Koh Phangan

After a rather dissapointing few days in Ko Samui I caught the ferry to Phangan ready for the full moon festival, which I was really exicted about. I had to wait half an hour in the rain at the pier, but once I finally got to my bungalow I met three really cool people from England and spent the next few days with them.

We hired out a jeep as the owner said was only 1000baht which we thought was a bargin between us. However, once I got be hind the wheel, as designated driver, it was clear within seconds why it was so cheap!

The break didnt work very well, there was a very strong smell of petrol, which after about half an hour gave us headache, and the jeep struggled to get up the hills. 'Struggled' is an understatement! I was in first gear with my foot flat to the floor and it was barely moving! It crawled up the hills with the engine roaring! I was so embarrassed to be driving such a tank! I think a golf buggy would have been a better choice!

The funniest part was when Donna took over the driving! Within a few seconds we reached a hill and she couldn't change gears without stalling the car. We were rolling backwards down this really steep hill and she asks me to take over! I was like how am I suppose to swap while we're rolling down a hill! Eventually we reached a petrol station, which was literally someones garden with bottles of what looked like fizzy pop and filled up the tank, which we were sure was leeking! The owner was trying to sell us magic mushrooms and offered to cook them in an omlette for us, it was so strange how open he was about it in front of his children! We passed on the drugs and then made our way round Thong Sala before heading back and ditching the awful car!

That night we all went out for dinner in Haad Rin, where the pary was due to take place the following night. Weended up playing drining games in this awful Irish bar before working our way to the beach. There was a huge pre-party going on it was crazy! I ended up bumping into the Aussie boys I met in Phi Phi and we all spent the whole night dancing on the beach with glow sticks, which seemed like a good idea at the time! It was such a good night!

We acutally had really nice weather the second day which was a nice changed. Me and Donna spent the morning on the beach and then we all went shopping for more glow sticks and wrist bands ready for the big night!

The full moon party was due to begin, but we all went to a pre-party on the beach at a hotel not far from ours. There was a huge buffet of fresh thai food and there were traditional thai dancers, aswell as floating flowers with candles, which we all lit and set off out to see- it was a thai tradition and is said to bring good health and luck in life. There were lots of people sat on seperate tables and it wasnt really much of a party atmosphere, so I got all the tables together and there ended up being about 14 of us playing games round the table, it was so much fun.

We had to get a cab to the party about 12am, but the cab that came was like a truck (there are all the same in thailand) We sat on the benches on either side but there was not enought room for everyone so 2 guys were hanging out the back! This was so entertaining when we reached the hugh hills from the day before! We were all literally holding on for dear life! The party was so much fun, we all drank buckets, watched the fireworks and danced the night away on the beach. I also randomely bumped into the English guys from Phi Phi (small world). Were still there at 7am. which was so strange because we had seen the sun come up and still hadn't been to bed! We finally got back around 8am and spent the whole day in bed! It was such a good night!

After the hangovers wore off we went out for dinner again and had an early night. The next day was spent chilling out on the deck at the hostel crying laughing at some of the stories Ross had told us and some of the phrases he came out with! You had to be there but one of the classic moments followed him aying 'if you're thinkin of going to Portugal...don't bother!' I can't explain why Ross was so funny, you just have to meet him!

Koh Phangan was so much fun, I am definately glad I made the party. I met loads of really cool people and spent most of the time laughing which is always a good sign! I was just a little sad to be leaving Thailand after such an amazing month!