Party In Ko Phan Ngan (And Muay Thai Too)

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I left Ko Tao after all my diving courses were done and took a boat over to the nearby island of Ko Phan Ngan, only about an hour south. This is the island that has the world famous full moon parties, with travelers from all walks of life coming to see what they're all about. I'm not a huge party person but even I couldn't pass up the chance to see what the island was like. There would be no full moons while I was there but that didn't mean there wouldn't be a party to be seen for every night of my time on the island.

Once I arrived I took a taxi to Haadrin, which was the main stretch of beach on the island where everything happened. I had bumped into a traveler much earlier on my trip who suggested if I went to this island to stay at Luna C hostel, practically right on the beach and only 200 baht a night, pretty good. It was a sixteen bed dorm with aircon but only a couple of people were staying when I got in. I got to talking with them right away and we went out that evening and ate at a place that was showing the movie Avatar, I thought it was a great movie and good quality considering the movie is still in theaters and this was a pirated copy. Afterward we headed to the beach and got some vodka buckets, and jumped the fire rope and saw all the fire jugglers, basically a lot of fire everywhere. Also there was a foam party going and I dove in and got soaked.

The following day those people left and it was only one other person and myself remaining. I went to a Muay Thai gym and signed up for some training and did some weights to salvage whatever muscle mass I had left. It's tough backpacking and trying to maintain a healthy and consistent intake of food as you never know where you'll be next. I'll have a lot of hard work to do when I get back. The Muay Thai training was amazing and they pushed us beyond the general type of martial arts places back home would do. I guess you could say they were pretty ruthless but it was a good thing. I continued doing this for my time on Ko Phan Ngan.

I discovered a place called "Mellow" Mountain at the end of the beach. It wasn't really a mountain but more like a small hill. When I went in there was reggae music flowing and their specialty was happy shakes. Of course I had to try this and for those that don't know it's a shake made with magic mushrooms. I got really mellowed out and lay down for a while as I stared off at the endless party further down the beach. It was tough getting down those stairs afterward. The hostel owner Mark told me later on that they essentially paid off the cops to let them keep selling shrooms and weed without hassle.

Eventually we got some new arrivals and one happened to be an American drummer by the name of Kevin Talley. We got to talking and he told me of all the bands he played with like Chimaira, Devildriver, Dying Fetus, Black Dahlia Murder, he even auditioned for Slayer! It was pretty awesome and who would have thought I'd meet someone like that here. Two more people came along afterward, Manne from Sweden and Luke from England. I got on well with them all and we hung out for the remainder of our time there.

The "Black Moon Party" was coming up and although not the splendor of the full moon, was still mighty by its own right. We went back to mellow mountain and took some shakes before going. This time I got no reaction, Manne threw up, and Luke and Kevin had a nice buzz. Then we left for the party and upon arriving were greeted with terribly loud dance music and hundreds of people dancing the night away. We drank and ate and then drank, tried dancing a bit, got bored, and then discovered a bonfire someone had started just outside the party area. We quickly went into the brush and pulled out anything that could burn and before we knew it we had a raging fire going. We kept it going for a few hours until we all passed out on the beach. When we awoke there was still music blasting and loads of people dancing as if in their own worlds. We arrived home at eight in the AM and passed out.

Kevin woke us up at noon however saying we couldn't waste the day and that we had to explore the island. Mark was amazed we were all up. We went out to eat and then rented motorbikes. I got one with a Yoda design, while Manne and Luke sitting behind him had Darth Vader. Coolness. We reached the northern part of the island and then walked a land bridge to a small island named Ko Mah and proceeded to rock climb along the side of it and swim. We then rode up to a viewpoint and saw the sunset. When we got back later that evening we all passed out again from exhaustion.

The following day Luke, Manne and myself explored the center of the island and rock climbed up an almost dying waterfall and then hiked for a bit in the wilderness. We found out there was more to this island than simply parties. That night we all got drunk by the beach again. The next day I bid farewell to them all as they were heading for Ko Tao, while I had to do a visa run to the nearest border because my allocated time in Thailand was almost out and I needed more. I've had an awesome time here so far. Heading to Bangkok next.

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Comments

[Allison]

Hey! Sound s interestig. I'm looking to do Muay Thai training on Ko Pha Ngan. Where did you train?? Do you know anything about the Muay the muay thai camps on the island?