Chiang Mai is most northern big city in Thailand and borders Laos. Consequently, it takes a looooong time to get to the islands if you are not flying. It took us 2 days to get to Koh Phangan…. And we hardly slept at all. We boarded the night train from Chiang Mai so we could get to Bangkok the next morning. Our previous night train was amazing but this train was clearly 20 years older and was exceptionally run down. The seats weren’t as good plus we were right next the obnoxiously loud doorway. We did our best to catch some zzzzz’s but it was hopeless.
The journey to Bangkok should have taken 14 hours but it ended up being almost 16. It was a long night and we still have to spend all day in the city before our bus/ferry ride to Koh Phangan. We hadn’t taken a shower since yesterday morning so we took advantage of the showers at the train station. We weren’t exactly expecting great facilities but they were pretty appalling. The floor was gross and there must have been an insect farm in there because the gnats covered all four walls of the shower. YUCK! We did our best to get clean because we have a 6pm bus to Chumpon and then a ferry to Koh Phangan.
At about 10am we take a tuk tuk to Kohsan Road where the bus depot is to drop off our bags. Heather lungs are starting to act up again from all the pollution but the good thing is, we are only there for the day. After we drop our bags off we head to Siam Square to do some shopping. We walk around a bunch of shops and realize we don’t want to be spending a lot of money. Moreover, we have NO more room in our backpacks to carry anything else. So after we had a wonderful Korean lunch, we came up with another option of seeing a movie. That way we could stay more or less clean (not sweaty) and just hang out for the day. The only English movie options were Trust (a scary movie that both of us refused to see) and Cowboys vs. Aliens. So we saw the later though it is not our type of movie…. It was decent but I wouldn’t exactly recommend it.
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| Green curry rice with salted fish at the Korean restaurant |
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| Heather got to meet Tom Cruise at Siam square!.... jk |
We got out of the theater at about 4:15 so we thought we would have plenty of time to get back to the bus depot. But we didn’t take Friday peak traffic into consideration. So we were in the taxi for about an hour and still hella far away. It was 5:30 and no cars were moving for the past 15 minutes. We were getting scared so we decided to ditch the taxi and had to speed walk to the bus depot. We were booking it and by the time we got there (with 5 minutes to spare) we were soaked with sweat…. Defeating the whole purpose of having a lazy day at the movies. Whatever.
Before boarding the bus, we managed to get some fresh fruit from a vendor because we didn’t get a chance to get a proper meal before our 12-hour bus ride. Though we about killed ourselves trying to make it to the bus on time, the stupid bus didn’t even end up hitting the road until 7pm, making us really irritated. Luckily everyone on the bus were backpackers from all over Europe, Australia, and America. We made plenty of friends including one guy (Gavin) from Australia who had a large bottle of vodka with him. Gavin passed the bottle around our section of the bus but Heather and I only took a couple swigs cause we had no interest in getting hammered. The next few hours consisted of talking (slurring in Gavin’s case) about the full moon party in 3 days (everyone is headed there for it) and about our travels so far. It was a bunch of fun and great to exchange stories with our fellow peers. We all knew it was time to try to sleep when Gavin passed out in his chair from excessive vodka consumption.
We thought the bus ride was going to be 12 hours but it turned out to only be 7, getting us to the ferry station at just past 3am. The whole bus was confused but the drivers were unloading our things and we had to exit. There was no one at the station and our ferry didn’t leave until 7am. Unfortunately, we had to sit in the lobby for 4 hours. It was straight up awful. Everyone was exhausted but couldn’t sleep so we played cards and watched weird French movies in the lobby’s television to pass the time.
Once it was time to board the ferry, we hopped aboard and took a seat by the window. The sun was just coming up and it was beautiful. We were getting our first glimpse of life in the islands. I can’t wait!!!
After 3 hours of powering through the Gulf of Thailand, the ferry made a pit stop in Koh Tao (famous for their amazing scuba diving). Some got off the boat but more people got on cause we are all heading to full moon party. The seas were rough so it took another 2 hours before we got to our destination.
Alas! We arrive at Koh Phangan and it is so incredibly beautiful. It’s 10 times better then what I was expecting. You can’t prepare yourself for the multiple shades of turquoise water that contrasts the cascading mountains covered by a tropical rainforest. Absolute paradise.
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| Haad Rin (sunrise beach) at its quietest |
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| Sunset beach |
We already booked our bungalow just outside the main city of Haad Rin so we got a songtaew to take us there. Originally we wanted to be far enough away from the full moon party so we could have a relaxing time away from the music when we weren’t partying. However, we realized that we were too far away the taxis to and fro were gong to add up significantly. Moreover, it was a sh!t hole. I was fine with the accommodations only because I just spent a month in India and I had seen far worse. Poor Heather was visibly upset about the bungalow because it didn’t have any proper walls and therefore mosquitoes could easily penetrate the bamboo structure. We both decided it was best to ditch our original plans and just search for a vacant place in Haad Rin where all the festivities will take place.
Haad Rin is in the very southern tip of the island and is flanked by 2 beaches: Sunrise beach and Sunset beach (named for obvious reasons). We find a cheap bungalow for the same price as the Secret Hut but its right on Sunset beach. There’s a private bathroom, a hammock, and we each get our own bed. All for a total of $13 a night. Pretty baller if you ask me.
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| View of Sunrise beach of our bungalow |
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| Our bungalow |
After arranging our things, we decide it’s imperative we get some good food in our bellies before we experience the first night of partying on Koh Phangan. We walk to Sunrise beach where all the action is and find a restaurant right on the water. Immediately we order our first Sangsom bucket (the cheap local whiskey that will tear your liver apart) and pair it with some traditional Thai cuisine.
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| Ahhhh the good ole Sangsom |
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| Me love you long time! |
Eventually its time to go get our dance on so we head over the Cactus bar for another bucket of Sangsom and proceed to dance the rest of the night away. We meet plenty of other people and have a fabulous time running amok around the beach until we retire to our bungalow at about 3am. Mind you the party went on till sunrise and the full moon party is still 2 nights away….
The following morning I was feeling great though we didn’t get as much sleep as I’d hoped. We haven’t slept since Chiang Mai but we got our bikinis on and headed to Sunrise beach to soak up the rays.
Over the next couple of entries in my blog, I’m going to refer our daily activities as TSD, which is an acronym for tan-shower-drink because it seems like that’s all we’ve been doing. The beach is honestly heaven. The water is smooth and crystal clear. The sand is white and soft. The sun is beaming down but it isn’t too hot. Though the rain clouds swooped in mid afternoon, we strictly laid out for the next few hours until the sun is no longer able to affect our skin pigment. We head back to the bungalow to shower and get ready for another night of drinking.
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| So cute |
We freshen up and head back to Sunrise beach to get some food. Unlike northern Thailand, there are more restaurants that cater to tourists and unfortunalty the Thai food isn’t as good. Our tastes buds need a change of pace so we switch it up and eat at a Mediterranean restaurant. We split some amazing hummus with pita and a vegetable pizza. A great pregame meal before the night celebrations.
The beach is inundated with people and most of us spend the first hour watching the locals put on a fire dancing show. Its really cool how the twirl these batons of fire in the air at such mach 3 speeds. Kind of scary, but they’re professionals and you can tell they do this every night for the hypnotized travelers.
While we enjoy the fire dancers, we find a table to sit at and enjoy our first bucket of Sangsom of the night. We shoot the sh!t until two guys sit down beside us and join the conversation. Toby is from New Zealand and Jensen is from Australia but both live and work in Brisbane. They are super cool and we hang out for a few hours getting to know each other before heading to a club to dance. Every place is packed with people and makes the vibe really electric. All the bars have different events going on like a foam party that we checked out. It’s a good idea in theory until you are covered in soap and wondering if you have to spend the rest of the night soaking wet. In any case, we all get our grove on until 5am…. Or something like that. I don’t remember.
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| Foam party love |
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| Jensen and Heather |
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| Sawatika! |
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| Me and Toby |
I’m sure a few of you older folks are completely lost and have no idea what I’m talking about when I say, “full moon party.” Let me help you out… In Buddhism, they follow the calendar of the moon and the full moon, half moon, and black moon are sacred things for them. They have celebrations every month for it, making it a perfect opportunity to get westerners on holiday to stay on the beach and rage all night. It’s become a huge event over the past couple years and now its complete mayhem. An estimated 20,000-30,000 people flock to Koh Phangan for the biggest full moon party in Thailand. While you are underneath the brightly lit moon, you can dance all night, wear neon colors, get body painted, and party until the sun comes up. It’s completely chaotic but an epic and essential part of any backpacker’s itinerary.
The morning of…. We do our usual routine of TSD with a lunch in between. However, Heather has a serious case of the struggles as a result of her hangover making the start of the day a bit difficult for her. We specifically attempt to recuperate from the past 2 days of binge drinking and get ready for the biggest party of our lifetime.
By noon, there are significantly more people roaming the street. People arrive from Koh Tao and Koh Samui just for the day/night, stay up and party all night and catch the ferry back to wherever in the morning. Once sunset rolls around, the beach is packed with getting things started. There are all sorts of performers and vendors trying to get you to buy their drinks. We met one lady in particular who hooked us up for 3 consecutive nights because not only did she give generous drinks, she had the hilarious sign of “”me love you long time”.
I made the rookie mistake and didn’t eat a big dinner before the party so consequently I was completely sh!t faced by 10pm. Classy I know… but I had to recover because the night was just beginning and Heather would have probably killed me if I passed out early. Good thing there was plenty of food so I got some Pad Thai to chow down on. We go over to sit on the table and I misplace my footing and epically fall, knocking down 3 chairs and almost the table. Get better Shannon… Even though my noodles were cold, I managed to eat a good portion of it and it thankfully brought me back to life so I could enjoy the rest of the night’s pandemonium.
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| Pandemonium! |
Me fire jump roping!
I wish I could describe to you what the party is actually like but it’s impossible. Just imagine 4 football fields of beach paradise with shoulder-to-shoulder people, music blasting from every direction, and everyone is glowing from neon paint. Its absolute anarchy but in a good way. And frankly, it blows Vegas out of the water. I wish you could all come here and experience it for yourselves. I love it here but you can only do so much drinking and partying. So after returning to our bungalow after sunrise, we crash for about 1 hour before we check out of our room. We still haven’t slept since Chiang Mai. Regardless, it’s time to catch the ferry to Koh Samui where we will be for the next few days!
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