Ko Pha-Ngan

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Following the long travel, we had finally arrived. We were on Ko Pha-Ngan island. After 22 hours of travel & a lot of messing about the last thing anyone of us wanted to do was mess about some more haggling for a taxi to our beach bungalows in Ban Kaai, however when you're just off the boat & don't really know what's what, you're fresh for the taking... well not us. We'd rather hang about for an hour going back & forth to get the best price, which in the end proved to be the price we were initially quoted when we first arrived: 100 Bhat per person. The whole taxi system works differently on Ko Pha-Ngan island. For starters they're old converted jeeps with 2 wooden benches down either side & no back so it makes it a lot more easier to fall out & secondly there are some very big hills - very big, which probably means they use more petrol running people about & they too also make it a lot easier to fall out. Anyway whilst the lads (Dean, Kieran & I) were deadlocked in pointless negotiation with a number of taxi drivers, Kate & Sam thought they would make good use of the spare time, so what better thing to do to kill some time than exercise in a children's play ground!

With the pointless negotiating out of the way, we were on our way to the Blue Lotus, our beach bungalows for the next 5 nights. No more than 3 minutes into the journey, the heavens opened & there was a frantic dash to take all of the 5 ruck sacks off the roof & get them into the back of the jeep with us, which made it just that little bit easier to fall out of the jeep. Also in Ko Ph-Ngan the taxi drivers have a habit of not actually dropping you where you want to get out, so you end up having to walk some of the way, or spend 5 minutes trying to get them to turn around and drop you outside where you want to be. And, when it's lashing it down, you want to be right outside if not on the door step of where you want, so naturally we had to get the taxi man to back up a 150 meters to the Blue Lotus. We made a quick dash into a woman's house & she was happy to lend us some shelter just whilst we got our water proof covers on our back packs. We then made our way down a very wet & steep drive way down to the Blue Lotus... what a view. Straight off the road & down the drive way, you found yourself practically on the beach with no more than 20 bungalows & a small restaurant - beautiful.
We dumped our bags & checked in, then we tucked into some good food. The food was reasonably priced & they had quite an extensive menu which included: Chicken Burgers, Onion Rings, Full English Breakfast & of course Pad Thai, a real traditional Thai menu. Shortly after eating the sky cleared & it was a hot & sunny afternoon, we relaxed, enjoyed the sun, sea & beach & watched a beautiful sun set (ref the accompanying picture).

Now fed & well rested from our long journey down & across, we were ready to check out what the island could offer in the form of partying, so we headed straight to one of the best places to go for a pool party; Coral Bungalows. Lucky for us, one of the chaps who worked at the Blue Lotus also had his own Taxi jeep, which can only be a good thing right? We're staying at the resort he works at, we're spending money on the food & drink, so surely we should qualify for a cheaper / guest rates... wrong. We had to spend 15 minutes negotiating with him, which thankfully paid off - we were all 20 Bhat better off. With negotiations out of the way & an extra 20 Bhat each in our pocket we made way for the pool party up some very steep hills, some of which we weren't too sure whether we were going to make it up, but just about did.
Obviously we had to walk about 150 meters back down the road to Coral bungalows because that's how the taxi system works in Ko Pha-Ngan, but as we walked down this small dusty road & walked into the pool party we realised that we were onto a winner. Good music was being pumped out, loud enough to keep anyone staying at Coral Bungalows awake & in the pool party & there generally was just a good vibe - everyone happy, playing stupid drinking games & jumping in the pool.
One thing that stuck out, that we had all resisted so far, was the buckets. That's right, buckets. These weren't any ordinary buckets, but what can only be best described as small beach buckets that would usually be used by a small child whilst building sand castles on the beach, but substitute the child & sand for adults & alcohol & you'll get the picture. So anyway, we had to have our first bucket & what better bucket to start us off than & bucket of Sam Song, Coke & Red Bull. Three Sam Song, Coke & Red Bull buckets later & we were in the pool - good times! We probably stayed at Coral Bungalows for about 3 hours before we decided to move on & head for the main beach where the actual Full Moon party would be held; Haadrin Beach. It's always a good idea after drinking a number of buckets of 80% proof Thai whisky to participate in flaming limbo dancing. Unfortunately for me, being 6"4 makes it just that little bit more harder so I didn't do particularly well (no burns though), however Dean pretty much seemed to have nailed the skillful art of flaming limbo dancing, whilst drunk on Sam Song & doing so whilst still holding his bucket & not spilling any - well done Dean. Not long after that we were pretty worse for wear so decided to call it a night. Again like Bangkok, there are simple little cooking stalls set up in car parks or at the side of the roads, all serving beautiful & very cheap food which we just had to have. As Sam seemed to be the only one not in a state she went to go & get the food & left Dean & me stood next to 3 motor bikes. Well as you can imagine Sam returned to find me wedged in between 2 of the bikes with my knees firmly tucked behind my head. Before you do, don't. I don't know either. Also I'm not too sure why Sam or Dean didn't seize the opportunity to take any pictures, they just didn't. After hoisting me up from my mangled position, Dean, Sam & I made for home.

We spent the next few days chilling out & hired some motor bikes to tour the island & it's many beaches & also see a water fall, with no water. In the build up to the Full Moon party many people descend to Ko Pha-Ngan island - 2 of them being Barry & Elaine who we met off the boat from Ko Samui, as they were running a week behind us. For anyone that knows Barry, this was both a good & bad thing. For those who don't know Barry he is one crazy cat who doesn't know his limits (much like myself). He's a good time guy for about 4 hours before reverting back to a child-like state, & needs constant looking after.
As the Full Moon party fast approached we were all in good spirit & decided to do a recon-mission to scope out a few of the better bars to go to at the Full Moon. It was like the Full Moon had all ready started, 100's & 100's of people enjoying, music, food, buckets not to mention the bloody fire dancers everywhere, it was great. Sam & I stayed out until about 2.30 & then retired to bed.
Come 7.30-ish (am), where one might expect to be woken up by say a Cockerel that's running slightly late with his morning call, we & I imagine pretty much everyone staying at the Blue Lotus Resort were woken up by Dean & Barry's arrival back from the night before recon-mission. As you can imagine, they weren't in the best shape. Barry more so than Dean. After our early wake up call, we spent most of the day chilling out hearing about Barry's & Dean's stories from the night before, sounded like we were going to have a really good night!
The Full Moon party had finally arrived & so had Fredrick, the crazy Swedish guy we met on the night train? Anyway after catching up with Fredrick & his travels, a few new card tricks & some food we all decided it would only be right to practice the long & sacred ancient tradition of the Full Moon party & paint neon glow-in-the-dark face paint all over ourselves. Needless to say, some of us were more creative than others... I thought my handy work on Barry was particularly good!
All face painted up Sam, Elaine, Kate, Barry, Dean, Kieran, Catherine, Laura, Jade, Fredrick & myself all managed to fit into the taxi jeep & then we were off.
What followed was a great night. Great company, OK music (considering "14 different sound systems, catering for everyone's choice of music") & just a couple of buckets (didn't want to over do it, again). Most of our group got split up throughout the night, mainly due to a few early casualties (Barry), but I'm happy to say Sam, Dean & I made it all the way through to sunrise - where it then became quite apparent of the other casualties of the Full Moon party. People who pretty much looked like they were dead & a few skanky people who looked like they had just been washed up on the beach. After that was out of the way, we pretty much just 'chillaxed' & sorted out our travel plans to our next destination: Krabi.

All-in-all we had a great time before & at the Full Moon party. We made some good friends that we'll definitely keep in touch with & no doubt will meet again on our travels. I also understand that no matter where you go in the world, taxi drivers are all the same - just as annoying & rip you off!

*(There are a few pictures missing from this blog. This is due to a bloody computer I used in Ko Phi Phi having a virus on & reformatting & then deleting the pictures from my external hard drive... Gutted!)

Next stop, Krabi.

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Comments

[natasha higgins]

hi both hope your ok. good to see you having a good time. The pictures look amazing and the full moon party looks good. Matt would probably enjoy that. Dad said you phoned last night. he's out again next week he's got the bug i think glad he's enjoying himself though. everything is fine here not much has happened. the new car has been ordered should be here in a few weeks. speak to you soon. love tashxxxxx

[Kimblejit]

Shakira!!!
Shakira, Shakira! Samrajina - I bloody love it! You wore it again and it looks beautiful! Do you still have to do the dance every time you hear the song or is the debt paid now? Funny times! I think Ill put mine on tonight and do the dance in memory of us! Love you, tattys!!! xxxxxxxxxx

[Karen Guy]

Finally!!!!!
FANTASTIC!!!!! Hope you are both well. Karen xxxxxxxxxxxxxx

[mish]

missin u already, much lovedxxx
Hi guys, just wanted to say how lovely it was to see you. Don't know if you realise how happy you've made us all feel seeing you again. Just seeing you Dan, with all your cousins, brothers and of course my beautiful sister Sue, Mom and Dad..... Sam, your Dad, Tash & Kimberley... and all family members who love you both so much, was wonderful and fun. So proud of you both. Hope it won't be too long before we see you again. Take good care of each other. xxxxx mwah mwah mish