Tick that off the list: Full Moon Party, Koh Pha Ngan

Ok, so take the craziest party you've ever been to...and multiply it by ten...THAT is the Full Moon Party on Koh Pha Ngan... an idyllic island full of palm trees and unspoilt nature in the gulf of Thailand. A group of us from the Coral Bay resort caught a taxi (twelve people crammed in the back of a pick-up truck...lol) to Haad Rin beach, ground zero for all the fun. When we got there, it was super quiet in the town, which worried me. Ha ha, we had just engaged in a heated debate over whether the party was on the 18th, or on the 19th...ads had posted both dates, but I was sure it was on the 18th because of the internet. Thinking back, it is pretty hilarious that your biggest concern is what night is the party on again? But seriously, I didn't want to miss this!! LOL. Live in the moment people. :)

The story right on the beach was completely different though!! Blaring tunes from the huge sound systems set up right in the sand, bodies swaying to a variety of tunes...hip hop, techno, hard rock, funky stuff, top 40...anything, people making out, glow in the dark body paint everywhere...I think some were doing it right in the sand...so ridiculous! So what was there to do but try my first bucket? LOL, as the name suggests, you get a plastic pail, a few straws and yep, your choice of vodka or whisky. So I went with the Sangsom (Thai whisky), Coke and Redbull combination, with plenty of ice. LOL, I polished off my own mickey? Crazy!! Over the course of the next few hours, I almost converted to Battism (but I told her I'd have to drink behind her back), took a dip in the water (white underwear I remembered later...ga!), rocked out at all of the beachside hot spots, signed a Canadian girl's t-shirt in a special place and just had an all around wicked time. Even through the throngs of thousands, I spotted Christopher and Linnus! Two swedish guys who were staying a couple doors down, at Coral Grand. I also bumped into a few people from Vietnam! Small world...or big party? Both I guess! Actually, in high season (dec-mar), the FMP can attract up to 30, 000...yikes! I don't think there would be any room to even move! Batti & I were hit with the tired bug around 5am, so we plopped ourselves down in front of the local 7-11 (there are 10 on every street in Thailand) and people watched for an hour...then the sun came up and wow...the amount of straws, bottles and stuff on the beach told the story! All the hardcore partiers were still dancing though, so we mustered up a second wave of energy and joined then. The beats slowly winded down, and they played the last tune at 8:30...whoa! I ended up grabbing some breakfast with the Canadian girls (ha ha, we first spent an hour "shopping" on the beach for matching sandals because they had lost theirs) and cabbed it back to Coral Bay. They wouldn't take me all the way to the resort (VERY crazy road, a la Koh Tao) so I had to walk (with my large bottle of water) back to the bungalow...LOL, the battle scar on my foot is from walking home? typical!!
So what is the moral of this story??

GO TO THE FULL MOON PARTY ON KOH PHA NGAN!!! it is awesome!!!!

Just to recap: I saw a turtle on my last dive at Shark Island in Koh Tao!!! So graceful, just paddling around the corals without a care in the world. The few hours before taking the ferry to Pha Ngan were hectic though! The lady at the laundromat had given my bag of clothes to some guy! noo! I spent the next hour running around like a chicken with its head cut off....but thankfully was able to retrieve the clothes after finding the dude eating lunch at the restaurant around the corner from the laundry place. Who takes clothes from a laundromat without checking them first??? And these were PINK! Ugh...

This is the whaleshark that we saw!!! SO COOL hey? 4 or 5 m long baby...wow!!

Simone has a couple other cool pics of Koh Tao on her site:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/31025008@N00/

My Love/Hate Relationship with Koh Tao

Check out the dirty legs after doing some off-road quad rides on Koh Tao! Woo!

Alrighty...here we go.
I love the island lifestyle, hate paying for it...food, internet, services are twice as expensive!

Diving in the morning is ridiculously good...but I can never wake up! Argh! I went to bed at 8:30pm and STILL managed to miss the 6:30am dive....by 20 minutes. I hate myself!!!

Love snorkelling in the warm waters with colourful corals and fish...I wanted to swim to Shark Bay, but these swarms of jellyfish came out of nowhere!! Ya, my face was feeling really numb, and the stinging was hiliariously painful (but I'm not a masochist), so I turned back without seeing the black-tipped sharks...they're supposed to be in the bay, everyday!

I love the cooler weather that the rain has brought...but WHY! WHY is it monsoon season in the south now? A week ago, it only rained at night...and now, it is pouring all the time. And there is no love/hate with damp clothes! Just malice.

A green swamp...in the middle of the tropical paradise that is Koh Tao. Batti is a quad PRO. Fearless!

OOh, I learned how to ride a quad yesterday! Man, that thing has torque...you can't let go of clutch in the 1st gear completely, or else you'll go flying! Took it for a spin down a deserted road (well, some Thais were laughing at me...) but left the off-roading to Batti, my new Dutch roomate. She goes crazy on that thing! Roads (if you can call them roads) on Koh Tao are sandbagged, and SO steep! Pictures will come...as soon as I get off these ridiculously expensive islands!

Ok, I won't bore you with more mundane details! I'm heading to Koh Pha Ngan tomorrow afternoon (after my last morning dive...to Southwest Pinnacle! LOL, for the 4th time....maybe I'll see another whaleshark! I have arranged a wake-up call...ha ha) for the legendary full moon party on Tuesday. Wish me luck! I know I'll be sleeping on the beach.

A couple more koh tao pics:

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/vampalcyone/album?.dir=/2a29&.src=ph&.tok=phqrJyDBXvHP7N7D

SCUBA mecca!

Ok, here goes the fastest update in the history of blogs. Well, at 2B/min...this is pricey for Thailand!

Ko Samui was nice, had some really delicious seafood and was accosted by these Thai cabaret performers...wish I could post the pic! Can't even tell they're guys!! We learned this neumonic device in scuba:

Bangkok (BCD - buoyancy control!)
Women (weights...I need 2.4kg on my belt)
Really (releases - check that your BCD and air tank are secured)
Are (AIR - ya, make sure it is turned ON...all the way!)
Fellows (final OK)

Ha ha, so that means I took a boat to Koh Tao, which is just north of Samui in the southern part of the gulf of thailand. It is amazing diving here! There are a bizillion dive shops. I am diving at coral grand divers, and my 200 B ($6 CDN) room includes a swimming pool. How ridiculous is that?!?! Lots of sun, soft white sand and shallow shallow beaches. The corals and fish are really cool. Puffer fish! And playing with the fish on the bottom of the ocean while they swim between your legs is fun. And ooh, Simone, a really awesome American woman I met, we did kung fu and crazy backflips and scissor kicking (think street fighter. ha ha) underwater. So much fun!!! I am continuing with the advanced open water course tomorrow. If you want to certify yourself, get a plane here!! It'll work out cheaper...and if the amazing underwater visibility (50m!) and abundance of wildlife doesn't convince you, the price will....only 9000 baht or less per course. ridiculous! Last night, we celebrated the end of our course and watched this movie that was filmed of us during the last day. It's pretty sweet...James Bond-esque somersault entries off the boat, descending into the water like skydivers in a ring formation...watching the teeny bubbles get HUGE as they race toward the surface. It is amazing. You gotta try it!!!

How to Lose Pounds...and gain them BACK!!!

Hey, yep, I lost a few pounds...worth of hair! LOL. After 5 gruelling hours (including an hour of my indecision and waiting...) at Hair Pro in Chiang Mai, I look even more Japanese than before. Here are some things to do in Thailand's northern capital:

• Go shopping!! The Sunday street Market is awesome (my backpack is an amazing 22kg...it started out at 14. eep!)
• Catch a traditional Lanna dinner and dance show; one of the skits portrayed a hill tribe party! Very random - the hill tribers would swing spastically around on these banner-like curtains tied to the ceiling...then smoke opium. indeed!
• Head up to Mae Sai, on the Thai/Burmese border. I was in Burma...for 15 minutes! Lots of ripped DVDs at the market...this included a visit to the tourist trap, the Golden Triangle. So named for the black market that used to exist between the border of the three countries: Laos, Thailand and Burma (Mynamar)... drugs for gold!
• Wade through calf-deep water because the Ping River floods...a lot. Twice in the 10 days I stayed in Chiang Mai!! Damn monsoons... ha ha

Right now, it is a ridiculous 33 degrees and so sunny I think I might go blind, on Koh (island in Thai) Samui. I thought my stand-by flying days were over... but thankfully, the supposedly fully-booked flight wasn't. Wow, there are a LOT of Israelis out and about! Happy Jewish New Year!

The beach is absolutely GORGEOUS. Silkly white sand and palms... but I think I have resort jealousy. My windowless 400B (A whopping $12 CDN...) A/C room is a *gasp* 2 minute walk to the water. Oh well, won't be spending much time there with these turquoise waters calling.

Speaking of which, ta ta!