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Published: July 22nd 2010
me with some Thai girls
these lovely girls wanted a pic with me :)Finally arrived following the Looooooong ass journey from Ko Phi Phi, which included a fretful boat ride from Phi Phi (thinking I overpaid for a duff ticket to Ko Phangan), a coach which might as well have had its air con turned off, and a further boat journey with the worst toilet I have ever seen requiring serious thigh muscle strength for squatting (still pissed all over the floor nonetheless). I am aware that this is the traditional toilet in SE Asia but for god sake. Bad times. Anyway. Arrived in Ko Phangan to what seemed like a very uncivilized baggage collection process. Everyone was fighting around in the dark trying to find their luggage (not an easy task when it is dark, the suitcases/backpacks are continuously and carelessly thrown from the boat onto the floor, all the suitcases/backpacks are either black or very dark and the frigging taxi touts are also joining the frenzy hassling tourists trying to get them into their taxi.) I almost lost my temper at this point.
I have never wanted to eat and shower so bad in my life, so that's exactly what I did, not in that order. I had a very bad
spaghetti bolognese at a seemingly nice restaurant next to my hostel, and should of learnt from this NOT TO EAT WESTERN FOOD IN NON - WESTERN COUNTRIES but I was so hungry I didn't care. While I was eating, alone obviously, a guy called Eric came and sat with me and he became my buddy for the next coming week or so.
We went straight out to party on the beach where I discovered the vodka red bull (illegal in the UK) buckets. They are lethal! I was having a fantastic night raving my ass off on the beach before getting way too drunk and needing to go back to the hostel, where I threw up all over the floor, a bit on my suitcase and a bit on my bed, of the 16 bed dorm. I bet my dorm mates LOVED me, especially as I was too drunk at the time of puking to care and just went directly to sleep. I was very apologetic in the morning though, as you could probably imagine.
On day 2 I just chilled and walked around the village of Haad Rin. Signed up to Crystal Dive resort for a 4
day PADI open water diving course in Ko Tao, signed up for a tour of Ko Phangan the following day, and in the evening went to see some Thai Boxing at the stadium with Eric. I didn't know they beat their own shins with bats to deaden them! Impressive stuff.
The day of the full moon party I did a tour of Ko Phangan, which was more than double what I paid for in Ko Phi Phi but there was a lot less people. First stop was the elephant camp. I was a bit uneasy about the chains around their feet but the tour guide assured us that they are allowed to roam round the camp freely when tourists are not there. Fed the baby elephant and saw a snippet of how the eat e.g they eat coconuts by stamping on them then picking out the good bits...so clever! Next stop was a lovely chinese temple in the hills. Gorgeous views! I kind of feel hypocritical and fake going to these places when I'm not of the religion, a feeling I felt quite strongly in Bangkok and Chiang Mai for feeling the need to go to the places, but
it was beautiful.
Next was snorkelling at a great spot in north western Ko Phangan. Really enjoyed this. Then lunch on the beach which was lovely. Not sure which beach it was though unfortunately but it was one of the northern ones. Then was one of the island's four waterfalls, which required a short trek through the jungle to get to. The water looked dirty but it wasn't and it was a nice cool relief to take a dip in/under from the sweltering heat outside it. Just wish there weren't so many tourists!
Finally we went to Bottle beach where I sunbathed before we headed back to the dirty beaches of Haad Rin.
Full Moon Party Began with the obligatory painting of ourselves with fluorescent body paint. Then came the tropical storm which brought a huge downpour of rain! This didn't dampen anyone's spirits though! In fact I was grateful for the rain because my hair tends to go massive in humidity and when I sweat, but the rain kept it slicked down to my head! And, it was really cool raving in the rain! It was fab, and it was even greater that it didn't
get anybody down. Didn't get as drunk as a few nights previous on this same beach. Lost Eric who found his (to this day) love interest (or lust interest as he'll keep trying to tell himself) so hung around all night with an aussie called Robbie who was cool, apart from the trying really hard to get into my knickers (which he didn't achieve).
On my final day I chilled. Went to Bongo's restaurant, which I had discovered a few days before and absolutely loved it, for lunch and for dinner. It plays good, free films (of which I watched Don't Mess With The Zohan, The Legion and THE BEACH) and serves delicious, cheap food.
Between lunch and dinner I went on a long stroll on Sunset beach which in my opinion is the better of Sunrise and Sunset beach (sunrise is the full moon party beach) and watched the sunset. Lovely way to wrap up my time in Ko Phangan.
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