Koh Phangan, Thailand (13 Apr 2006- 14 Apr 2006)

I figured that being in Thailand at the time of the full moon and not going to the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan would be the equivalent of being in Germany in September/October and not going to Oktoberfest in Munich. The only problem was that we weren't near Koh Phangan - we weren't even in Thailand. Long story short, after a hellish busride to Bangkok, a pleasant morning flight to Koh Samui, and a high speed ferry ride, we arrived on Koh Phangan the afternoon of the 13th.

Amelia and Nicole had already been staying on Koh Phangan for a few days, so with the name of their bungalows in hand, we set off to find Amelia (unfortunately, we missed Nicole by a day). But I'm getting ahead of myself. The 13th of April wasn't just any full moon - apparently the Thais celebrate the same New Year as the Cambodians. The Thai New Year Songkran festival is probably one of the strangest celebrations in the world. But that doesn't mean it isn't tons of fun. Essentially, the festival is a country-wide water fight that lasts for the entire day. In Bangkok, everybody was walking around with giant Super Soakers, water bottles, or any other water-propelling device they could get their hands on. Everyone is free game.

On the islands, gangs of kids prowl the streets with their squirt guns, while others stand at the roadside with their garden hoses and giant buckets of water ready to soak any passerby who doesn't look wet enough. Now this is a lot of fun, but it can also be potentially dangerous. On Koh Samui, we passed the scene of what was most likely a fatal collision between a Toyota Camry and a motorbike. I can envision exactly what happened - some guy was riding his motorbike down the road and all of a sudden somebody threw a giant bucket of water in his face, causing him to swerve into an oncoming car, which was, of course, travelling at excessive speeds, just like every other automobile on Thai roads.

So, Joe and I are riding in the back of a songthaew pick-up taxi trying futilely to remain dry when we pass three people with squirt guns. I don't recognize the two guys, but the girl looks familiar. So we're looking at each other for maybe half a second before I sense a look of recognition on her face and I realize that it's Amelia!

Full Moon Party

With the exception of that story, there really isn't much to write about Koh Phangan. We made it to Haad Rin for the Full Moon Party, which was pretty much what I expected - an extremely interesting mix between a college spring break party, an awful techno rave, and a scaled down hippy Burning Man festival. It certainly wasn't the type of party that I would choose to go to regularly, but it was something that had to be done once. After all, it is the biggest beach party in the world. If you want stories (there are plenty of them), you'll have to ask Amelia or Joe.

It was great to see Amelia, even though it was only for a few days. After a day of recuperation, we ended up parting ways. Joe and I headed to Koh Tao for some scuba diving and Amelia headed up to Bangkok to catch a flight to India. Best of luck on the rest of your travels Amelia!

Pictures Pending...