They say that the full moon brings out the crazies. In Kho Phangan, Thailand; when the full moon is out they throw a party that is not for the week. The Full Moon Party is probably the most insane party I've been to in my life. The beach is full of party people and music floods in from all directions. Mike and I choose not to stay on Kho Phangan, but picked Kho Samui ~ a very nearby island ~ instead. The ferry ride between the two is only about an hour. As we walked from the ferry pier to the beach party, they sell everything from Full Moon Energy drinks, buckets, and neon body paint to splash all over your scantily clad body. Mike and I did feel slightly overdressed when we arrived in clothing, as opposed to our swimsuits. Oh well. They sell 'buckets' for about 250 baht ($6-7 USD) all over the place. They give you a cute little pail (the kind a child would play with on the beach) and dump a flask of the local whiskey, your soda of choice, and red bull into the pail and fill it to the brim with ice, and throw in a few straws for good measure. If you some how manage to finish one, I'm not so sure how you're still standing. Most people drink part the way through and trashed and therefore abandon it on the beach to go enjoy the party. [Drugs also are available at the party from random sketchy people walking the beach... but I wasn't game for trying any of that schnanagins.] They warned us not to take off our shoes or set anything down, the locals scrounge the beach and steal it all. Many a backpacker has awoken on the beach without anything and needing to go buy their shoes back from a local. Regardless, the moon is full and lighting the beach and the music plays loud and clear all night long. The different bars belt out different tunes -- techno/house stuff as well as pop and classics mix on the beach. I have to admit that I throughly enjoyed the party and went a bit crazy with the other full mooners. :)
We arrived to Kho Samui on June 1st, which was the date of the full moon party, and therefore enjoyed our first night partying all night. We crashed back at our beach bungalow -- New Hut Bungalows which cost us 300 baht/night until about 2 pm the next day. Kho Samui is a very scenic island and we were apparently there during off-season. We didn't see too many people around and were able to walk the long stretch of beach and enjoy ourselves. Most of the day we lazied around, read a little, listened to the iPod, and just relaxed. You can get a Thai massage on the beach for only 200 baht/hour. So cheap!! Time becomes irrelevant as you just waste the day away. When we went to check out, they tried to charge us for 4 nights and we seriously had to think about how long we spent on the island because it just sort of melts away. We also had the pleasure of catching a fantastic thunder and rainstorm on the 2nd night. The lightening was just illuminating the sky as we were walking back to the bungalow from dinner. It also served to nicely cool off the evening and make it comfortable to sleep, since we were not paying for Air Conditioning ~ just a fan to get by. Next time I'm in Thailand, I'll certainly wash up on Kho Samui and lounge around for a bit ... it was so reasonable and relaxing.
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