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Published: March 16th 2009
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Ko Phangan is well-known on the backpacker circuit as a huge party island and home of the (in)famous Full Moon Party. The timing was just a little off for Stephanie and Kari to experience the drunken, drug-induced (for some!) debauchery of that monthly rave-like beach party, but I've already had my one and only experience with it with Fiona and Virginia this past July. Don't get me wrong, the Full Moon party was worth experiencing and I actually had a fabulous time dancing the night away and splashing in the ocean like a seal pup, but I don't need to repeat it. It seems like one of those things that wouldn't be as good the second time around or if the conditions weren't quite right.
Instead, we had a very wholesome beach experience, seemingly world's away from the hype and hedonism of Had Rin and the Full Moon Party. In fact, it was like a little slice of the hippie dippy elements of Boulder plopped into a plush jungle beach location. After the odyssey of getting down to the beach, we were rewarded with a super laid-back atmosphere and delicious food for every meal at a place, aptly-named, The Sanctuary,
on Had Thien.
Gettting there and away was truly more of a hassle than I had expected. Though you know the trip from Bangkok is going to be long, it seemed magnified by the many stops and starts and various forms of transporation we needed to use. It's exhausting to even think about the whole thing now, and the past is passed, but I will say this- the train is definitely a more delightful and comfortable way to go than the bus when you are on it, but I didn't know how far the train station was from the actually ferry dock and that we would have to take two separate buses to get there. So in that one way, the bus is actually nicer because you only have to take one form of transporation the whole way to the ferry at least. The sleeper car on the train was pretty comfortable, though, and we enjoyed takeaway food from Cabbages and Condoms and were entertained by an English guy who led us through visualizations to unlock the secrets of our psyches (Ex. "You're on a beach, imagine the beach. Is the water calm or choppy? Is the sand soft
or rough?" etc.). One large Chang beer was enough to tuck me away in my cozy little sleeping cubby for the rest of the journey.
After the train and bus and another bus. We finally got on the ferry. We arrived on the island more than two hours later than scheduled and then still had to take a songthaew and a longtail boat to get over to Had Thien. I think we were all pretty relieved (especially Kari, who wasn't feeling well) when we arrived at The Sanctuary and instinctively felt that we were going to want to stay longer there.
We stayed in a little bungalow that was up the steep path behind the restaurant. We were very close to "Buddha Hall" where yoga was held three times a day and meditation or chanting was held in the evenings. There were other activities on different nights of the week, too, such as game night, movie night, Friday night party (which sadly we missed, arriving on Satuday), and open mic night. It felt like hippie summer camp, in a way. I wished I could stay a week to get the full rotation of events (and eat the delicious
organic vegetarian food!)
The only catch was that it wasn't exactly cheap and they had the cruise ship no-cash system of having account numbers and letting you charge everything (food, room, yoga, spa treatments) to your account. Dangerous! But our stay was short so I didn't worry about the money we were spending on yummy food and accommodation. My mouth is watering now thinking of the food-- lentil burgers on homemade bread, fresh hummus with veggies, organic salads with lemon yogurt dressing, veg sausage sandwich, tofu scramble, mmmmmmmmmm. They also had a bakery case that I would drool over every time I went by and on the second night Kari and Stephanie surprised me with a piece of cake with a candle for my birthday since I'll be off on my own somewhere this year. I was so confused when the cake was put on the table because Kari's birthday is coming up before mine and I thought it was for her but didn't know why I wasn't let in on the secret!
The second evening we all went to chanting at Buddha Hall and it was really fun. There's something so nice about group sing-along, which is
essentially what chanting is, with more of a spiritual twist. We chanted in English, Sanskrit, and one of the African languages (don't know which one!). It was really serene. In between chants, we would hear all the jungle sounds of the animals. It was almost like they were responding to the chants. The woman who led chanting said that there would be a party on the beach at The Sanctuary on the night of the Full Moon Party- an alternative scene, if you will. Being there made the Full Moon Party seem so far away and totally undesirable. I wished we could stay for the party on the beach (drum circle, anyone?)
We had to stay somewhere closer to the pier on the last night since our journey back to Bangkok would begin at 4:30 AM the next day. I was sad to have to say goodbye to The Sanctuary, but we ended up staying at a nice little place with the curious name of B-52 Resort. It had a little pool and very new, clean bungalows with fluffy bedding.
The beach, apart from the journey to and from, was, as usual, a true delight.
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