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Published: November 11th 2009
After our Ko Tao outing, we ferried our way to Ko Pha-ngan, the island we spotted from the Sunnyview restaurant near the peak on the last island. And of course, it's the island famous for its full moon party. It's an event that Clark and I decided we had to attend; a tour of Southeast Asia for twenty-somethings isn't complete without it. It lived up to its reputation.
We took the ferry from Ko Tao with the two South Africans, Kate and Grattin. Clark had arranged for us to stay at Cookie Bungaloes, while Kate and Grattin were going to be doing some bargain hunting when they landed. Unfortunately, that was the last we would see of them since they got whisked away by promises of lodging for two hundred and fifty baht. Stupidly we didn't exchange any information with them, but they were great to hang out with. So, Grattin and Kate, if you ever find this, drop me a line so we can get in touch! I'd love to check out Shark Alley in SA with you guys... Anyways, Clark and I were soon hanging off the back of a make shift taxi towards the Bungaloes, and after
The South Africans
Kate and Grattin on the boat to Ko Pha-ngana short but costly taxi ride, we got settled in our hut. It was a great spot. Far enough from the party to get some sleep, but close enough to get there and back in one piece. The restaurant was great, and was run by a very accommodating Burmese guy. the food there was good enough, and I enjoyed some of their banana shakes. I think the banana shake count so far on the trip was up in the hundreds. We arrived days before the party to get comfortable in our new place. It didn't take much. The ocean view and the hammock on our porch made the transition very, very easy. Eating dinner one night we ran into two blokes from just outside Manchester, John and Rob. They were two good friends from home, who grew tired of the day to day hustle so decided to take off for a little trip. They were having a 'MANcation', just like us (MANcation is a term we learnt from a forty year old American sitting at the Lotus Bar at Ko Tao. He was en route with a friend of his to the base camp at Everest. It sounded like they
My favourite spot on our porch
It was a beautiful thing that hammock. were on a mancation of their own). We would end up linking up with John and Rob guys and head down to the full moon party the next night.
The Full Moon Party on Ko Pha-ngan is a hedonistic paradise. Bodies are everywhere. Booze is everywhere. Neon paint is everywhere. People pissing into the ocean are everywhere. You can drink as much as humanly possible, find marijuana, or even try a magic mushroom shakes. Even though the drug laws are very harsh in Thailand, the drugs were very easily found. In fact, they found you. Young Thai men would offer it to you all night. I didn't want to try my luck, or get so bombed out of my tree I couldn't remember the night. Besides, watching the dazed and confused was much more entertaining... Before heading down for the night, John, Rob, Clark and I took two scooters on the road towards Haad Rin, the site of the party. Clark was driving, and I was sitting on the back of this undersized scooter. The ride didn't start too smoothly with Clark careening slightly to the left of the ramp up towards the main road. Miraculously we stayed on
the pavement and began the trip with no injuries. The main road south to Haad Rin wasn't perfect. There were potholes and some puddles, rolling hills and sharp curves, not to mention the local traffic. In hindsight it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do, but we thought since we had one full day of experience on these things in Ko Tao we'd be alright. And we were. Although there were a few tense moments for the bikes passenger, Captain Clark was in full control. Mostly... We'd heard nightmarish stories of people negotiating that road after they had partied all night at the Full Moon and that there had been some serious crashes causing a few deaths. It was easy to imagine; driving during the day and entirely sober was challenging enough. The bigger challenge for us was negotiating the already packed streets of Haad Rin. When we got there on the scooters at around four in the afternoon, people were already drinking. May I introduce to you the 'bucket'; a sand pail filled with your liquor of choice, a bottle of red bull and a soft drink. They were everywhere. Our goal was to make sunrise, so instead of
Rob and ???
Rob showing some random woman how guys from Manchester dance a bucket or a beer we kept lunch dry and had a banana shake. We had a quick bite to eat, and Clark looked around for a party shirt. After a few hours of checking out Haad Rin we were on our scooters at dusk for the return to the Bungalows. There was an incredible sunset view on the way back. it was the calm before the storm.
I had another meal later on in the night after a preparatory snooze in the hammock. The troops gathered in the restaurant before hailing down a truck to take us down to the beach. I brought nothing but a disposable camera, some baht, the clothes on my back and the flip flops on my feet. I would return with much fewer baht, one flip flop of my own on my left foot, and someone else's on my right. There was also evidence of neon body paint on my shirt. Horror stories were circulating about stolen and lost things, so we travelled light. John and Rob had gone to the party months earlier, and John had his passport, wallet, Ipod, cash and most of his cigarettes stolen after the party back at
the guesthouses. The thief was nice enough to leave him one of his cigarettes and a lighter, though.
The night started with a beer and the boys. We walked the beach from end to end with beer in hand finding the best place to party. In the middle of the beach, there was a designated place to pass out if you'd had too much to drink, complete with a flimsy metal fence around the area. You might as well have just given your stuff to pickpockets. Beside the 'sleeping area' was the temporary medical station. Throughout the night people ended up there after attempting to jump a fiery skip rope or limbo a blazing log. Thankfully I stayed away from fire. After ordering my first bucket with thai whiskey, the night was a blur. But from what I can remember, and what I was told, it was a big night out. I did a little bit of 'big fish little fish cardboard box', a universal dance move I learned from Brendon in Tekapo, and have since spread the dance fever around the world. We hung out by the Cactus Bar / Club for a shot of something, met a
The group shot
Rob, Me, Mr. Davis and the Dutch very drunk shirtless Aussie dude who was struggling to stand, and was really happy to meet everyone. We met some very nice dutch people as well. I watched as one of them got their purse snatched at. I stopped the middle aged Thai man from getting away until she found it lying on the ground with a broken strap. These guys were sneaky, but should have waited a little longer until we'd had a few more buckets. Through the night I managed to keep it together. I didn't throw up, pass out, get burnt, and I didn't get anything stolen (I'd wait until the Perhentian Islands for that to happen). I did get tipsy, enjoyed a few buckets and saw the sunrise. I grabbed a Tuk Tuk back to Cookie Bungalows with the sun hanging above me after watching sunrise in the party capital on Thailand. It was a must for our tour of South East Asia, and although it wasn't our favourite adventure on the trip, we needed to experience it. For both of us it was a once in a lifetime experience, and we're glad for it. The day after was for rest and to exchange some stories.
The boys
and some buckets, of course. Rob, John and Clark Clark and I got split up a little too early the night before and we had some catching up to do. I woke up at 7pm just in time for a short trip into town for dinner before going to sleep again. We would need some energy for the next day.
After a lot of rest Clark and I were ready to head out and do some exploring. We decided to get some bikes and check out some waterfalls that dotted the island. The roads were in surprisingly good condition on the west side of the island. After asking for directions from a local, we eventually found ourselves at a national park. We took off heading up the mountain at our own pace, passing other tourists along the way. None of us could find any waterfalls. The climb was a lot of work, but the closest thing to a waterfall was mossy rock. We headed further up the hill for a lookout, but even that was nothing like we had expected. So, tired and sweaty, we headed back down the mountain for some refreshments. At least the trekking was good. We saddled up on the bikes again, and wanted
The Devil
A vendor selling some horns. to head into the middle of the island towards the east coast just to see what it was like. Because it was far less visited by tourists and locals alike, the roads were not paved, and because of that there was some interesting terrain. It had been rainy the day before, so the roads were laced with troughs created by the rain water that criss-crossed down hill, and made for a very challenging ride. Clark was ahead of me and I was following, but not for long. After just a few minutes on the dirt road, we came upon a downhill section, and my front wheel slid into a little trough. My brakes were no good as my back wheel slid, and at this point I was screwed. I did a fantastic military roll out of it escaping major injury as I heard the bike crash beside me. Clark heard the calamity behind him and stopped just to catch the last of my acrobatic dismount. I lay on the dirt road for a few moments making sure I didn't hurt anywhere. Thankfully I didn't. I got up, brushed myself off and found a few scrapes. I swore as I picked
The end of the road
on our trek through the forest hunting for the elusive waterfall. We didn't find one. up the bike. There was some damage that was undoubtedly going to cost me. And it did. We stopped out trip eastward as it was getting dark and I'd had enough. We returned to Cookie, and before we checked out the damage was noticed by an employee... It cost me 1700 baht for repairs before I could get my passport back. That's something I could have happily done without. Nonetheless, we finished up on the island, and soon enough we were headed to the dock for our ferry.
We wanted to cross the country towards the Indian Ocean and check out Ko Phi Phi. I was interested in visiting after hearing so much about it on the news following the boxing day tsunami in 2004. It wasn't the hardest hit place by far. A town called Banda Aceh in Indonesia was. There were hints of the tsunami all over the island. Buildings were still getting repaired, and there were new Tsunami escape route signs lining some pathways to higher ground. We crossed the mainland by bus from Surat Thani to Krabi. From what I can remember the bus ride sucked. But that's becoming a reoccurring theme on this trip.
The procession
A woman watching some sort of parade down the streets on Ko Pha-ngan Especially on mini buses...
Once arriving in Krabi with another Canadian who we were stuck in the back of the tiny van with, we found our guesthouse. We were dropped off at a hotel by the driver, but wanted to do some looking around before we settled down. Eventually, after asking some other Westerners we found a great place called Green Tea Guesthouses. The rooms were big and cheap. The next day we were off to Ko Phi Phi.
We booked a ferry for midday, and on the shuttle bus to the ferry dock met an Icelandic couple, Dori and Helga. Take a look at the pictures... He's the Icelandic version of Shrek... (don't hate me Dori... it's a compliment! HAHA) It turned out we wouldn't be able to shake them for a while... Clark instantly fell for Dori, who was featured in Clark's favourite Canadian travel show called Departures. Dori traded stories with us about how the show was filmed and about some behind the scenes moments. Dori worked as a mountain guide back home, and ended up taking the hosts Justin and Scott on a caving expedition in his homeland. The ferry ride went smoothly, and
after a few hours we arrived on the island. Instantly we had people telling us about cheap accommodation, cheap diving trips amongst other things. It was the first place where Westerners were approaching us trying to get some money out of us. It was strange, but I suppose for some people it would be very easy to start a life in a place like that. I actually ran into a friend from Uni who was doing her dive master course there and was working at one of the shops. The streets were compact, and although there was nothing motorized anywhere on the island, there was tons of traffic. There were locals rebuilding some buildings, carrying around 50 kilogram bags of cement on push carts. Sometimes the bags of cement were replaced by tourists and their luggage who couldn't handle the walk from the pier to their destination... We asked one of the guys that worked at the dive shops for some ideas about where to stay, and after checking out two or three places we found our home for the next few days.
For dinner that night we went to a barbeque with the Icelanders. I had a chicken
leg and another great milkshake. Just down the street was the beach bar, so we checked that out before going for a wander into the island. On our way we came across some very nice restaurants, some very cheap restaurants, a ton of tattoo parlors, cheap t-shirts and sunglasses, and bars. One was called the Reggae Bar, the spot where you could challenge anyone to a fight and get away with it. Muay Thai style. Clark was pumped to get in there and give it a whirl. But that first night, we did our research by sitting ringside with a beer. We ran into John and Rob at the bar, the two Manchester boys we'd met on Ko Pha-ngan. John was with his Kiwi lady friend, and already had a few to drink.
The first fight featured an enthusiastic little Brit, who had a tattoo on his arm, and what looked like a south american guy, who had the size advantage. But it didn't matter. The feisty little british guy refused to take a helmet. He was a cocky little guy and probably had some experience. This was also probably the biggest crowd he'd ever get watching him fight,
Beautiful Island
We went around this point in search of Ko Phi Phi Ley. so I guess he had to live it up. The bell rung, and the british guy was hopping around like Ali on 'shrooms. The South American had no chance... he looked timid and was scared shitless; his eyes were like saucers. A few sharp jabs and a big hook to the side of the head, the Brit was crowned champion after causing a suspect shoulder injury to his opponent. Both accepted their free buckets as they exited the ring. A few matches in, Rob looked up and saw his chance. He volunteered to fight a much taller opponent. We went nuts, and were excited to see our buddy fight. After an agonizing half hour wait, it was his turn to jump in the ring. You could tell he was nervous, or should I say not drunk enough. But he gave it everything he had. The tall guy gave him a few good shots to remember, and liked to kick. He didn't discriminate when he kicked... Rob's face, body and legs were all fair game. One of them got through Rob's defenses and Rob got a heel to the nose, which couldn't have felt too nice. But the highlight for sure
Can monkeys swim?
No. They don't need to. They can kayak... but this guy wasn't taking my food AND my ride. no way Jose. was a sweeping back heel that brought this Goliath of an opponent to the ground. For a moment he looked like Van Damme in Bloodsport; only shorter, less chiseled and more British... Rob got a standing O for that one. In the end both fighters had their arms lifted, but the crowd knew Rob deserved the victory. He was absolutely exhausted after the fight, but that didn't stop him from going to the beach bar with a few Danish girls he met earlier. Before leaving for the night, we witnessed two guy in the ring with no head or foot protection at all. With just gloves on (everyone else wore head and shin protection as well), these two experienced fighters went at it. But after only a few minutes, one of them left with a broken nose and a bruised ego after a harmless looking punch. His nose gushed blood that landed on the mat. Even after that fight, Clark was still keen on getting into the ring the next night. I thought he was nuts at the time. You would have no clue how experienced and / or drunk your opponent might be. It was like the very first
years of UFC; the classes were all mixed. But Clark would have to learn this the very next night.
Since we had already done our Thai diving on Ko Tao, we held off on it for the time. The prices were a little inflated, and we thought we'd wait for another chance in Malaysia. Instead, we chose to go our own route and rent a few kayaks for the afternoon. The idea was to try to reach Ko Phi Phi Ley on the water. Stupidly we only looked at a tourist map to course our direction for the day. We got the kayaks, water and a few snacks for the water anticipating it would take us the whole afternoon. The beach we left from was packed with tourists tanning and swimming, although I don't think I would have done the same. The sad thing was that it was so dirty. To start my journey I waded out into the water past a feminine hygiene product. It was disgusting, and I was glad to get out from the shore. Even then we'd paddle past a few floating bottles. After getting out a bit though the island itself was beautiful. As
we got further out into the ocean and out from the bay, the water got a little rough. There was a storm about a hundred kilometers off shore which I hoped would stay there. Luckily it did avoid us. Beside us were the sheer limestone cliffs of Ko Phi Phi. There was no picture postcard beach along the shore to retire to if we needed to; only jagged rocks... I tried not to think about it too much, as our kayaks were bouncing a meter or two meters as the ocean swelled beleath us. The waves eventually crashed into the limestone caves at the bottom of these cliffs. It wasn't an easy paddle, and to be honest I was a little concerned. I would have been crazy not to be. After an hour of paddling my shoulders were telling me to stop, but we couldn't since there was nowhere to stop. We couldn't see Ko Phi Phi Ley around the corner. We thought we could, but it ended up being another side of the same island. We had horribly underestimated the size of the island. After imagining a few dreadful headlines like "Two Canadians go missing at Sea in Paradise",
or even worse "Clark and Geoff Missing; Father of Brooks boy quoted saying "Silly Boys!", we both agreed it would be smart to turn around. So we did. We docked at Monkey Beach, just a few hundred meters from the main one. Once we landed and unpacked our bananas and water for a rest we discovered the namesakes. Or should I say they found us. They were aggressive, cute little (earmuffs Nate, Malcolm and Andy) buggers, and came straight for the bananas. I grabbed the bag, but that didn't stop one of them. This little guy climbed up my body towards my outstretched hand for the bag. I threw it away and told him he could have it... but it wasn't because I was scared at all... it tickled when he climbed up me. He happily munched on the bananas, as a whole boatload of Asian tourists jumped off a tour boat and joined us. We quickly left the tiny little beach after getting crowded out, to return our kayaks before getting some lunch. We still wanted to go check out Ko Phi Phi Ley, so we headed out to look for a boat. We found a longboat captain who
At the helm
on our longboat on the way to Ko Phi Phi Ley offered to take us out for a thousand baht. We thought it was a fair price, so we happily took the offer. It was a very pleasant night, and the first bay we reached on the tiny island was the most impressive. it was absolutely gorgeous... the water was crystal clear, and because it was low tide we could get out of the boat and walk along the tiny shoreline inside the tiny cove. The limestone cliffs were breathtaking, and no one else was there except for us. We went to the next little cove which was a good spot for snorkeling. When we got there, it was packed with about thirty people in the water and two big boats, so we quickly turned around and went to the beach where the movie 'The Beach' was filmed. It was nice, but not nearly as impressive as the first inlet (besides, thanks to Leo we'd seen it all before). So, before getting off the boat to wander on the beach we asked the captain to turn around. We wanted to visit some jumping rocks on our way back. He took us to another island where the cliffs didn't look too inviting...
I couldn't really pick out the spot we'd jump from, and eventually our captain explained to us where it was. We had to wear our flip flops to climb the sharp rockface. After a short climb, we were standing at our jump spot. We were about ten meters from the water, and Clark leaped first and I quickly followed. It was getting dark by the time we got back to the main island, and we were almost late for our dinner date with the Icelanders. We ended up at this hole in the wall restaurant where the servings were massive and the beer was cold. It was more than good enough for me. Over dinner we learned some more about Iceland and it's people. Mostly Dori and Helga. Hopefully someday I can find some time and go visit, and I probably will... so watch out for me guys!
After getting some grub in us, it was off to the Reggae bar for some hand to hand to foot to head combat. It was time for Clark to prove his manhood to everyone in the bar. I figured I needed to be a little bit under the influence to watch
my friend get in the ring, so on the way I grabbed a beer. We got some seats relatively close to ringside; close enough to see the dazed expressions on the fighters faces. I got another beer. After a few fights, Clark was ready to volunteer. At this point we were joined by both the Icelanders and the boys from Manchester and John's lady friend. I forgot to mention that Dori was an experienced fighter, and was a mountain of a man. Think of Shrek minus the earwax and instead of a green, slimy exterior, has more of a pale complexion. He's also more talkative and Icelandic than Shrek... Dori refused to fight (even after getting egged on by some Brits behind us), but gladly offered tips to Clark before he got up to volunteer. Since no one was getting up to fight, Clark seized the moment and raised his hand first. With a little Thai man he walked around the ring searching for his opponent. Behind us on the stands was a relatively rowdy group of Brits. As Clark came around to our side of the bar one of them stood up. An angry looking bloke raised from his
seat with a war cry, and stormed down to the ring. Clark's body language changed a little bit. I'm sure if he had a few more drinks the canvas beneath him where he stood could have been wet. I would have pissed myself for sure... His opponent outweighed him by at least fifty pounds, and looked like he ate babies for breakfast. Clark and his new opponent had to wait in the wings for two fights before it was their turn. I took the liberty to buy a bucket for Clark, just in case he needed some liquid courage. Dori came over and gave Clark some final tips. Clark was as ready as he was ever going to be, and entered the ring an underdog. I was his corner man, and I gave him as much encouragement as I could. Even I needed a few sips from the bucket before the fight began. After the bell rung, they met near the center of the ring, and Clarks opponent threw a bomb. It met Clarks head quickly, enough to get Clarks attention. Clark answered with a few short jabs of his own. The guy charged towards Clark, being the much more
agressive fighter, and threw this massive punch and thankfully missed. Clark quickly moved out of the way, and after found his competition was out for the count. With that massive attempt of a punch, this guy's shoulder had popped out. It was probably the most physical activity this guy had for a few years, and had probably seen the bottom of too many pint glasses to survive the whole fight anyways. After a disappointing thirty seconds, the fight was over. Clark was victorious, but wanted more... I told the referee to find another opponent for my fighter... So, once again, Clark made his way around the ring with his hand raised by the referee after barely breaking a sweat. Who was going to fight this winning Muay Thai fighter? No one volunteered on the first side. No one volunteered on the second side. Was he that scary looking? I didn't think so... No one volunteered on the third side. It was not looking good for this fighter; his Muay Thai boxing career could be finished after only one fight; a victorious one at that. Finally he came around to the forth and final side of the ring. Still, no one
Our home
on Ko Phi Phi was volunteering to get in the ring with Clark. Then the unthinkable happened. I looked at Clark for approval as I pointed to myself... he nodded. It was on. Davis vs. Brooks.
We figured this fight would take care of any disagreements we may have already had, and ones that we had yet to have. We would get all our aggression out on each other legitimately. And after doing this, I have even more respect for professional and amateur fighters who go for more than three rounds. It was EXHAUSTING. I was gassed after the first round! I must admit, beating the shit out of Clark, and getting the shit beat out of me was a lot of hard work. But we did go the full three rounds. Clark was playing the defensive game, making sure that most of his blocks worked. I was focused on hitting the guy anywhere I could. Punches and kicks were alright, but elbows, headbutts and knees were not okay. I don't think I'd have the heart to do those things anyway. Long story short, there were some punches thrown and kicks administered from both fighters. It was a great fight, worthy of a
The camera man
Taking some classics belt of some sort. A man hug was exchanged and all was good. Clark ended up with a black eye and a bruised thigh. I didn't really think about it during the fight, but I really let loose on his leg with my right foot. I ended up with a very tender leg as well, and both of us struggled with stairs for the next few days. We both enjoyed our buckets once we had enough wind to enjoy them... For at least a half hour after the fight, both of us were struggling to recover. It was definitely an experience that I'll talk about for a while, and I'm proud to say that our fight could easily have been the main event. Before our fight they were lackluster. Before our fight, there wasn't enough passion in the fighters; no heart. No guts. No glory. After our fight the fighters were just drunken. It looked like a greco roman wrestling match more than Muay Thai So, we left bruised and satisfied for the beach bar where we finished the night with a few more cocktails. We came out of Phi Phi with a hell of a story.
The next
At home on the water
After our kayaking adventure with ridiculous looking sunglasses. day we just wandered around with nothing much to do. It was a day of recovery for both of us. We might have done some laundry and checked the internet; nothing too exciting. I decided to take the night off and watch a movie for the night in the room. Clark hadn't had enough and chose to go out for 'one beer'. 'One beer' nights do not exist, and Clark proved it. I was sawing logs when he came back very early in the morning, and apparently he had a good night. Before we knew it we were heading back on the ferry towards Krabi. It was the last we'd see of John and Rob who were headed back to Bangkok to figure out John's passport (since it was stolen). We were heading further south. We had conquered Thailand and it was time to move on. It was time for Malaysia!
Up next, we hang out with Brazilians on the Beach and Icelanders in the Jungle... You can't ask for much more than that!
Until next time.
Over and Out,
G
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Dave Long
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Great writing Geoff!! As a FMP survivor, I thoroughly enjoyed this latest blog...great stuff!!! I would have loved to have gotten in the ring...very cool. When do you come home?...ever? Say "hey" to Mr.Davis from me D-Lo My hockey skills are finally starting to improve.