We arrived back in Bangkok on Tuesday morning. We checked into our hotel, got some food, and headed out to see the reclining Buddha. It was my second time seeing it, and Robin's first, but it is one of those things that takes your breath away no matter how many times you have seen it. The sheer size of it is what is amazing. Each of the Buddha's toes are about the size of Robin's torso. I wonder just how much gold was used to make it, because it is enormous!
The next day we headed out to the royal palace. It is another thing which leaves you in awe. The size, the colours, and the money that must have gone into building it. We walked around and saw all there was to see, before heading back to Koh San road to await Jeanette's arrival.
Jeanette arrived at around 8pm, and she had a shower before we headed out for some dinner and drinks. The next day we headed out for some pampering. We got facials and Thai massages. Oh my goodness, I don't know why people enjoy Thai massages, but it was not enjoyable being bent into a pretzel and beaten up! It's definitely not for the faint-hearted!
The following day we did a bit of shopping around Koh San road, and Pantip Plaza, and then got the overnight train and bus to Phuket. The journey was tiring, but uneventful, and we arrived at our hotel near Patong beach. We headed out to the beachfront and had some food. It was raining and a bit miserable, so we walked around the markets and got some dinner, before heading to the hotel. The next day we headed to the beach. This day will be remembered for Jeanette's sunblock...
I asked Jeanette to bring me some sunblock from SA so that I knew it was not some fake mayonnaise bottled and pawned off on us dumb white foreigners. We got up that morning and got ready to head to the beach. Jeanette insisted that instead of using the new sunblock, we should finish hers, because there was only a little left. Robin and I generously applied sunblock. Jeanette only used a little. I reapplied sunblock about 4 more times, especially after swimming - this pale pasty vampire lady has had enough years to know that she CANNOT survive in the sunlight. I also sat in the shade. Then, a lady with aloe vera came around and tried to convince me I needed some. I thought it was a scam. It was not. Jeanette was a nice brown colour, but Robin and I were like lobsters. Robin peeled THE NEXT DAY! I first got blisters... Jeanette said she's had the sunblock for a long time, so it may have expired. We think she swapped it out for cooking oil, in a cruel prank. Thanks Jeanette ;)
The following day we left Patong. Instead of heading straight to Koh Phangan, we broke the trip up, so we stopped off in Krabi. We explored the town and had some good food at the night market. The next day we headed to Koh Phangan.
Our hotel was awesome. It was close to a really nice white sandy beach, and we had our own private pebbled cove. Koh Phangan (apart from the full moon party) is a really quiet island. There is hardly anything to do, other than enjoy the beach, so we definitely made the most of it. On the first day, Jeanette was feeling sick, so she had a nap, and we watched the sunset from the private cove.
The next day we headed to the white sandy beach and had some fun in the sun. We headed back in the early afternoon to attempt napping before the all night full moon party.
The full moon party was awesome! Crazy! But awesome. Basically, the entire beach is turned into a party, with guys doing fire poi, different DJs at different stages, many different buckets (exactly what it sounds like - a plastic beach bucket, filled with booze), and my personal favourite, the fire jump rope. Setting a rope on fire and telling drunk people to skip is just a recipe for disaster, or for us sober folk - entertainment. I am not sure who came up with the idea, but it seemed pretty cool when one person started skipping, but as soon as they had done, at most, 3 successful jumps, hordes of drunk people would run in, and trip them up. Then there would be a bunch of people tangled in rope, on fire! I wonder how many people ended up at the hospital with burns the next day. (**Disclaimer: Don't worry mom, we didn't partake in the jumping - only in the laughing)
Most people at the full moon party were on a serious mission. Some had passed out by the time we arrived (around 10pm), and others were so drunk that they probably should have passed out instead of making fools of themselves. The police had even set up a sleep tent so that people could pass out in safety, with a group of cops watching over them. We spent the night watching the debauchery, posing for pictures with passed out people, and enjoying ourselves, all the way til sunrise. When we got back, we went for a swim in the cove, before having a nap. We then vegetated on the nearby beach, with some gin and tonics, and watched the sunset from the ocean. It was amazing! We splurged that night and went to a really fancy restaurant, with really delicious food, for our last night on Koh Phangan.
The next day we woke up to rain. We headed to the port and caught the ferry over to Koh Samui. The weather was miserable, and we didn't end up doing much, other than having lunch at the beach restaurant. Jeanette did a bit of shopping and got her bags packed because she was leaving the next day. She had an early morning pick-up, so she had an early night and we went for a drink at the hotel bar, where the manager told us the bad news... The weather was crappy because of a hurricane, and it would only get worse. The next morning we saw Jeanette off, and got ready for our final day in Koh Samui. We thought we might go for a final swim, and walk around the town. The hurricane had different plans for us though. I have never seen such rough seas. The rain was coming down so hard that the streets began to flood. We ran down the road to a bakery for brunch, and by the time we got there we were soaked, from the rain, but also from wading through water on the street. It was insane! Needless to say, we spent a very chilled out day indoors, and left the next morning for Phuket (the sun came out - of course! Murphy's law).
We had a really relaxed last night in Phuket, wandering through the markets, and got an early morning bus to the airport for our plane to India.
