Howling at the Moon

Ah, diving on Ko Tao was simply amazing. Not only did I learn that diving is completely fun, though a little pricey, I also made great friends there that I'll never forget. In fact, we all had such a great time that the lot of us traveled to Ko Phangan together to continue our adventure and to keep the good camaraderie going strong. These weeks were among the best for me.

Somehow the dorm got up and moving at the early hour of 9 to catch a taxi to the port. I guess it was more of a pickup than a taxi but they don't have seatbelt laws here so anything goes. I'm just happy to get a ride early in the morning when the drivers aren't as drunk. I've heard stories about how much the taxi and tuktuk drivers drink while on duty and it's terrifying. The penalty for being caught is a $10 ticket though you could probably bribe your way out of it with $5.

The boat from Ko Tao to Ko Phangan was filled to the gills with backpackers and while there weren't enough seats to go around, the real demand was for deck space so the girls could keep tanning. They just can't seem to get dark enough, though the few Asian
girls on the boat covered themselves with umbrellas since they can't get white enough. I just can't care. My favorite moment was when the boat pulled up and a huge crowd of taxis justled to snatch us up for the longish ride into town. They were downright comical.

Anyways, we got into town and conveniently ran into Diane and Paul before settling on our accommodation. We chose a large group of bungalows a short walk out of town and close to an upscale bungalow community that had a large and free pool with a cheap bar next to the beach. The bungalows there cost three times as much but were nice looking and had AC. Ours were concrete pillboxes with steel bars over the doors and windows and a single fan in each room. They were good enough for us though... who wants to spend all day in their room?

After dinner we went to the aforementioned pool to attend a big party that was scheduled for that night. It was kind of low key when we got there at 10 but after a bucket and a couple hours it really picked up with tons of people in the pool, the bar, and some spilling out onto the beach. The drinks were pretty cheap and I think that everyone was gearing up for the Full Moon Party that takes place two days later so it got out of control. Water was splashed everywhere and I worried for my camera. There was a small pier going out into the sea and couples were doing as they pleased on it under the flood lights. Diane and I took a walk down the beach and in the shadows of the trees on the sand, more people were getting lucky in the sand. It was a completely scandalous evening.

When I woke up the next morning in my bungalow, I became aware that someone had taken my laptop, ipod, and watch out of my satchel some time in the night. The room was locked at all times with a key that only I and the management had copies of so I've got my suspicions but generally it's a mystery what happened. I did my best to play it cool but mostly I'm just disappointed. I hadn't had anything stolen from me while traveling before as is true for most people I meet. I've got travel insurance though so it might all be covered. In any case, it's a convenient time since Erika is coming to visit in a few weeks and can bring me a new laptop that's currently on its way to her house.

The local police told me that they don't do theft reports for insurance claims and that I'd have to go to the other side of the island to the main police station. Taking a taxi would be too expensive so I rented a scooter and bought fuel for $5. I didn't want to rent a scooter here at all since the roads are in poor condition, there's frequently sand on the pavement, they drive on the left, there is a lot of traffic, and because every third tourist on this island has got bandages on and most of those injuries came from scooters. It's crazy how dangerous they are... but they are an awful lot of fun and it's difficult to see much outside of town without one. One of the most prolific businesses on this island are the ER clinics that usually claim to have xrays and quality surgeons. Some of them just specialize in wound treatment.

That said, I got the scooter and made my way around the island with a pretty poor map. There's a lot of traffic on the main road and it gets really steep at times. I'm pretty sure this kind of road would never be made at home, but I'm not there. Eventually I found the police station and most of the officers were out front watching a local soccer game. They had me write out my side of the story, copied it into Thai, and gave me a copy for the insurance company. It took about 10 minutes before I was on my way. Once I got back I returned the scooter as I wasn't keen to ride it again. I love scooters but this place isn't safe.

I met up with the group lazing around the bungalows and in the evening we made it out to the main beach to see what kind of party was going on there. The Hat Rin beach as it's known is not so large. It goes out from the bars for a good 50 meters but isn't half a kilometer long. One end of the beach has large boulders blocking the way and a huge lit up sign advertising the Full Moon Party. The other end has a few bars on a cliff that serve magic mushroom shakes. That stuff's not for me.

The middle of the beach has several bars that run up against the sand and also several dozen booths selling buckets and competing loudly with each others prices and extras. Some of them give a free shot with each bucket, some give garlands of flowers, and one that I saw also sold betel nuts. They're a kind of tree nut wrapped in a leaf and it's the local take on chewing tobacco. It stains your teeth red after repeated use and gives you a pretty strong buzz though I never saw a good time to try it. Each bucket vendor will write his name and a tally on your arm so that you get your 5th one free. It's not easy to do. My bucket of choice is made of vodka, redbull syrup, and coke and usually goes for $10 though you could get a cheaper whiskey one for $6 that will leave you hurting the next day. $10 is not small change but they go a long way.

Most people hang out on the beach and the various bars pay fire dancers to bring them closer to their particular bar. Some dancers have a wooden pole with fire on both ends that they hellicopter around their body and occasionally toss in the air. Others have two flaming balls on the ends of chains that they spin around in hypnotic patterns. I saw one girl that had one large ball on the end of a long chain that she spun around and would fling out at people just a girl in Kill Bill 1; the teen girl with the spiked ball. Awesome. This picture is on Will going a little spinning of his own.

We also saw a huge flaming jump rope that the drunks could jump into and eventually trip over. One guy did it in the nude and probably got burnt. I heard that there was a flaming ring that people would leap through but that people would get stuck on it all the time. Sounds painful. I also saw a flaming limbo bar but I only did it when it was quite high. That thing is hot! I heard that one guy grabbed it with both hands and bit it. A bystander 'saved' him by punching him in the face and knocking him down for his stupidity. Scary stuff.

Some of the other guys in our group went to the 'mushroom mountain' and had a wild evening. Their review was that it was all just way too strong and they didn't try it again. I made it home around 4 in the morning and couldn't get into my room so I stayed in someone else's bungalow. Timo got home even later and I think that Paul saw the sunrise. We had a pretty late start the next day.

The moon was now full and the next day was the main event. Not much happened in the day since everybody napped and only came out to eat from a particularly good schnitzel place and drink loads of water. Dan met up with an American friend of his, Chelsea, who had us come over to her bungalow in town after dinner so that we could get fully prepared for the party. It's traditional to wear as little as possible and to use florescent body paint for the full moon party. Even if you don't wear it, it'll be rubbed off on you and that shit stains so you might as well buy some cheap neon shorts and skip the shirt. It's never cold at night here anyways.

We spent a hood hour painting each other and waiting for the hour to get later before we entered the huge throng of people surging down the street towards the beach. It was unreal how many people were there. The moon parties draw in tourists from every part of Thailand for the epic event before they all disperse the next day. Some of them come for the few days before to enjoy the buildup which is just as fun while others stay just for the night. We made sure to stop into a club filled with blacklights to get a few pictures. I've got to try and get some from Diana... hers turned out better.

The party was everything from the night before, but without so many fire dancers since there just hasn't room for all that. It's said that around 10-15 thousand people were there crowding that small beach and we probably rubbed shoulders with all of them because by the end of the night most of my paint was gone. I don't have anything more to say about it other than that I didn't go that crazy really... and I didn't make it to sunrise. That's just not my thing and the walk back to the bungalow in the heat of the sunlight is said to be miserable. Oh well.

We stayed on the island one more night since we knew that we'd need hangover recovery time and for the most part we just relaxed and drank a lot of water. Most of the afternoon was spent in one of the many TV cafes showing Family Guy. In most heavy tourist areas in SE Asia you will find many many cafes endlessly playing Friends and Family Guy for weary travelers. I guess those two shows must appeal to the most kinds of people. Who knew? They were on PhiPhi and Ko Tao as well. When Chelsea showed up she had bandages all over her body and had apparently fallen off her scooter earlier in the day while going to return it. Timo found her after her ER visit and went to the scooter rental place where they spent 2 hours haggling over the price for the damage. I think she ended up paying over $800 for the whole incident and is going to fly home a week early. Poor girl. That night we went to the beach again but only to briefly see it before we went back to the pool party beach to fire off what was left of my roman candles and enjoy and single beer on the sand.

Finally it was time for us all to part ways. That's the nature of the Full Moon Party... everyone goes towards it but then scatters off in all directions. Timo went back to Ko Tao for more diving. Paul and Will went to Ko Samui to relax on the sand. Dan and Lance went to Kuala Lumpur to fly to England for work and Ameile left a couple days before to catch a plane to India. My Thai visa was set to expire the next day so I decided to make a border run to Burma to add 15 days to my stay. My plan was to travel with Diane for a while before I went to Cambodia so we said that we'd meet up in Phuket the next evening.

The cheapest way for me to do the border run was to take the night boat to the mainland and then to ride a series of buses. The boat ride was 6 hours long and dropped me off at 5 am. It was a cold and windy night on a hard mattress but still better than the night train down from Bangkok. After a couple bus rides with two travelers doing the same thing we arrived at the town of Ranong, a short boat ride from Burma. Our cab driver took care of all the details, shepherding us through the Thai customs, onto a longtail, through Burmese immigration, and back to Thailand. It wasn't too painful. I slept through a 6 hour bus ride down to Phuket and met up with Diane at the hostel.

It was her 23rd birthday so we did our best to celebrate but Phuket town was quieter than I could imagine. We found a great and cheap restaurant where they oddly didn't sell beer and then went to a bar next to the hostel for a light drink. After playing Connect 4 a dozen times (she's good) we saw the young group next to us produce a birthday cake for one of their girls. I'd have sworn that they couldn't have been older than 14 but we learned that they were 18 and drank pretty heavily. While Di was in the bathroom I told them that it was her birthday also and they produced ice cream, cake, and a candle for her as well. Sweet.

The next day, and the day before for that matter, it rained all day but we still forced ourselves to go out. The last time I was in Phuket, Timo and I didn't see much more than the festival and food stalls. We skipped the most popular part of the island, Patong Beach. Diane and I took a bus there and found it to be a long a beautiful beach coupled up against a seriously seedy and touristy bar town. We braved the rain, walked around the downtown areas of it, and had some overpriced drinks. Later in the evening it filled up with vacationers and pushy peddlers selling taxis, sex shows, and knockoff watches. I hated the place but I'm glad that I saw it. We vowed to leave town the next day.

After breakfast and a little internet access we haggled ourselves a ride to the pier and caught the boat to Ko Phi Phi. Yea, I've been there before but the plan is to just be there a few days before going to a new island, Ko Lanta. It should be nice. We got bunks at the Rock hostel just as before and went out to my favorite restaurant on the island where they took good care of us. In the evening we visited the Slinky beach bar and got a couple free buckets each as part of a promotion. I don't think that I'm ever going to pay for a bucket again on this island. I'll let you know how that goes.