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Published: March 28th 2013
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March 21
st Ko Phangan was a whirlwind of fun and laughter from the minute we landed in the arms of Seth and Jordyn. But that is pretty par for the course with these two. They have been our dear friends since the first year we lived on Kauai and we’ve been lucky enough to vacation with them for 3 years in a row now. This time we joined them on there home away from paradise, the north shore of Ko Phangan, which is not all that different from the north shore of Kauai, just a different country. It took us some time to get there, 2 days exactly and the last 3 hours I could feel the anticipation vibing out of their bodies which was essentially what lead us there because we were extremely lost. Seth told us to take a tuk tuk but why would we do that when we could rent our own motorbikes for the same price. If we would have physically asked that question we would have gotten a great answer, one that would have saved us around $200 USD. The road to Thong nai pan, where we were staying on the north shore, isn’t what
you would call ‘easily accessible’ due to unpaved roads and 90 degree down hill slopes consisting of sand and gravel. I wouldn’t say I “crashed” my bike, more like I tipped over, but my bike continued down the hill without me. Unlike the rest of Thailand, Ko Phangan doesn’t offer insurance for this reason. It’s pretty much how they make all of their money. Touché. So after “tipping over” we spent a couple hours tracking our friends down and they spent the whole day drinking and waiting for us but our reunion was better than I had imagined and I quickly forgot about our journey there.
That evening we went to a party at a local bar called the “better than sex bar”… I wouldn’t go that far but the scenery was nice. Built against the side of the mountain they had used rock faces as walls and backdrops for the DJ and had fountains and lights installed that created the perfect ambiance. We met every person there was to meet on the north shore at this party and we danced the night away. Pretty much every bar you go to in the south is tended by “lady boys”
who are so good at spinning fire its mind blowing. I was lucky enough to have brought my equipment and they were stoked when I asked them if I could light up so I did. I had attracted a large crowd that got bigger when one of the boys started spinning staff behind me. It was an awesome moment to say the least. I continued to play with both my fire and LED glow poi for the rest of the night which landed me free drinks so that didn’t suck. This happened a couple more times during our stay including Yai beach where the lady boys let me DJ my ipod and taught me new tricks. They are on a whole different level, doing moves I had never seen before and THAT is one of the greatest parts of traveling. They danced to my tunes the whole evening while we sat on the beach looking at the moon sharing buckets of cocktails with 4 straws.
Each day was spent lounging in our lilos (Australian word for floaties) in the ocean, visiting all of Seths friends, eating and catching up. One day we took our bikes back the south side
to visit some elephants and catch sunset. I am not interested in riding elephants because it's cruel and wrong so we bought bundles of bananas and fed them until there was none left. Elephants are the most amazing creatures. They are so huge and gentle and get treated so badly across the board. Elephant’s backs are not shaped to hold any amount of weight especially big boxes for multiple people to ride on. They have curved spines that are destroyed by supporting large loads. I could go on for days about the cruelty that these animals experience but I'm saving that for another blog. After the elephants we went to a place called the Amsterdam bar that is well known for being the best place on the island to watch the sunset because you must drive up the mountain and them climb a huge flight of stairs in order to get there but you get a panoramic view of the whole west side including views of surrounding islands. As the four of us are having a magical moment sitting watching the sun go down I hear a familiar voice behind me. “Paige?”... Boomcakes! Standing behind me is my college friend
Kelsey. Half way across the world on an island in Thailand I run into someone I know from Bend Oregon. She and 7 of her friends join us on the roof deck and we officially have a party. Lots of hugs were had and we cherished this extra special moment till it was time to eat! We parted ways with Kelsey and headed to the night market to fill up on street food. We had so many equally delicious meals on Ko Phangan including not only Thai but also Italian and Indian that were very well executed. On our last night with our friends we had family dinner at ‘the living room’ where some locals fixed us a nice spread of pig and potatoes while we watched rugby. Btw rugby is amazing and maybe my new favorite sport to watch, not play.
It was so long for now but not goodbye because we will be staying with Seth and Jordyn in Kauai in a few weeks but as far as the island goes I will certainly be revisiting Ko Phangan the next chance I get and I suggest everyone does the same
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