I'm finally back after some much needed days by white sand beaches and turquoise ocean water. If you are going to get jealous after reading more about beach parties, beautiful waterfalls and snorkeling trips then stop reading now.
On Monday, January 29th, Kelly and I took our first of many overnight buses. We arrived in Bangkok at about 4:30 am on Tuesday morning, a time reserved for the morning market vendors and the drunks who have finally been kicked out of the clubs. We made our way to Khao San Road and rented a room in a guesthouse for 5 hours - enough time to nap and use the showers. Perfect. It wasn't exactly the Hilton, more like a 6x10 cell, but I slept great all the same. It's amazing what a 10 hour bus ride will do to your ability to sleep anywhere.
So after our rest, we spent the day doing a little shopping and wandering around Bangkok until Kim arrived on her bus that afternoon. Then the three of us took another overnight bus, this time to Chumporn. Then at about 5 or 6 am on New Years Eve, we got a boat from Chumporn to our first destination: Koh Phangan. Home of the world famous Full Moon Party.
After meeting a great Thai girl named Joy who helped us with our taxi and waiting
around for awhile, we gained access to our two little beach huts at Green Peace Bungalows and were met by Lisa and Jen who came over from a few days in Koh Samui.
After more preparation, we were met by Anthony at our huts. Anthony was mentioned in a previous post about my trip to Pai, which is where I met him. He is a traveling soul who I kept in touch with after Pai, and it turned out we had the same New Year plans. Lucky him.
When we were ready to go, we headed to Anthony's room on Haad Rin - the Full Moon Party beach, to meet his roommates Shanna and Jessie from Canada. On our way to the room we managed to run into Joy and her friend. Out of the thousands of people that were already on the beach, we found the one tiny little Thai girl we already knew. Fantastic. They joined us for a little while as we all got covered in glowing body paint - the only thing you really need to wear to a Full Moon Party. And before you get too confused or start to think I'm losing it, I know that New Years Eve was not a full moon, but on Haad Rin that doesn't matter. Full Moon parties happen every full moon, yes, but they also happen on Christmas Day, New Years Eve, and really just whenever they feel like it.
The rest of the night was several amazing hours spent dancing and rocking to drum 'n bass, trance and house music played all down the beach while watching fire shows, fireworks, and neon light displays. It was all I wanted in a Full Moon Party.
I'm keeping this blog post light to appease readers of all ages, but I've already received criticism (thanks Lis..) but I like to leave things to the imagination. If you are familiar with/have been to a Full Moon party over here, then I don't need to say more. For everyone else, think massive rave parties that seem to always occur in random warehouses. Music with no words, a LOT of glow paint, a LOT of alcohol and a LOT of drugs. Anthony and the girls' place was next door to 'Mellow Mountain' which advertised their wares on large blackboards stuck up on the rocks. Yes it was a bar and you could stop off for a beer on your way down. You could also step in for a couple of little white pills, or a 'special' shake made with everyone's favourite fungus plant. Or you could just eat the mushrooms raw if you preferred to skip the blending process. That made for a lot of pretty hilarious people watching. Lisa's new found fascination with glow sticks will always be a highlight of that night.
The only downside of the night was that I managed to step on a piece of broken glass slicing the bottom of my right foot open. Luckily this happened near the end of the night anyway, and Anthony happens to be a medic, so it got taken care of.
The next morning...okay it was definitely the afternoon...I discovered that I was one of hundreds of people sporting bandages of all shapes and sizes. So now I felt like part of the crowd; like me an all the other injured shared some special bond. That somehow we had enjoyed ourselves more than everyone else just because we had managed to spill blood while doing it.
After my most memorable NYE yet, we had to say goodbye to Jen and Lisa who headed back up to their schools. Kelly, Kim and I headed to Koh Samui where we would be joined again by Anthony one night later to continue our island holiday.
Facebook seems to finally be cooperating, so click here for the public link to see a few photos from our time on Koh Phangan
To read about Koh Samui and Koh Tao, click on my next postings!
1 comment:
To say I am envious of this New Years Eve experience doesn't even come close!!
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