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Published: August 17th 2006
Ko Phan-Ngan
Full moon is up and the party beginsGot on the ferry from Surat Thani that was set to take us to Ko Phan-Ngan. I slept for most of the way and when I awoke we realised that upon arriving in Ko Phan-Ngan it would be a full on Amazing Race style mission to try and find accomodation. With one day to go before the full-moon party we knew the place would be packed and every other person on this ferry would be trying desperately to find somewhere to stay. So the race was on.
As the ferry docked we grabbed our bags and headed for the jetty. Touts were around trying to offer us the best deal, and after frantically talking to a few we realised that Haad Rin (the beach where the full moon party is held) was completely booked out. Great. So we chatted to some guy and agreed to go with him to a resort that was in the hills, surrounded by beautiful jungle palms, with a great view and only 10 minutes from the beach. Got in the back of his truck and set on our way. I was feeling good about this place, the sun was shining and the cool breeze was
Ko Phan-Ngan
First night there and we had drinks at a really cool cliff top bar. blowing through my hair (more like blowing across my bald patch!). We arrived at this 'resort' and got taken to our room. "This place sucks" we both said. The room was okay, the view was nice, but that was it. In fact that all the owner kept saying "Nice wiew, nice wiew" We were in the middle of nowhere, not another westerner in sight, no beach, no shops, nothing. We felt like we had lost the race. Then the owner came in and quoted us a different price for the room, which then turned into this big argument over what was agreed down at the jetty and what actually was happening. He then agreed to give us a 'special discount', yeah right 'special discount' my ass! So we were contemplating staying there until we asked which way to the beach and the shops. It was then that we found out that to get anywhere, you had to rent a motorbike for 150 Baht a day! Me on a friggen motorbike down these winding hills. No way, we're outta here!
So we got our packs and left with our heads held high, okay not really that high coz he did
Ko Phan-Ngan
The view onto Sunset Beach from our beautiful cliff top bungalow. manage to swindle another 100 Baht out of us for some stupid reason. We didn't care, we were glad to be out of there and back on the way to wining this race. The sun was beating down on us and our packs were heaving. We didn't have a plan, just to get to the main road and maybe flag down a taxi to take us somewhere, anywhere, we just didn't care. Sure enough a truck stopped by with some old thai dudes in the back. They asked us where we were going, we said Haad-Rin and they offered us a lift. Okay so mum always said dont accept rides from strangers but these guys seemed genuine and there was no way I walking all the way to the other side of the island in this heat. I convinced Luke that "We'd be fine" and we jumped in. It wasn't till we started driving that I glanced down to the floor of the truck and saw two huge machetes!
Oh my god, we're going to die! They're going to take us out into the jungle, chop us up into little pieces and sell us on skewers to the stupid
Ko Phan-Ngan
The balcony of our beautiful bungalow tourists! God why did I not listen to my mother? Maybe if I try and roll off the side and land on my bum I'll just roll down the hill and not break any bones, but what about Luke. He was sitting opposite me and there was no way I could warn him about the giant machetes without the Thai killers knowing. Thats it, I'd have to leave him. Or maybe just maybe, I could grab a machette and finish them off before they finish us, then I'd be a hero. Who am I kidding, I cant even walk on an escalator without hurting myself, I'd probably chop off my own arm in a clumsy attempt to get the machete. Thats it then, I'm gonna jump. Sorry Luke, you're a great friend but.......then the truck stopped. "You in Haad Rin" said a Thai voice. Wow what a sweet Thai killer he turned out to be. Wiped the sweat off my brow, said our thanks and continued the race to find accomodation. The whole jungle hut debacle had cost us valuable time and we knew that with each passing moment fewer and fewer beach huts would be available.
Haad Rin
Ko Phan-Ngan
Our bed...it was huge and sooo comfy! was actually a really cool area. Yeah it reeked of tourists, but I didn't really care. So many restaurants, bars and really really beautiful people. But I had to focus on finding a room, I can perve later! After about two hours of searching and sweating we couldn't find anything. Sat on the side of a road and began to get depressed. Asked a few travel agents, asked some passing westerners but everyone had the same answer - Haad Rin is full for the full moon party. So we had two options, go to Ko Samui and then get the water taxi over for the party, or stay somewhere else on the island and get a taxi to Haad Rin for the party. Neither of these ideas appealed to us. I was depressed and felt like the race was over, we had lost. I left Luke and went for a walk down towards the beach. Saw this really nice hotel that had bungalows overlooking the beach. It was way too nice to have rooms free but I thought I'd check it out, lets just say I had a hunch. Sure enough they had one bungalow free. It was way too
Ko Phan-Ngan
The bathroom was amazing, rocks features, plantation, and a hot shower! I was in heaven! expensive and I didn't even consult Luke about it, I just paid for it there and then. I was so happy and I couldn't stop smiling as I walked back to tell Luke the good news. I must've looked like a fat kid who had found the key to the candy store. Luke was so proud of me, his stupid strunzo of a manchild had come through with the goods! Had a quick lunch (of pad thai which I'm now addicted too) and headed to our room. My god this room was better then we thought! It was just beautiful, with a lounge area, hot shower and balcony complete with a hammock, outdoor seating area and an amazing view! We had won. The amazing race was over and we were victorious!
Once we got settled and gloated in our new found happiness we headed down to the beach for good ole suntanning and swimming. The beach was beautiful, not only was the water a beautiful sea green and so invitingly warm, but restaurants and bars lined the beachfront, and although it was touristy, it was fantastic. It was then that we realised that we hadn't given our details to
Ko Phan-Ngan
Sunset beach, where the full moon party would soon take place. Ed and Xana, the English backpackers we met on the train. In our hungover state as we left the train we shouted a quick "See in Ko Phan-Ngan" and that was it. Oh well, we were sure to see them sometime on the island. Had dinner and went back to our room to celebrate our victory - bolinger champagne and pringles, nothing but the best!
Spent the next day just checking out the area of Haad Rin. We couldn't get over how many good looking people there were here. But that didn't bother us coz being as sexy as we are, we fit right in. Wandered around and noticed that the restaurants play movies every night and some just show back to back episodes of Friends all day. It's a bit stupid though, why come to a beautiful island to sit in a restaurant and watch a movie, but in a way its good. Sometimes you just need that to chill out, and the beach can get a bit monotonous after a while. Had a fairly cruisy day checking out the shops, laying on the beach. The beach was already started to get pumped up, as the full moon
Ko Phan-Ngan
Sunset beach, water taxi bringing people over from other island for the party. party was set to happen that night - we were so excited! Went back to our room to get ready and have a few pre drinks. We could have easily gotten ready and gone straight to the party but our room was so nice and sitting out on the balcony in the hammock was just too good to waste. Finally made it down to the beach and met up with a few friends of Kate's (remember Kate, my US roadtrip buddy). Well her friends happened to be on Ko Phan-Ngan too so we met up with them and got set to have a great night.
The full moon party is exactly what I thought it would be and more. The whole strip of sunrise beach is just chock full of people, but not in an uncomfortable feel like sardines sort of way. There was plenty of room to sit at a table on the sand and people watch, or get up and dance like crazy out the front of any bar that was playing the music you like. It was just crazy and everybody seemed to be having such a good time. We soon discovered the 'buckets' which are
Ko Phan-Ngan
Sunset beach a very deadly thing. Basically you go up to a make shift bar and the counter is full off sand castle type buckets. In each bucket is a bottle of Red Bull syrup, a bottle of vodka, bourbon or whiskey, and then a mixer. You pay for which one you want, they empty the contents into the bucket with ice and then give it to you with a handful of straws! It was so weird, but so cool. All these people just walking along the beach, bucket in hand drinking away. Fair enough to say these buckets get you very drunk, very quickly and sooner or later I got to the stage where I didn't quite make sense of what was going on. I didn't care, I was having fun. Watched the firetwirlers, drank a bucket, chatted to random people (including a group of English guys dressed as smurfs!), drank a bucket, took stupid photos, drank a busket, and danced around for hours like a complete lunatic!! The plan was to stay out all night and wait for sunrise, but by about 3am we could barely stand up. We obviously didn't realise the full effect of those buckets! We needed
Full Moon Party
All dressed and ready for the party, beer in hand of course! to get to bed. As we stumbled back to our room, I tried to give the rest of my bucket to some girl but she wouldn't take it. So I ended up having a conversation with her (or more to myself) that I didn't put any drugs into the bucket, I wasn't planning to date rape her and that its a really good drink, but she didn't believe me. So I left it on the side of the road and somehow made it to bed.
Next morning was terrible, we could barely move, although Luke somehow found the energy to get out of bed and go buy a pizza. When he returned with that box of pizza I praised the lord and began devouring it. And let me tell you, it was the best dam pizza I have ever had! Wasted the day away on the beach and it was hard to believe that this beach was the same beach we had been at the previous night. For the most part it was pretty clean. There were a few small piles of rubbish sitting around, but we knew they'd get cleared up by the end of the day. Thats
Full Moon Party
Fire twirlers began the festivities one thing that I noticed about the full moon party - it was so well organised. There were drinks available every 5 metres (which was probably a bad thing), food of all types, as well as music to cater to everyones tastes and at the end it all gets cleared up. I guess the whole event brings so much money to the island that its in their best interest to facilitate it.
Did a bit of shopping, ate some more food and drank loads of water! I still felt so rough and you could tell on the faces of people walking the streets that everyone had a great night. My only regret is that I wish we paced ourselves a bit better so that we could enjoy the whole night, but I've never been one to really pace myself at these sorts of occasions!
Bought some poi's from a local shop. Most people probably don't know what a 'poi' is. Basically its like a tennis ball, attached to a long string, but the tennis ball is covered in material and ribbon. You attach the string to your fingers and you twirl the poi's around and above your head
making swirling patterns, sort of like fire twirlering, but without the hazard. And me and hazard dont go well together. I've done poi's before and want to get better because its actually much harder then it looks and there is so many cool tricks and techniques you can learn. So Luke and I bought some and spent the night in our lounge spinning around like crazy. I was doing really well and I advised Luke to be careful because the first two times I used them I hit myself in the balls and it was very painful. I was very impressed with Luke as he picked it up the moves I was teaching him really quickly. I was a little jealous actually so in an vain attempt to prove that poi really is harder then it looks I tried a difficult move and sure enough whacked myself in the balls with both of the pois! I squealed in pain, grabbed my crotch and ran to the bedroom screaming in pain. Luke couldn't stop laughing and although I could see the humour, the pain was overwhelming. I hit myself so hard that my stomach was hurting. Okay that was way too
much information, but you need to understand the severity of this! Enough with the pois for one night I think.
Another day, another destination - next up Ko Tao and our 4 day scuba diving course. Please god with my accident prone track record, I hope I don't die!
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Ailsa
non-member comment
Hello you
Hey honey, cant believe your there i was there a year ago seems so long ago, go to Bahns they are really nice, if you are there see if you get a guy called Santi or sean they were my instructors, they are great! hope you are having a wicked time Lots of love xx