Vagabonding begins!

The infamous FMP was last night here at Hadd Rin beach. The moon was spectacular and bright, it lit up the water and looked very eerie and mysterious. No wonder it makes people act like animals. Unfortunately, after 10 days of waiting for this party, I got food poisoning from some bad Pad Thai and was too sick to party. I knew that my time was coming on this trip to get something, but I did not expect it to be on the same night as the party! I spent most of the night vomiting my brains out, but did make it down to the beach for 2 hours to check things out. I was a little disappointed actually….it was just like any of the other nightly beach parties but 10x the people. In fact, you couldnt move, dance, walk, or breathe. Every 2 minutes I had some drunk Swede spilling a bucket of something on me. I know this isnt a popular opinion, but I enjoyed the half moon party much more.

I leave tomorrow by boat for Ko Tao. I am really looking forward to the quiet and recovering from being sick. I’ll get my PADI openwater certification there, its cheap..and basically enjoy the nice weather now that the rain has finally gone. The worst thing is saying goodbye to all my new friends that I have made in 10 days here. Backpacking friendships are fast and bittersweet, but thats just the way it is.

I went with some Swedish friends after lunch to get my first real Thai massage. We walk in and there are no less than a dozen beautiful Thai girls giving massages on mats on the ground in the open (I chose one without curtains or private rooms because I actually wanted a MASSAGE!). For 200 Baht you get an hour massage. My friends each got their girl, which were young, gorgeous Thai women. Im thinking, I’ll just have a seat and wait on the next one to become available, but no…the 50 year old mamasan steps from behind the register and says lets go. As reality slowly creeps in, I realize that her biceps are larger than mine and her fingers are like bananas from years of giving massages. She worked every inch of my body…popping joints, fingers, toes, ears…how the hell can you pop an ear? She knew how. She put me into joint locks and contortions that would have made a pro-wrestler proud. As my body popped and creaked, I managed to keep a defiant smile on my face. My POW training I received in the army kept flashing through my mind and I was about to scream “you’ll never break me!” but it ended before I could get the words out. There was a happy ending….it was the end and I was happy that I had survived. She told me that she was done and I slowly sat up, expecting my jello-feeling body to collapse, and staggered to my feet. Im not sure if that was the best or worst experience of my life…but I suppose it was worth the $5 simply for the adventure. My two friends said that their girls were gentle and had soft hands. I thought that mine had #2 sandpaper wrapped around each palm. Still, I came on this vagabonding trip for new experiences and that was one to remember for sure. I have to admit though, I do feel great….not sure if it was the massage or the 5 Changs I had to forget the experience.

I saw a spray of bright red blood spot the clean, white mat just a few feet in front of me. I was sitting in my first Muay Thai kickboxing fight last night. As expected, it was touristy as hell and ... [Continue reading this entry]

I have had numerous people ask me or look at me with envy when I talk about a 3 month holiday in Southeast Asia. I dont think they realise that you can set your standard of living here and it ... [Continue reading this entry]

In the final days before the full moon party this island has become a circus. It is so crowded that you can hardly walk down the street and the local Thai people that used to help me with my language ... [Continue reading this entry]

There is no power on the island again today until 15:00. Its so bloody hot and it is too cloudy to hang on the beach, so everyone is in the street. Every guesthouse is full and tons of people are ... [Continue reading this entry]

My very loose to-do list: - Full moon party (Feb 14th) - Get the hell out of Ko Pha-ngan - PADI openwater certification on Ko Tao - World class rock climbing and soloing in Krabi and Phi Phi - Go back north to Chang Mai ... [Continue reading this entry]

I sense a terrible pattern starting to develop. I stay out until 04:00am or sometimes sunrise, then lay around on the beach all day doing nothing to recover. I drink gallons of water, literally, but stay dehydrated from the Thai ... [Continue reading this entry]

Daybreak did not even phase the mass of dancing zombies. The sun had just come up on Ban Tai during the famous half moon party and it never slowed the music ... [Continue reading this entry]

Once again, the stormy Gulf of Thailand had my boat bouncing up and down on the giant swells. People were puking over the railings but luckily ... [Continue reading this entry]