From Bangkok we experienced our first overnight bus journey on Thai soil, and it wasnt pretty!! We arrived safely though, and our first island stop was Koh Phangan, the middle of three islands on the southern gulf. We headed here first in search of the notorious monthly Full Moon Party held on the beach here, as we wont be around to see the next one! We arrived here a few days before to relax, and we ended up falling in love with the place. The island had a lovely atmosphere, evevings were spent relaxing in the bars which are basically a load of mats put together on the sand, sipping our drinks under the stars, watching the fire twizzlers entertain us by candlelight. Days were spent lazing on the beach, trying to sunbathe, but it was near impossible as the weather is incredibly hot over here at the mo. You couldnt manage it for too long and I usually ended up like a beached whale on the sea edge, baking on the shore, whilst hardcore sunseeker Dan braved the heat!! We were also here for the much anticipated England game, which turned out to be a comedy evening!! Dan was so excited as you can imagine, and the Thais are crazy about English football too, so we headed to the local bar where the kick off was advertised at 8pm. About an hour before it started, monsoon like weather descended over the little town and wiped out all power!! We sat in the dark praying it would come back on, but it didnnt so we ran to one of the two bars in the whole town which had a back up generator. At 8pm, the game still hadnt started, concerned, someone went to ask what was going on, and the Thai owners (loving their king and all) wanted to watch the celebrations of their king on the news for the first half hour of the match, on every single screen in the joint!!! With 300 odd screaming England fans they still didnt back down, so we had to sit there and wait! And evidently, when the match was turned on, the generator broke down literally 5 minutes from the end....it was an absolute joke!! Every day, the island was getting fuller and fuller, as people arrived by the boat load eagerly awaiting the monstorous party that awaited us. And when the day finally arrived, it was one hell of a party!! It is probably the most crazy party we have had, and definetly one of the most crazy night we have had on our travels so far!! The night started off at about 8pm, just watching the football on the beach, and when it finished the party really kicked off. The beach filled up with thousands of partygoers, sipping out of the lethal, but essential, Thai buckets, and the party continued until sunrise, and by 6.30am we had done our fair share of drinking/dancing and slipped off to bed in our little beach bungalow, leaving the roaring crowds and the strewn bodies on the beach behind!! When we awoke in the morning to check out of our room by 12pm, the party was still in full swing, people partying on the beach and music blaring out...it was literally insane! Definetly an experience we wont forget, and a must for anyone who comes to Thailand. So not feeling at our best, we headed to our next island stop, Koh Tao, which is a scuba diving mecca, where we are going in search of Nemo. xxx