After a weekend away in Chiang Mai, I found myself at the airport the following weekend on my way to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan and the infamous Full Moon Party.
Koh Samui is beautiful. It is like the island you see in the brochures, with perfect sand and turquoise water. It is just as touristy and expensive as Phuket, but somehow seems more laid back. We spend a lot of time lazing around on the beach (a LOT!) and trying out cool restaurants and eating food we don't have in Kamala. Our hotel was a unique place, right on the beach. Basically they had converted an old Thai building into a spa retreat, and my room had a balcony overlooking the water (a mere 2m from my front door) and even had an outdoor bathroom – which I unfortunately always managed to shower in when the workmen were on the other roof… The best thing, right outside my door was my very own Buddha alter!
We checked out the beach life of Chaweng and Lamai, and managed to find 50baht cocktail stalls in the markets. Needless to say that made our market experience much more enjoyable! And ensure we tried all the random street food they sold there. The beaches around the island vary, but in general are all beautiful. It easy enough to get around – there are a heap of red sorng-ta-ou (red utes with rooves) that just do loops of the island and you flag them down like a bus and jump in the back!
After all the stories I had heard about the party I have to say I was a little nervous. Don't take drugs. Make sure you wear shoes. Don't swim at the beach. Etc etc etc. Honestly, it was a blast. It did help to have experience full moon party goer Angela with me.
We took a speedboat over to Koh Phangan at 7pm, but rather than hitting the party too early, we went for dinner at The Sanctuary, a health retreat 2 beaches over from the party and only accessible by longtail boat. The food there is amazing and I highly recommend it. After dinner we hiked over the hill to the next beach (because our longtail drivers had now either deserted us our were drunk) and got another boat to the party.
Upon arriving at the party we did what any sane person would do…headed straight for the tattoo parlour! Well it would be ridiculous to go AFTER we had been drinking! I had been thinking of getting something, so in the end I walked out with a gorgeous quote on my right shoulder 'Not all that wander are lost'….in henna.
Picture thousands of people, dressed in fluro clothing, with fluro body paint (all so that you glow in the dark) dancing, drinking and generally have a good time on a beach about 1.5km long. There was fire twirling, stages, platforms to dance, slippery slideson but we had missed the burning skipping rope thank goodness. And everyone there drinks from buckets. Not 10l buckets, but buckets big enough to hold a hip flask of alcohol and a can or 2 of soft drink…all sold for the bargain price of 150-400 baht ($4.70-$12). This of course explains the number of people passed out on the beach in the early hours of the morning. We managed to avoid that and got a 5am speedboat home. Nice work I thought for my first attempt!
Below are some photos from my time there. Please note that I didn't take a camera to the party, so the party shots are a random selection from online.
