The Full Moon Party
Koh Samui-> Koh Pha Ngan-> Koh Samui-> Don Sak-> Surat Thani, 28th to 29th March 2002
Wow! What a night! Hat Rin beach on Koh Pha Ngan was packed all
night long with 1000s of backpackers and locals. The whole beach was
crammed with drinks stands, food stands, music sections, lights
shows, partiers, and more stuff than the brain can take in! There
were dozens of different types of music playing, so if you didn't
like one type, you could move along a bit so that it faded out and
was replaced by a different style.
The atmosphere was highly charged (but friendly), the mood was
intense, the drink was cheap and the music was loud. The perfect
elements for a good party. And it definitely was a good party, it
was fantastic, I've got to go back again. Nothing beats dancing on
the sandy beach!
It also clearly demonstrates the backpacker persona. When I was in
KL, I met an English guy called Jon, in the hostel. He was really
friendly, a good laugh and had loads of travelling stories to tell.
Jon is one of those travellers who has friends everywhere, he knows
about 80% of the backpackers in the world. Completely by chance I
bumped into him while walking along the beach. We got chatting
again, and I ended up spending the night hanging out with some of
his other backpacker friends. 2 French-Canadian guys, 2
French-Canadian girls and a guy from London were all with him. As
the evening passed, he went off with some of his other mates (the
'Power Rangers', all wearing power ranger T-shirts). But I stayed
with the other guys for the rest of the night, even though they'd
never met me before. For the whole evening, we acted like we'd been
mates for years! Backpackers are some of the friendliest and most
easy-going people around!
After a long & exhilarating night, passing quickly probably due to
alcohol, I looked at my watch, and as it was 5:30am it was time to
go. The boat back to Ko Samui leaves at 6am and I didn't want to be
stranded!
At 7am I arrived sleepily at my bungalow. On the journey, the sun
had slowly risen and the moon had quietly disappeared. I tried to
get a couple of hour's sleep, but in the end I changed my mind.
I gathered my stuff together, checked out and grabbed the next
Sawngtheaw to Na Thon pier. (The owner of the Internet Cafe/Tour
Agent came out to wish me good bye, I'd spend a lot of time & money
there, so I must have been one of her favourite customers!)
I arrived just before one of the ferries was due to leave for the
mainland. I asked how much to get to Surat Thani, and she gave me a
ticket for 59B (less than 1 pound for a 2 hour ferry crossing).
After a long, hard crossing (I'd had no sleep, so I felt really
below average) we arrived in Don Sak (NOT Surat Thani!). I'd slowly
realised on the ferry that it wasn't actually going to Surat Thani,
the town I wanted, it was actually going to Don Sak, a port about
70km away. Great. I'd noticed some signs about 'complete ferry & bus
packages to Surat Thani' but thought nothing of them. I sleepily
assumed I'd soon be pulling into Surat Thani.
When I arrived at DON SAK, I quickly asked one of the locals if I
could buy a ticket to Surat Thani on the bus as I hadn't bought it
before hand. The answer was a lucky 'yes'. We all crammed onto the
bus, far more than would be legal in the UK. Every seat was full and
dozens more (including me) were crammed, standing, into the aisle.
The journey took ages, it probably longer because I was almost
falling asleep, and eventually we reached Surat Thani.
Almost immediately we were assailed by Taxi touts. One guy, who
attached to me, offered a good price, but it turned out he had a
motorcycle taxi! I wasn't going to try to hang onto the back of a
motorbike with my 2 rucksacks, I wouldn't have a chance at staying
on!
I eventually found a sawngthaew that would take me to my hotel and
jumped on. They were actually very helpful, and the 'conductor'
escorted me up to the hotel reception (it was difficulty located
above a restaurant). I think he must be getting commission from me
staying there, even though he hadn't suggested the place. The room
was fine, but as it was only midday, I decided to try and stay awake
for a few more hours.
I spent the next couple of hours walking around Surat Thani. It's
very similar to Hat Yai, a grey, dirty, urbanised, modernising city.
Not much to it. I popped into the tourist information centre to try
and book a berth on the night train to Bangkok tomorrow night, but
they were all booked. She suggested that I came back tomorrow, when
there may be some gaps due to cancellations.
Still in a sleepy daze, I wandered zombie-like around the town, got
some dinner, then went back to the hotel room. And at the oh-so-late
time of 4pm I fell fast asleep.
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