Koh Phangan

Illness combined with miraculous recovery combined with extreme partying has delayed my documentation of the trip, so now this whole week is a big blur of activities.  Our first day here Sam, Emilie and I went to Ao Haad Yao, a beach of the west side of the island.  We met up with some of her friends from Michigan that night at Amsterdam Bar to watch the sunset, and then headed over to their hostel, Ringside, where we got ready for the Jungle Party.  Taxis dropped us off literally in the middle of the jungle where they had set up drink stands and a stage for a DJ.  Had a nice time dancing and getting to know the Michigan group.

The 15^th was the day of the Full Moon Party, so we went around town to get neon t-shirts for the night.  Again went to Ringside, and then took a taxi over to Haad Rin, which is a beach on the east side of the island.  As we walked onto the beach, we were overcome with the music and lights on display at each different section of the beach.  There were people playing with fire (Sam even jumped over a jump rope that was on fire) and people hanging out on the beach, but most everyone was just dancing and having a great time.  Initially I was very concerned with how crazy the night would be, but overall I thought it was well put together and maintained, and only a few people had looked like they’d overdone it with the alcohol buckets.  Talked to a lot of interesting people that night and watched the sunrise from the beach.  

Understandably, we spent pretty much the whole day of the 16^th in bed sleeping.

Took Emilie to the pier at 6am on the 17^th and it was really hard to see her go.  She’s at the end of her traveling journey and we’ve just  begun ours.  Met up with the guys from Michigan later in the day and headed over to Koh Phangan National Park on the east side of the island.  A small beach with much courser sand, but there was a whole neighborhood built into the side of a cliff and it was a really cool place to spend an afternoon.  Had dinner at the local market across the street from Miriam’s (spring rolls for 10baht, pad thai for 60baht and fruit shakes for 30baht).

On the 18^th the boys picked us up on their motorbikes and we went to Wipeout for a few hours to watch them attempt a water obstacle course.  We headed back to the beach they were staying at and spent the rest of the afternoon there.

On the 19^th Sam and I headed out to the streets to find a place to stay as the room at Miriam’s was booked for the night.  Literally walked down the street and paid 250baht to stay a dorm style room.  We also bought our boat ticket to Koh Samui (200baht).