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**If you dont want to read about the travelling experience from Phuket to Koh Pangan then miss the first paragraph!!**
After Phuket we decided to travel over to Koh Pangan for the Full Moon Party. The travelling however was a disaster! We expected a coach at 7.15 so at 7.45 when a 10 person mini bus turned up we didnt know what was going on. With the mini bus pretty much full we went on to pick up another 3 people so were very overloaded especially with everyones huge backpacks etc! We carried on as we were told we were being dropped at the coach depot. Half way there suddenly very hot water starts leaking on one of groups legs and smoke starts filling the mini bus; the driver then decided to stop for about 10 seconds in the middle of the road before pulling over! After letting it cool down we carried on until we pulled into a garage. The driver then decided to get a hose and pour water down the back of the seat where the water and smoke came from!? We eventually carried on and thankfully we made it alive to our drop off which was
the side of the road. After about an hours wait our coach finally came which was
meant to be luxury! It was a dingy coach with air con that hardly worked! The journey was made quicker by about 15 stops and the Thai karaoke dvd which seemed to be on repeat mid you all added to the days experience! We missed our ferry and had to get on a much later one whcih also took twice as long! Then when we thought we had arrived we realised we had only just got to Koh Samui! Ah well, only 40 minutes to Koh Pangan....1.45 hours later we arrived in Koh Pangan port where we all bundled into an overpriced taxi. We told the driver the name of our resort and she seemed to know which area it was in, so after semi agreeing where it was we started our journey. About an hour and abit later we stopped and the driver called the resort to ask where it was. We then found out that our resort was not only at the other end of the island but it was also on the other side meaning not only did we have to go all the way back but our taxi driver couldn't take us because we needed a 4x4 so we needed to get a new taxi driver. So after going all the way back to the port and paying a taxi fee for no reason we got a new taxi which costs us twice as much as it was now late and they charged more!! We weren't in any mood to argue or seek an alternative so we agreed. 30mins in and we were all gripping on for our lives! I reckon that for the 4x4 experience we had you could charge at least 1500 baht!! The driver was a nutcase, he drove quicker round the mountain bends than he did going straight and when all you can see is a drop behind you, it doesnt fill you with confidence!!! We finally arrived.. alive and took our bags through the forest to our accomodation, which we couldnt find for 15 minutes because the only place around seemed to be a house; although after closer inspection it was actually the reception!!
We stayed at the Silver Cliffs resort on the first night before the full moon party and it was in the middle of nowhere! The rooms were small bungalows in the cliffs and the wildlife was included for free. The only saving grace for the resort was it looked over its very own cove with an amazing beach and a few beach side restaurants. If the actual accomodation was as nice as the surroundings it would have been a palace! However, it was only for a day and a night so thee wasn't too much to complain about. We met up with the 3 girls we have been travelling with and another 2 guys that we last saw way back in Oz, making our group 12.
The day of the full moon party was spent chilling on the beach at silver cliffs, then around 5 we decided to venture into the town with all our bags and booked one room for the night just to put our bags in!
We all went out about 9, loaded with water pistols as the water festival was only the day before and there was still alot of people out soaking others! The town was buzzing and everyone was gearing up for one of the biggest full moon party's in recent years as this time it coincided with Thai New Year and the water festival!!
We hit the beach about 10 and as soon as you stepped on the sheer scale of the party hit you. As far as you could see left and as far as you could see right there the beach was filled with people. Apparently the full moon party brings some 15-20,000 people to the beach! All the beach bars were lively and playing every different type of music you can imagine!
The night started steadily and the Sangsom buckets flowed ('Buckets' are a full moon tradition, its a small sand castle type bucket with one a bottle of whiskey/vodka etc etc , red bull and coke) Obviously some responsible drinking was in order which was definitely apparent as the night went on. The party got more and more busy during the night and full moon beamed down. Slowly the day started to begin and everyone watched the sun rise over the sea. It was an amazing party and the sun rise seemed to round it off! We all agreed that it was probably the best and definitely the most unique party we had ever been to!
The day was pretty unproductive as you can imagine and we decided to check into a couple of rooms, use the pool and sleep! The next day it was onto Koh Samui, the biggest of the islands which will be where my next blog will come from!
http://www.travelblog.org/Bloggers/JonnyD
www.1stopchiangmai.com www.1stopbangkok.com www.1stopphuket.com www.1stopkrabi.com www.1stopsamui.com www.1stoppattaya.com
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