Koh Pha-Ngan, the stolen bag and the full moon party
Friday 8th December 2006
Oh how the island of Koh Pha-Ngan is absolutely crazy. There is something just not quite right about it. After Laos we flew back to Bangkok and spent the night there. From the airport we got in a metered taxi to the Ko San Road. This is now the third time we have gone a different route to the famous road. We had a few things to say to the taxi driver who was obviously after a cheeky baht or two more. As it was after midnight by the time we got in the cab, I had left my glasses on the plane and had to wait for the cleaners to find them and bring them back to me (when will i remember myself and my head?), we were not best pleased that it took him over an hour to reach our destination. “Not funny”, I told him. He laughed.
In the evening we got picked up by a guy who was over an hour late. We were beginning to get a bit aggitated by this point. We also thought we were getting a transfer and not a man who was walking us to a shop about 20 minutes walk down the road. When we have rucksacks the weight of ours it is no joke. Anyway, we were soon on the way to Chumporn ferry terminal on a 7 and a half double decker coach ride with so much air con i felt like a block of ice by the time we got to the ferry terminal. At 5 in the morning we reach Chumporn and eventually get on the ferry to take us to Koh Pha-Ngan. When we reach our destination we are greeted with the usual haggling for taxis and all sorts. A couple of people had told us that our guesthouse was only a few minutes up the road so we thought we would be clever and walk. Over an hour later, drenched in sweat and on the beach with no guesthouse in sight we rock up at a place that tells us our guesthouse is 9 doors down. Greeeeaaat!! Eventually we met a Thai girl who gave us a lift on her motorcycle to our guesthouse.
Our room was fairly small, cold water shower with two ants nests, about three lizards (i named the big one Lizzy), 2 moths and countless mosquitos that i tried to get rid of with my water bottle. There was no room to put any of our stuff and the lights at one point decided to do a disco on us, flicking on or off. That was, of course, when we had power. Apart from that, all was good. We spent some time on the beach by our guesthouse. It was a lovely beach, really long and sandy and the guesthouse had put up hammocks to just chill out on and watch the sun go down on. Paradise.
On our second night on the island we decided to check out Haad Rin, which is where the full moon party is held every month. We watched games being played on the beach like musical chairs and people trying to stamp balloons out and other funny things, whilst enjoying a ‘bucket’. This is alcohol mixed with a kind of red bull and other soft drink like Pepsi or Sprite. It was all going so well, we were having a great time. We danced for a while and then decided to go and sit on the beach. It is at this point that i must have had my bag stolen from me. It may have been cut but I am not sure. The main things in it were my camera and wallet. I am gutted about my camera. It gave me a pretty sobering affect as you can imagine but Janine was still on a 10 minute delay i think and I had to help her walk to a phone place where i could make an inernational call home. Whilst getting engaged tones, my parents are never on the phone after 9 at night??? What was going on??, Janine was throwing up on the pavement. I had to rush back and forth between the lady dialling my home number and Janine. In the end it all got a bit too much for me hearing the engaged tone every two seconds and i burst into tears. The woman just kept on re-dialling. Eventually I thought i would try a payphone myself so i went to find one. On the way a lovely girl gave me her calling card to use and i love her forever. On the second attempt i got through. I returned her card and got Janine and myself home in a taxi. When we got to our room i realised that we had no key. The key was in my bag so i went to reception but it was shut up. On the second attempt, after rapping on the door and noone answering, I had a look around the place and picked up a bunch of keys just lying on the reception table. I just picked a ramdon key and it unopened the door. Very safety conscious this place!!!!
The next day i had to go to the police station and phone various people. It is hopefully getting sorted now. Nightmare.
The next days were filled with rain. After such lovely sunny weather, the rain just suddenly came out of nowhere it was mad. It would downpour, like flash flooding weather, and then the electricity would cut out at about 6pm and it would stop raining and then the lights would come back on at about 9pm and then the rain would start again. On the day of the full moon party it rained all day and we were wondering if it would be a good idea to go. By the evening though it had cleared up and we went. I was paranoid about my bag all night but i still managed to have a good time. There were so many people on the beach. People with illuminous paint all over them, girls and boys, naked people, crazy people. They have a sleeping area at one end of the beach. We heard one story that some guys took some mushrooms and thought that they were seeing an elf so they locked it in their apartment’s bathroom. When they woke up the next boy they had a little Thai boy in there. The party was fun though and we danced all night and into the morning watching the sunrise and the sea come right up to the bars.
Today we took a ferry boat and went to Koh Tao. This is a much smaller island and used to be called ‘Turtle Island’ as they had lots of turtles here once. It is busy but not manic like Koh Pha-Ngan which i like. It is also good for diving here so we will hopefully do a dive tomorrow. I am glad to be off Koh Pha-Ngan. It has a bad affect.
Tags: full moon party, Koh Pha-Ngan, Koh Tao, Thailand, Travel
georgiebees
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