Full Moon Party... and When S*&$*# Happens!

August 1, 2012

Wednesday I left school early for Bangkok. The school was having some sort of festival (I swear this country has a million and one reasons to cancel school).

I got to Bangkok and I met with Mauricio and Way, we took a taxi cab (the craziest ride I have ever taken) to the bus station and headed on the night bus to Koh Pahngan, an island down south which is famous for its full moon parties.

We got to the port the next morning at about 8 am and took a two hour ferry to the island. On the way to the island we found a Thai man that was hours away from land floating on a bamboo stick. The crew rescued him, he was shaking and wouldn’t talk. I wish I could speak Thai and had been able to find out what had happened but I have no idea.

When we got on the island we rented motorcycles which was a horrible idea (later that day I got into a horrible accident, I am all banged up and 6 days later still having to go to trips to the hospital). I wont talk about it anymore because it truly was terrifying  but lets just say it changed my trip.

The island was beautiful, except for the fact that it is completely overtaken by farangs which even though I am one of them gets really old. The scenery was beautiful, with clear water and forests everywhere.

We headed to our hotel and then went to a beautiful secluded island. We met up with about 20 other English teachers and headed into town for the night. At this point I was pretty hurt so I just had dinner and went back to rest.

Friday I woke up early had breakfast and decided to lay outside instead of pouting over my accident in my room any longer. Everyone in my group went to adventure but I decided that my book and I were comfortable with the beautiful view the ocean and the sunshine.

While laying I made friends with Khris a guy from Liverpool. We went to the main beach together had some lunch and hung out a bit

.

Later that night a small group of us decided to go out for a bit. Though I was going to stay in because of my injuries I was easily convinced. I don’t regret it one bit. It was one of the best nights I have had in Thailand. 

We laughed, danced (on one foot), and even had Chong (one of the other teachers) do magic tricks to end the night. The beach was packed, and the energy was amazing. I still decided to go home early because I didn’t want to feel really bad the next day.

Even though I took it easy I still woke up really swollen and in a lot of pain. I decided to stay in with Khris and Mike. We hung out by the beach and did nothing all day. It was very relaxing. At night we went out to the full moon party. That was a crazy experience. The beach was completely packed, and there were maybe a few Thai people… so all foreigners. Everyone was wearing bright colors and covered in face paint.

We walked along the beach watched fire shows, went from stage to stage and finally got to the big bar at the end. This is a bar called Kangaroo bar, the view from it is incredible as you get to see thousands of party goers all on the beach! It was pretty incredible. The other reason this bar is very famous is because it is the bar that sells weed, and all the “special shakes”. These are mushroom shakes so you get to see a ton of people all hallucinating and walking around the beach. I sat outside for a while and marveled at the scene… 

Again stuck in a part of Thailand that did not seem like the Thailand I have come to know so well. It was a cool experience yet it made me sad to see such amazing natural beauty go to waste by young party goers who want to live with no restrictions.

It made me wonder how this all looked before. How amazing this beach with all its natural beauty was once before it was ruined by all the young westerners and the commercialization we have brought to this beautiful country.

The next day we woke up got ready and headed on our long journey back home. Still hurt it was a long journey, but I made it home safe only to find out that I had another 4 day weekend the week coming up… Do this people ever work?!?!