After a long 17-hour journey we had arrived on Koh Phangan, the party island. We made our way by jeepney taxi to Leela beach where our bungalow was. The views from our bungalow were amazing we were on the beach front on the sand just metres from the sea – beautiful.
Unfortunately the inside of the bungalow was not so good – there weren’t even beds, just mattresses on the floor. That night we met up with Mark and Josh (mini Intel reunion) for a few drinks before going to one of the islands pre-full moon parties, the Jungle Party. The tickets we got included two free drinks which would have been ideal had we been able to get to the bar, the whole place was far too busy and we weren’t impressed by the music choices. So, we decided to spend the remainder of the night drinking on the beach.
The next day we hired mopeds so we could visit more of the island, having never rode any sort of bike/moped thing I was a little apprehensive but soon got the hang of it (except for the bits where you have to turn – I don’t think I will ever get that).
We rode up the west coast of the island stopping for breakfast en route to Koh Phangan’s equivalent of a ‘Total Wipeout’ course. The roads were decent and pretty clear which made riding feel much safer. I didn’t do the course, as it looked painful and the lake would be full of fish (and cholera!) so Tom, Lozzy and I watched on as others swing into the lake, climb inflatables and slip off any surface they were on – amusing stuff.
That night was the night of not just the full moon party, but the ‘Supermoon’(which turned out to be regular size) full moon party, we got ourselves ‘neoned-up,’ drank buckets full of cocktails and headed to the massive party on the beach.
The party did not disappoint, thousands of people filled the beach, the bars and surrounding streets. The music blasted from various bars and fire dancers were showing off their skills. We continued to party until the sun came up dancing on any bar or table that we could. Realising that it was now light and people could see what we actually looked like, it was time to call it a night and got into bed about 7am.
I am now sat blogging in the bar near our beach bungalow watching the calm sea and can still hear parties going on – it’s 2pm. Crazy. For us, it’s going to be a chilled one today.
Natalie Harriett 