Full Moon Party

Marky Mark (aka Josh) and I decided that this was to be our final party on Thailand's southern islands, which had, in spite of their paradise beaches, become slightly repetitive in their offerings, and immediately bought tickets to Chiang Mai where we hoped to see a different side to Thailand. Kaleem and Seapa opted for less travelling and more beaches and although they were not entirely happy to be deprived of their parent figures it was agreed that it was better for us all to get what we wanted out of the last week.

With our plans booked and paid for all that was left was to hit the full moon party hard. There were lots of warnings about possessions being stolen and as my camera had chosen this moment to stop functioning altogether I decided to leave it in the hostel and hope for the best - theft insurance. After kitting ourselves out in our tie dyed tshirts, luminous body paint and wooden bead necklaces (when in Rome...) we made our way to the beach, stopping on the way so that the local police could give us a little cuddle.

The easiest way to describe the party is a festival on a beach. Stalls selling buckets scream at passers by - each with their own innovative sales pitch ("Fuck Bucket" was my favourite) while the bars blast music out to sea. Everywhere thousands of people dance, drink, shout, fall over, sleep. As usual we befriended people by making fools of ourselves (pretending to be on drugs, challenging the most hardcore ravers to dance-offs, etc) and danced the night away in beer fuelled bliss. We bumped into a few familiar faces from Phi Phi and Ko Tao including Tim who, in fact, we had seen in a restaurant within five minutes of arriving (I don't know how he does it) and had some funny drunken reunions.

But beer and buckets can only take you so far and by 5am, like many others, we were feeling fatigued and in need of a lift. At the far end of the beach, where it was more quiet and the sand was littered with bodies (lying down for one reason or another, ahem) we found what we needed. Food.

We all know that drunk people are not the most discerning culinary enthusiasts - as far as I'm concerned a KFC at 3am takes some beating. However, on this occasion we found something that even the Colonel himself could not have outdone. A huge fish straight off a barbeque at 5am IS the most delicious thing ever. Revitalised by this wonderful, and slightly surreal, food, we headed back into the heart of the party and didn't stop dancing until well after the sun had come up.

As it rose, the sleeping masses rose like zombies from the sand and in the light of day the glowing wristbands and bodypaint (worn by blinking, squinting wrecks whose faces expressed something in between anger and confusion) became amusingly out of place. We eventually headed back to our bamboo youth centre and managed three hours of sleep before being woken up by the usual communal commotion.

After a day of recovery, playing Call of Duty on the Wii and looking around the shops, we boarded the ferry back to the mainland and bid a hurried farewell to Seapa and Kaleem as we were gestured immediately onto a coach continuing our journey. This time heading north.

written by  steve_stamp on May 12, 2009 from Ko Phangan, Thailand
from the travel blog: The art of being lost
tagged Bamboo, FullMoonParty and YouthCentre
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