Thailand

Monday, November 2 continued. We were picked up from the Resort around 5:30 pm and brought to where the speedboat was departing for Ko Pha Ngan. After packing the boat with 29 people, all wearing life jackets, we were off for the 45 minute ride over to the full moon party. We hit a number of good swells along the way and the driver of the boat was continuously coughing up a lung (Keith thought he must have TB for sure). We arrived at Ko Pha Ngan, paid our 100 bhat to get into the party and wandered through the street of the town of Haad Rin (or Hat Rin). The town was charming with lots of little shops and restaurants. As soon as you entered the town, there were stands selling BUCKETS of booze. Essentially you buy a pint of gin, rum, vodka, they dump it in a bucket with some ice and then you have them add soda, juice, etc. Everyone walks around with buckets. After wandering through the streets we headed down to the beach where all the action would be happening. All along the beach there were stand after stand after stand selling buckets of booze. It was still a little on the early side so Keith and I grabbed a leisurely dinner and watched the number of people grow and grow and grow. There were bars with dance areas and stages set up. There were flame throwers. There were people dressed in all kinds of outfits with glowing body paint. The pictures don't do it justice. The evening was fabulous. The moon was full and bright. The people watching was something else, the music was great and buckets of booze were delicious. By 10:00 pm or so the party was in full swing and you could only imagine what it looked like at 1:00 am. 8,000 – 10,000 people enjoying an evening of full on debauchery on the beach. Keith and I can't wait to go again (next time with as many of our friends as we can)! We managed to catch a 2:00 am speedboat back to Ko Samui (things were still in full swing with the party lasting until 7:00 am or so) and we were thankfully in bed by about 3:30 am. Oh what a night!

Tuesday, November 3. Needless to say after getting home in the wee hours of the morning, Keith and I slept in, though we did manage to make it to breakfast before the buffet closed. It was a very overcast day (just what we needed), so after breakfast Keith and I headed back to bed to nurse our wounds from the night before. By mid-afternoon I was feeling better and, with it still being overcast, I decided to do a little shopping. I wasn't that successful shopping, but I did get a manicure and pedicure for under $10 (a perk of Thailand). I met back up with Keith at the hotel where we went for a swim in the pool and dip in the jacuzzi. We then headed out for the evening. After wandering around for a bit, it started to rain (as a side note, when it rains in Thailand, it POURS), so we went and grabbed a couple of cocktails. We then had a delicious Thai dinner and called it an early night.

Wednesday, November 4. We awoke to rain, rain, more rain and wind. Again it was a lazy day. I spent much of the day on the internet, trying to nail down some more details for our time in Indonesia. Keith caught up on some sleep and searched for a new pair of flip flops. By late in the day the rain had stopped (though it was still overcast). Keith and I took advantage of the 2 for 1 cocktail hour by the beach and watched the surf (which was quite impressive). My drink of choice was the Samui Seabreeze (vodka, grape, lychee juice and grapefruit juice - yum). We then headed out to dinner to a Brazilian restaurant where they served us skewer after skewer of meat (they had something like 15 different meats and fishes). After dinner I called it an early night while Keith passed the evening playing pool with three women from Australia.

Thursday, November 5. Today was a day of taxis, buses, ferries and planes – travel day. Destination – Bangkok. Unfortunately all of the flights from Ko Samui to Bangkok were super expensive so we had booked a flight out of Surat Thai (on the mainland) to Bangkok. We got an early start after breakfast with a minivan picking us up at the Resort at 8:20. From there we took a 45 minute ride to the other side of the island to where we would be catching the ferry back over to the mainland. Once the minivan dropped us off, we boarded a bus (but not before I encountered my first squat toilet) which drove us a short distance to the pier. Off the bus we went onto the ferry where we took the 1 ½ hour ride to Don Sak. At Don Sak we got back on the bus and drove 1 hour to the center of Surat Thai. From there we had about ½ hour wait where we then boarded a different bus that would take us to the airport. An hour minutes later we arrived at the airport and were checked into our flight to Bangkok. More on Bangkok later....