Day 112

Trip Start Sep 14, 2006

106

169

Trip End ??? ??, 2007

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Flag of Thailand Ko Pha Ngan, Thailand
Thursday, January 4, 2007

We left Ko Samui after boarding a tourist-laden catamaran. Karen and Jim were also on board but they would be heading to a different resort in Ko Pha Ngan. The reason there were so many tourists on board I believe was because of the famous Full Moon Party happening that night! Jim had recommended we go to a place called Haad Salad - a nice beach away from the party where we would be able to find some accommodation. When we got there we definitely agreed that it was nice but it certainly wasn't easy to find anywhere to stay! We tried every single hotel up and down the beach and eventually found a spot right at the end where the sand ran out. The place was a set of dodgy looking bungalows but the view was great and we managed to secure some other accommodation further down the beach for the next few days.
I sensed this would be a quiet place and maybe a quiet few days. We had planned to miss out on the Full Moon Party since we'd done enough partying for quite some time but with the impending quiet on my mind I suggested we go

1 View from our Haad Salad bungalow

. Neil was up for it and we set some ground rules like "No Thai Whiskey" and "Back by 2am". At 10pm we set off to Haad Rin the beach on the other corner of the island where the party takes place.
The party is a string of bars and clubs along the beach playing load music of varying styles - dance, trance, disco etc. All through the neighboring streets vendors sell cheap buckets full of vodka and whiskey. Everybody just gets completely wasted and collapses in a heap on the beach. Neil and I in our roles as "observers" clutched a bottle of Heineken each and wandered around. It wasn't the carnage we were expecting at first so we found a bar and watched the latest Jackass movie - very entertaining. After midnight things were much more busy. So many people - usual estimates are between five and ten thousand people attending the party. It gets more popular each year and with December being peak time it was possible this was the busiest ever. There were plenty of people who had drunk way to much staggering around, lots of dancing and loads of fireworks and lanterns. I wasn't sure whether I wanted to be as drunk as everyone else or not, in the end I'm glad we didn't join in too much! We found a bar and chatted to a few other people, it was quite difficult in the end to get home so we eventually got back to the bungalow at the other side of the island at 4am.