after a week we both said would be hard to beat we headed south for some partying by the water with anna and katie. it was a loooong trip, which involved 20 hours on trains and a day spent in a shopping centre purely for the air con factor, but we arrived - albeit VERY sunburnt as we stupidly sat on the deck of the boat taking us across to koh phangan. it was a rookie mistake and one we paid for over the next few days.
caught up with anna and katie at silvery moon, our beach bunglow accommoation for the next week and best descrbed simply as `paradise'. the loaction, the food, the friends we made and the times we had.
first night was dinner in the town which felt like a city anywhere in the world, such was the popluation of westerners. early night for kim and I as the heat and our sunburnt didn't make for the best conditions.
we spent the next day as would spend many in our beach paradise, lazing at the beach, in our hammock reading - even kim started reading an actual book!, snorking on the coral reef located directly in front of our hut and by taking a few walks along the beach into town, about a 45 min stroll, for the much desired fruit shake that cost about 1$.
then it was time for the jungle eperience with our hostel mates - we sat up in the outdoor dining room, and enjoyed a fabulous dinner - the best curry we had in thailand hands down, and some drinking games were soon started up. it didn't take long and the glow paint came out and we were covering one another in all sorts of weird and wonderful patterns. kim threw up on the table after our hosts poured the biggest shot of tequila any of us had seen. lize and katie made it to the bathroom, and sneaky but smart Anna tipped hers out while everyone downed theirs. she didnt confess until the next day - also smart.
the party wasn't massive - but it was a blow out just to be there. our paint worked a treat with the uv lights and despite losing two of our group to a stubbed toe and feeling sick, we stayed out dancing under the stars and trees in the hot hot until about 3am. All the music in thailand is basically trance and not the best for people who prefer funky beats - but all part of the experience.
the sun rose and with it the relentless, all consuming heat and kim, the bubbliest of us all at breakfast, was def still drunk and paid for it as the day wore on.
we headed in town for our first thai massage experience, the girls in the shop giggled when they saw kim but soon had him in all sorts of weird and apparently wonderful positions. no happy ending to that story however. We hired q 4-wheel drive to explore the island with but katie sadly ended up in hospital the next day with a bacterial infection. Anna decided to keep her company so Kim and Lize borrowed snorkles from Silvery Moon and hit the roads.
koh phangan is only very small and we covered the entire island in a day with stops for snorkling on a beautiful reef, lunch, pats and photos with a baby elephant, playtime with a monkey, photos of naked monks hiding behind their washing line and lots of swims. We returned home fairly knackered and ready for an quiet night but it was not to be, as the rumour that the full moon party had been moved back a night was incorrect and was in fact - tonight. no time to waste kim took the car back and picked up Anna - poor katie still stuck in hospital - they hired a motorbike and the silvery moon crew started warming up.
it was a big big night and lived up to all expectations. so many people and so much alcohol - buckets galore. we danced, chatted, watched the amazing fire stick action and took it all in but before we knew it the night was over and we were stopping in at the 7/11 for some grease before heading home. safety thankfully was not an issue for us, but our friends did suffer with one girl coming very close to being raped, one camera being lost/stolen and a guy getting mugged. scary stuff.
we enjoyed one last lazy day on the beach, playing cards and enjoying the amazing cooking before it was time to pack and hit the road for bangkok and on to london: 48 hours of straight travel - ewwww.
highlights include anna and Lize breaking our personal jenga record zith 5 others, the silvery moon food, overcoming a near death experience on the motorbike with Anna - we came about 10cms from driving off a cliff, catching up with Anna and getting some serious tan action.
