Exploring a world wonder is a high that no one wants to come down from. Lucky for us we didn’t have to, since our next stop was one of the world’s most infamous parties. The Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan!
We booked the overnight charter bus that ended up being pretty sweet, with reclining chairs as seats and movie service which helped when it came time to pass out. At around 5am the entire bus was woken up by the shouting driver instructing us to get off the bus. We couldn’t see a ferry or water, so everyone was a little unsure. Slowly we all got off the bus, and were told not to grab our packs that were piled in a giant heap outside of the bus. We were in a rural area, hoping we were still in Thailand, at some roadside restaurant, but no one had any idea where exactly that was or how far from the ferry port we were. Also, the organizers where reluctant to answer any of our questions directly.
Chaos and backpacks - typical Thailand!
After an hour of waiting and watching people get called one by one, we finally boarded a large bus that was packed in with backpackers gearing up for the night ahead! Chelsea and I were the last to board so we had to settle for seats next to the driver on the gear box. Eventually, after a 45 minute ride, we made it to the ferry and not to our surprise, this was overcrowded as well. But, we had the fortunate luck of hanging out with some giggling Thai women and a lady boy for the ride over.
The ferry ride in!
As we were pulling in to the dock you could feel the excitement which transpired into some laud chanting and a sing song by the passengers and party seekers.
We eventually found our way to the spot we were staying. It was right on the water and a beautiful setting with a swim up pool bar and luxurious villas. We were led from the reception to our room which unfortunately was not in a villa, but in the staff compound building behind the villas. Our room.. well, lets just say motel six would have been a serious upgrade. No windows, one noisy fan and black spatters of who knows what on the off white walls. Luckily we were able to get some clean sheets for the bed that took up the entire room haha!
Expecting a big night ahead of us, Brad and I decided to catch some Z’s. We somehow managed to forget the nasty room we were in… Anyway we woke up refreshed, grabbed some delicious Thai grub from a little stand set up outside the room (who turned out to be super sweet and our go-to guy for the next 4 days!), AND found ourselves a bottle of Vodka to start the night off right! Eventually it was time to head to the party and we started walking along the street anticipating that taxi after taxi would try to pick us up for the party! After a few failed negotiation attempts, we finally found one with the right price, and before we knew it, Brad was on the roof of the truck (that vodka must have been starting to hit us!). We were too excited!
On the rooftop!
When we arrived, it wasn’t hard to find the infamous “buckets” we had heard so much about. They were on every corner competing for the best price, and we each got our own Vodka and Red Bull bucket for 250 baht. Next mission….find body paint! The paint vendors were charging wayyy too much for us (looking back it was probably less than $10 haha!) but somehow fate brought us together with these 2 Canadian girls who had talked their way into using someone’s paint for free! They were obviously feeling the effects of their buckets at this point and were ecstatic to paint us…also for free! Therefore…we were ecstatic!
Freshly and freely painted!
Now painted and armed, we hit the beach and began to see just how crazy the night was. We arrived at the perfect time, just as it was getting dark, and just as the FIRE was coming out to play! This is probably one of the sole reasons i am so in love with Thailand… the way they play with fire! First was the fire jumprope which for any Mario Party players from N64… it was a game brought to life! Drunken fools daring to run in and jump, only to run out yelping with burning bums! It was hilarious!! I kept trying to pressure Brad into doing it, but he didn’t…and it was probably better off being that we were onto our 2nd bucket at this point!
BUCKETS!!
The dancing was in full swing and we happened to be in just the right place as they lit the Hadrin Beach sign on fire. Everyone started piling up on the platform, including us! Everyone was our friend J and everyone was having the time of their lives. With a little height, we could see just how many thousands of people were partying on the beach!
Fire Dancers!
A few hours of dancing and wondering later… we stumbled upon a slide..and for some reason, i was super excited about it!! Just as i was climbing up a rope ladder that reminded me of my childhood, a big flame burst behind me, and the slide was now on fire!!!! SO COOL! I was so excited that i went down the slide twice. Mistake. On the second ride down, my skirt came up, bikini bottom turned into a wedgie, and my bare ass experienced the worse case of slide burn I’ve ever felt. I slid off the slide and ran my ass right into the ocean and squatted to relieve the pain…just like you see in a cartoon! OH it was funny but i was feeling the pain for the next week!
Fire Slide!
We didn’t quite make it to sunrise like we had hoped, but we were close! We again, negotiated a cab ride home and were didn’t wake up until late the next afternoon!
I think we did nothing the next day as we recovered in the lovely villa NEXT to the craphole we were staying in! The pool was awesome, one of those infinity ones that overlooked the ocean! Next to the pool was the villa cafe with hammocks and American movies playing on a projector! We did manage to make our way to reception to book ourselves a motorbike for the next day though… only 150 baht for 24 hours ($5 US)!
Pretty Pool!
So the next day turned into quite an adventure as we scooted across to the nicer beaches on the Northeast side of the island! Nobody told us that the nicely paved roads actually ended and turned into dirt roads with MASSIVE trenches and MASSIVE hills. When we approached the first one, we stopped, contemplated turning around, then decided to go for it, but not without me first getting off the bike and walking down the hill as Brad braved it down! It turned out to be fine, luckily since Brad took it nice and slow… but we had heard about the crazy “Koh Phangan Tattoo” people got here. And now we could see why. Even Lonely Planet warns you about it!
We made a pit-stop at Than Sadet waterfall along the way to the North side of the island. It was pretty dried up but ended up being really cool, because we were able to actually climb up the waterfall, rather than walk the trail. Many know…one of my FAVORITE things to do! Climbing mildly challenging rocks 
At the top was a puny little waterfall and pool that we took a dip in. We tried to check our Paradise Falls…the name sounded so enticing! BUT unfortunately there was no way our bike was making it through the treacherous path, so a quick turn-around for us it was.
Feeling adventurous
The beaches we made it to were Ao Thong Nai Pan Noi (and Yai) and Ao Chaloklum. Debatable if worth it after a 2 hour ride across the island, but no doubt were prettier and more deserted beaches. The landscape in Thailand is just so rare… crystal clear blue water, white sand, and green jungle hills all around! Really a sight to remember. We relaxed for a bit, and played around in the water, but realized if we wanted to make it to the west side of the island for sunset, we were going to have to leave now to allow time for the crazy ride back. Thankfully Going UP the trenched hills was not nearly as scary as going down!
Playing in the beautiful water
Sunset at Wok Tum Bay was super cool. With hammocks and benched stocked with pillows mixed in with palm trees, it truly seemed like paradise as the sky turned bright pink at sunset. All the Thai people were playing in the abnormally shallow water with their kids! It seems most of them prefer to go out when the sun goes down over going out in the middle of the day like most westerners prefer!
Incredible sunset!
Before we left Koh Phangan, we decided to take one more look at Hadrin beach, without the Full Moon Party… and it was like a different world. A little hutted bar playing Bob Marley with a few chilled-out patrons lying around on mats. No fire, no chaos.
We spent the rest of the night back at the villa, lounging in beach chairs staring out at the moonlit water; our conversation interrupted only by a long stroll up the beach to check out some of the night life. As we walked, we heard different types of music, each bar setting its own mood. We may have stopped outside one or two to boogie a bit. But this night was mostly for chilling out and taking it all in. We sat on the beach and watched a lightning storm out at sea, listening to the quiet crashing of gentle waves, appreciating Mother Natures beauty.
Loved this lonesome tree
We were off early the next morning, happy to have made the trip and excited for our next one.
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