smells are unusual too. It seems that the coconut is a large part of the diet of the locals. After they crack open and use the meat and milk or whatever, they are left with a pile of husks somewhere around their house. Since they don’t have anything else to do with them, they burn them. So every kilometer or so, you come across a drum or a pile of burning coconut husks. They have a unique smell. It is sort of like wood but with a heavy, oily texture to it.

Yesterday I rode down to Haad Rin beach. This is where most people stay, and is also where the boat I rode on, from Koh Samui, docked. It was about a 50 minute ride on my bike from Chaopao, where I’m staying.
This is a nice beach with whit sand and clear, warm water, and lots of topless sun bathing European chicks. The only negative thing I noticed were the amount of cigarette butts in the sand, no doubt left by the Full Mooners.

Sunday morning I plan to go to Koh Tao for chapter 3 which features SCUBA diving…

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