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.