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Once again, it's a full day of travelling. Returning knackered and broken from rock climbing, a 7am wakeup is not something that I would put on my wish list. Rush to the bus which of course takes its bloody time and doesn't move until 9am and sit down. Sit the whole damn day. 143km to Surat Thani; we manage to do that in three hours. Then it's about half an hour to the train station where I leave my suitcase behind. I will pick it up after Koh Phangan on my way to Kuala Lumpur. Half an hour back to the city - what kind of idiots live in Asia that many train- and bus stations are outside of town?! - and a mad scramble to find the place where the ferries leave for the island. Pay for the ticket, and five minutes later we are on our way. It is 14:30 by now. 1!! hour and 30 kilometres later we arrive in Don Sak; the ferry leaves at 16:00; arrives at 18:30. It's good and well dark by now.
After finding a hotel and settling in at Thong Sala I am ready for the main event! The reason I sat 12 hours today on almost empty busses/ferries, bored out of my mind, nobody to talk to is: Half Moon Party! Not as crazy as the full version but according to many a much nicer one. Instead of on Rai Tan beach, this one is in the jungle of Ban Tai. Being the cheap-ass that I am, I refuse to pay the 100B that every driver asks to take people there and start walking; it's only 6 orso kilometres, and it's only 21:30 now. The party just started; I'll be fashionably late :). Not much later I do succumb to a taxi, but not before I bargain it down to 60. Ha, in your face!
I'd rather not should have. After a couple bumpy turns, a lengthy gravel road we arrive in the middle of the jungle. Taxis - these modified pickups with a row of seats on each side - crowd outside, but inside is almost completely empty. I check the clock: it's after ten, the date is correct as well. What the hell? A few DJ's are hitting the tunes but the big floor in front is devoid of anyone, the surrounding bars have I'm sure no more than forty people. Great party... if this is what I paid 500B for to enter I'm seriously going to lynch someone. Get my drink, sit down at the bar and start chatting to a Canadian guy - where are all the girls btw? I picked him well since he's a professional windsurfer and have him explain at length how to beach/water-start, use the hook, tricks, etc. At least time is passing.
I think it's about midnight when we look up and the crowd seem to have gathered. From then on it's party until the morning! Absolutely loved it. Great tunes - I lost the free cd they gave with the ticket about an hour into the thing - crowd, fireshows... and the glow paint! Brilliant. Some random guy just drew some on my face/arms, but it's nothing compared to the works of art that you can get at the entrance by professionals. The paint, and everything white just glows in the dark jungle and when sometimes the lights were off, all you could see is the squiggly lines of neon-dragons. Massive!
Nothing too crazy happened for the rest though. Some people collapsed, threw up, had to be carried away. As the sky brightened and turned from pitch-black to sky-blue, pleasure girls found customers, the really drunk people looked very stupid trying to dance and several people were stretched flat on the ground, benches; exhausted, sleeping. Somehow I kinda skipped sleep this once, even now (16:39) I'm not sleepy. Around seven in the morning I did decide to get back home... really on foot this time. Spent all the money I have.
So the cab drivers could yell what they want, call me crazy, whatever, I'm still not going with them. Enjoyed the morning air, the beautiful sun, cleared my head a bit and spent most of the time trying to get rid of the toxic green paint all over me.
Someone did offer me a free ride back. She, no, let's just stick to a he; definitely a he. Ms. ladyboy cannot with any good fashion be called a she if it looks like a Japanese sumo wrestler with a small purse and a dress. Definitely a he. Although the other one that zipped past me and started making weird faces with the tongue is much more a she. Anyways, so Ms. Sumo offers me a ride, I refuse friendlily. Still don't really trust'em. Then it turns up again, asks again, still a no and I get a full b****-fit from her: "if you no make Thai friend, your problem" and nods up her chin as she floors the gas. What the hell was that? I see Sumo again, big smiles, waves. This is getting scary. And again as I walk by the bar both Sumo and Ms. Tongue work at. A final try to invite me for free snooker and some beers. No dammit! Sjeesh!
That's about Koh Phangan. Oh, I went to the beach :D and bought the ticket to Kuala Lumpur. Minimum 16 f***ing hours on the bus starting tomorrow at seven in the morning and I'll arrive on the 18th at three in the morning in KL. I wanted to take the train, but that'll take longer and I'm definitely not travelling on my birthday! Never!! Too bad alcohol is so crazy expensive in KL, my original planning of party@Bangkok was much much better...
Goodbye Thailand. Don't know how much I like you. Everything I've done, seen here I've done cheaper, better, more beautiful and enjoyable somewhere else. In Malaysia, Laos and Vietnam. It's probably a great place if you haven't been to any other countries but I feel most places in Thailand have become too touristy, too western. I still have an unused Bangkok-Amsterdam ticket valid for one year, so do not despair :)
Oh, I don't know if the sandals I bought are fake - they probably are, just not familiar with the brand - but I can pretty much throw them away. In the four or so weeks since Vietnam the back at the heel has worn down so much that I can feel every small pebble on the ground; there's about 2, 3mm? left. f***ing fake stuff! The suitcase is falling even more apart as I pulled it up to the left-luggage department of the train station.
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