THE FULL MOON PARTY

We got to the “villa” at around 7pm but everything was booked. Thankfully they said that if Mady and Tasha were okay with it, the three of us could share a room. Little did we know the “room” was a beautiful loft. We quickly settled in, grabbed a bite to eat and then head straight to the full moon party.

Dating back to 1987 Koh Phangan was quite a remote island. Very few backpackers came around. Each full moon friends would gather on the sunset side of the island, light a fire and play guitar. Nowadays, the party is held on the sunrise side and it is home to tens of thousands of travellers who get together to celebrate their freedom.

We took a tuk tuk to the other side of the island; when we got there, a sea of people was covering the whole beach. Fueled by throbbing beats, around 40,000 half naked glowing neon bodies, moved as one. Body paint, and neon tees mixed so perfectly, consumed by the audacious feeling that we had life on our side.

Everything was on fire. Fire limbo, a slide with fire obstacles, rings of fire, lit-up jump rope, and locals doing all sorts of tricks. Music was playing all across and the beach and little huts were lined up all along selling the infamous buckets. Our pick? Vodka redbull. 

There were all sorts of crazy things, shroom shakes included. There were designated spots to sleep in along the beach and people passed out under the ramps. Lots of bodies everywhere, sweat, energy, and paint. There were insane outfits and insane people but everyone seemed as though they were friends. You could be easily consumed by the atmosphere alone.

We ended up running into Kim and Janine, what are the chances? Amongst tens of thousands ...

We danced the night away until it turned to morning. At some point we got split up but watching the sun rise as the music got turned up louder and louder was worth it.

To be completely honest, I slept through the whole next day.... couldn’t move a finger but when I did get up, Mady and Tasha were ready to go out again. 

A QUEST TO THE FULL MOON PARTY

I had spent the past two days on buses and I was about to spend one more on the train. I usually don’t rush things but the full moon party doesn't wait for anyone. When I got on the train, it started moving early... like half an hour early. Seeing as I was one of the only people on it I started to panic slightly. It turned out that they were “testing” it...which is what I gathered from hand gestures from the locals on the train. I almost had a heart attack thinking I was in a train destined for who knows where.

When I woke up, I realized that we had been delayed by a couple of hours… off the train to a bus and then a waiting area. We spent about 2 hours waiting, took another bus and then found out that we had missed the boat that was supposed to take us to Koh Phangan. We were stuck and had to wait until 1pm! Now let’s keep in mind that the full moon party was that same day… and that apparently (as I found out then) it was high season in southern Thailand and the whole island was most likely going to be fully  booked.  I, off course, had nothing reserved and as I talked to everyone around me it seemed like that was going to be a bad move. But hope was not lost, I met 2 really nice Canadian girls from Vancouver Tasha and Maddy who were just starting their trip and they told me that I could come stay with them (that’s if we ever made it there … )

To pass the time, we went swimming but within the fist 10 minutes Maddy got stung by a jelly fish... nothing was going too well…

We met two other girls Kim and Janine from the Netherlands and we had a drink and joked around trying to pass the time.

The boat was late off course and we made it to the island at around 6 pm… thankfully Tasha and Maddy adopted me and the 3 of us shared a loft for my remaining time at  Koh Phangan where we passed 4 wonderful crazy days. 

GETTING BACK TO THAILAND

After gibbons I returned to Huay Xay and had to stay there stay for the night as the only bus destined for Luang Prabang had departed about 20 minutes before we arrived to town. Instead, I joined a celebratory dinner with the gibbons crew. The next day, I took a “VIP” night bus to Luang Prabang. WOST NIGHTBUS EVER. And I mean it this time... I was sitting at the very back, sandwiched between two local men, the chair did not recline one bit, the lights got turned on every few hours and to top it off, the AC went off in the middle of the night and I legitimately through I was going to suffocate. The road was unpaved and windy... a baby crying all night. 15 hours or hell...

When I got off the bus, I ended up joining a group of English people, 5 girls and 3 guys. I had been to Luang Prabang before so I sort of knew my way around. It was a challenge to find a hostel for all 9 of us but we managed to find an affordable place by the riverside.

We all met up for dinner and had a few bottles of wine while watching the sunset behind the river. Anthony, Brandy, Martin and I decided to go for drinks in the quest to find the infamous bowling alley. Luang Prabang has an 11:30pm curfew; at that time no one is allowed on the streets, but everyone who goes to Luang Prabang hears the rumors.... at 11:25pm sharp, the tuk tuks lined up outside of the bars and took us to a local club. There were about 15 of us. It was quite the experience... trying to sing along to the lyrics, and taking pictures with the locals; not sure who found the other more of a novelty. The club closed at 12:00pm (the actual curfew). When we stepped outside we met a local lady, it was her birthday and so we sang as she did cartwheels and jumped around... she must have been around 28. The tuk tuks then drove us to the bowling alley where we continued to drink beer lao. What a bizarre way to end the night. On the way back, the tuk tuk was so full that Anthony and I had to hop on top.... what a night.

local club

the ONLY place open past midnight 

I was meant to leave early the next morning and it was already 4 am so the three of us tried to stay up all night but we fell asleep and didn’t wake up until 11 the next day... needless to say, the bus was gone. I decide to take the rest of the morning off, went to a spa, got a massage and a manicure, and switched my bus ticket to a later one.

We rented bikes for the afternoon and went about exploring the beautiful streets of Luang Prabang filled with little shops, restaurants, temples and nature alike. At lunch, we found a really cool restaurant across the river (Dyen Sabi). They came to get us on a little canoe, which brought us across and through a hidden tree path to get there. It was hidden between the bamboo trees, with tables on the floor and lots of cushions. It was fantastic!

On our way back to the hostel we saw a dog in a cage by one of the little restaurants on the river. It was a horrific site. It looked sad and scared. It was skinny and sitting very still. We asked the man what it was the for and he said “eating” as he pointed at one of the tables  who was enjoying this delicacy. I never felt so nauseous and uncomfortable.

Spent the day exploring Vientaine 

That night I took a 12 hour the bus to Vientaine and spent the day walking around exploring the capital.  In the afternoon, another 12 hour bus to Bangkok. We arrived there by morning. On the bus, I had met a girl who was also heading to the islands. The two of us broke into a random hostel to take a shower. It had been about 2 days of traveling already so it needed to be done as we would be spending a 3^rd night on transportation. We went to central bkk for the day, spent the day window shopping and went to see a Batman. Then off to the train station again.