Not So Full Moon Party
Trip Start
Aug 05, 2011
1
38
64
Trip End
Ongoing
Where I stayed
Rich Resort & Swing Bar
Ko Samui, Thailand
Monday, December 12, 2011
The reason for our visit to the dark and stormy side was the infamous Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan. We opted to stay on Samui and take a speedboat over to Hat Rin for the festivities. Being a little naive in our planning we hadn't realised that the transfer to the boat would be a 30 minute drive and the boat itself was another 30 very rough minutes. We hadn't really known what to expect from the Full Moon and arrived into crazy Hat Rin to find shop after shop selling fluorescent tshirts, buckets and UV body paint. We had booked onto one of the early transfers in order to see a little more of Phangan and were astounded to find the streets filled with party goers - it seemed that everyone on the island was heading to the party, decked out in their best and brightest clobber. Hat Rin Beach is a huge stretch of beach just filled with clubs backing onto the sand, each pumping out music from their own DJs. The clubs are only broken up with more bucket sellers each with their own gimics to attract a sale. We saw free hugs, Jesus' Favourite, guys dressed as Jack Sparrow, you name it they were trying it.
Second to the bars and music the other attraction was fire. The night prior to the Full Moon we had joined the beach party at the Swing Bar where we were staying, not as seedy as it sounds, there are literally swings as seats all around the bar. Here there were two fire dancers who were pretty impressive as well as fire limbo which Dave did really well in and during which only one person got burnt, but the main spectacle was a human fire work. A guy stood on a metal platform in the sea and spun fireworks which sent sparks in every direction creating a fantastic display. Having seen this the fire shows at the Full Moon had a lot to live up to. The participant fire sports were impressive and included a slide with flames down the sides and the opportunity to spit fire with the aim of lighting a staff in the centre of a ring. Dave, never one willing to miss out, had to try his dragon skills and give the flame breathing a try. We innocently thought it was alcohol that people were sipping and sitting at the flame but no it was white spirit. Apparently this doesn't taste too great when you inadvertently swallow a little in the process. The result is a feeling of lungs collapsing and a cool looking video of Dave breathing fire.
The atmosphere at the Party was amazing and everyone just seemed to be wanting to have fun. It was a little like being at a festival with the headline act being the Moon. We, as I am sure many others do, had our hearts set on taking a cool picture of the moon, it is a Full Moon Party after all, but were concerned that the moon seemed to be disappearing before our eyes. It seemed to go from a full moon to just a sliver and we were left feeling very confused. We documented this strange phenomenon and thought no more about it. It wasn't until the next day while we watched the BBC that we discovered that we had witnessed a lunar eclipse. Pretty cool really, especially at a Full Moon Party.
We had a great time and although we had the journey home in the back of our minds, therefore did not take full advantage of the bucket deals, we danced the night away.
Comments
Can`t believe how much stuff you`ve done! Sounds like your having the best time ever! Blogs are great, need to read them more regularly though, taken up about 3 hours of my night lol. Keep having fun and Merry Christmas! x
Doesn't sound that great to me, give me a wet, windy weekend in Rainham anytime......................NOT