Sunday, April 8, 2007

Ko Phangan & Ko Tao, Thailand

From the beautiful island of Ko Lanta on the Andaman Sea side of Thailand we journeyed across the Thai peninsula where we boarded a 3 hour ferry to an island on the Gulf of Thailand. Once again the journey was just as much fun as the destination.

As we haggled the price of the ferry in a tour agency we met up with 3 guys...an Italian, a Malaysian and an American from Boston. All of us were heading to the island of Ko Phangan for the worldwide phenomenon known as the full moon party. This party begins at sunset, lasting through the sunrise the following day as well as into the next afternoon. The ferry to Ko Phangan would get us in at around 6pm so we would have just enough time to find a hotel, shower and get the party started. It was agreed that we would just begin the party on the ferry with (horrible) Malaysian rum! Ah, the beginning of the end.

The party takes place on a beach that faces east, "Sunrise Beach". There were thousands upon thousands of party goers with no less than 20 DJ's from around the world playing techno music. I wouldn't say that this is my favorite scene but we had an amazingly fun time. Drinks are served in plastic buckets with about 10 straws. Our drink of choice for the evening was Red Bull and vodka. Hey, I am 31 years old now. Without the infusion of mass amounts of caffeine there would be no way I would make it to sunrise!! We walked up and down the beach, danced, drank, went for a swim at sunrise and generally laughed all night long. Good times. As the sun rose we hit the sack but we were certainly in the minority. This is one mental party!

From Ko Pgangan we hopped a ferry to the island of Ko Tao. This was more of a rest and relaxation island. We decided to go upscale a bit because it was Jill's 30th birthday!!! It was a nice break from the low budget backpacker hotels we had been staying. There was a pool that looked out into the gulf so we ended up wasting many many hours just hanging in the pool. A wonderful week. We were joined by a few friends from the US which was great. It's always nice to make new bonds withe people that you will see again back home.

It was sad to say goodbye to the guys as well as the lovely beaches of Thailand. That being said our next stop is Cambodia. Does the excitement ever end?

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