Thailand, Koh Samui

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So 48 hours of travel and we finally made it to Koh Samui. To get us to our destination we travelled in a car, plane, taxi, train, bus, ferry, and finally mini bus which took us to our destination . However I must not leave out the 13 hour wait for our train in Bangkok train station, the smelliest toilet from our sleeper train and the fantastic Thai airways. Thai airways were brilliant and it was by far the best journey we have taken with an airline to date. This was probably due to little things such as: The crew being really lovely, the food being beautifully prepared plus yummy and the interior of the plane that was bright pink, orange and yellow with little touches like flowers in the toilet. The orchid that all the women were presented with as we left the craft was the icing on the cake, so cool.

When we got to our accommodation sarah and I were both shattered and pretty much slept for most of the day but we had to wake up as we had the full moon party on Koh Panang to attend. The Full Moon Party is a huge event that occurs once a month on Hat Rin, one of the beaches on Koh Panang. Thousands of people gather to party, drink and dance until sunrise so that is exactly what we did.

Me and Sarah caught the ferry across from Koh Samui to koh Panang and before hitting the beach we had something to eat. On the way down we walked through little streets where many stools were selling something called a bucket. A bucket consisted of an actual bucket that you buy and inside you can chose the ingrediants that range from a bottle of either vodka, whisky or rum, a coke or lemonade and a red bull. We had been warned against these by the guy that runs our accommodation but we thought we could definitely handle it. As the beach came into view we came upon the most awesome sight. There were hundreds of people here, some sitting on carpets that had been put out onto the sand, either chatting, dancing or standing around. Lots people were wearing of those luminous bands and bracelets and along with the boats in the water and the trees that were all lit up with fairy lights, it made for the most stunning sight. It was so pretty.

We made our way to the huge expanse of carpet and proceeded to drink our bucket and talk to the people around us. The alcohol got flowing and we were talking to many of the groups of people around us. One group next to us, the only group that wasn't a bunch of bald headed lesbians, was a group that included a few lads who were all travelling alone but had met up along the way. They included a guy from Cambridge called Danny, another was a completely crazy Irish guy - who I forget the name of and a heavy smoking American. As the evening went on we all headed towards a place they had been drinking at during the day and then the subject of a drink called a happy shake came up.

Now I won't go into what is exactly in a happy shake but having made sure it was relatively safe -from various trustworthy -ish- people, we had one. Lets just say from then on the evening was possibly the most smiley evening i have ever had. We could not wipe the grin off our faces and kept giggling at anything and every thing. When we all got back to the beach and it seemed ten times more crazy than beofore- and probably was due to the amount of tanked up people either dancing like crazies or sprawled out on the sand. As we all laid back and stared at the huge full moon every bit of my body was tingling and all around me the luminus bands and people dancing made me feel as if I was at some funk rave. It was the perfect start to our travels.

As the night went on and other random acts of silliness occurred, the tiredness of our 48hours of travel hit home for Sarah particularly- So very reluctantly I said goodbye to Danny and the others and we began a failed attempt to negotiate down the extortionate prices of a boat to take us back to our island. We finally found one that would do it for a medium to extortionate price and proceeded to wade up to the boat, getting soaking wet in the process. Then we began a very dodgy ride across the ocean to our island which incorporated lots of praying we weren't going to die, salt spray in our faces and a drunk guy that kept falling on me. All that aside, it was one of the most memorable evenings of my life and as I thought back over the evenings events I noticed the reflection of the full moon in the ocean, and double image made me feel there will be a second chance fir me to come back one day in the future- yeah I was wasted 😉

The next day was beautiful but we were so hungover I'm afraid it was a bit of a write off.

Day three and determined to not waste another second inside we got up and headed towards Chaweng-- the east side of the island that was supposed to have beautiful beaches. we got there in a converted pick up truck that islanders use as a bus. As we drove through the streets of Koh Samui it dawned on me that this was like no place I have ever been before; the smells, the colours the different kinds of shops and the market stools selling all manner of things.

We spent the the morning sunbathing on a lovely beach. I then decided to investigate one of the many massage stools that lined the shore. Thailand has to be unique for the way it embraces alternative health. I mean, every 3rd shop is a massage place and on the beach every other stall amongst the food and jewelry was a massage one and prices are so cheap. I asked the very pretty lady for a foot and leg massage as my legs were very stiff from he travelling. As I laid under the trees on the edge of the beach and listened to the waves lapping against the shore I there enjoyed the most relaxing massage I can remember. I only became slightly concerned as she began to use her whole body to stretch my back but it wasn't painful at all and I went away far too relaxed, vowing that while I was here I would take advantage of this way of life and have a massage as often as possible before I leave.

After this we booked some trips to do during the week we had coffee in a funny bar called Captain Kerk's that overlooked the streets of Chaweng- definitely worth a look if you come here. Afterwards we headed back to the beach and then had a look at the various market stalls before having a lovely sea food dinner and then heading back to our place.

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