The Craziness That Is....The Full Moon Party

So the reality that there is only two weeks left in this trip is sinking in and I can't say that I like it very much! I knew from the minute I left that this would be the fastest 3 months of my life...but it really was. Why didn't time go that fast when I was going through Finance 317 in University? Something's not right here...

Anyway, from Ko Tao we took a 45 minute ferry to Ko Phangan where the Full Moon Party takes place. December 6th was the big night (full moon was actually on December 5th, but that was the King's Birthday...so no parties allowed) and we arrived a few days early to ensure we found a nice place that was far AWAY from Haad Rin Beach where the party is held. Break-ins happen frequently on that beach, so it was best to avoid staying there. We managed to pick up a new friend named Ladda (a Thai Canadian...very convenient for translation purposes!) who joined us in our Bungalows and stayed with us for a few days. That woman has a HUGE personality...she's super high energy and is not afraid to strike up a conversation with anyone, anytime. It was fun having her around.

The full moon party was exactly as we thought it'd be, but even more fun. The beach gets packed, there are buckets of SamSung being sold everywhere, and lots of different kinds of music. You spend most of the night running around making sure that you've still got all your friends accounted for. The best was the firedancing that was taking place...these guys are talented. A super drunk guy decided to give it a try and ended up hitting himself in head with the fireball on the end of a chain...I could hear the sound from where I was sitting. Luckily nothing caught on fire...I think his ego was bruised though.

Ryan got in the party spirit and decided to get a glow-in-the-dark tattoo painted on his belly...and decided to go with a yellow and orange gecko. We've been tremendously entertained by the "gecko hunting" that takes place by the light bulb outside of our bungalows. I think all four of us have gecko obsessions...we literally sat on the porch the other night and watched one hunt flies for two hours. Hey, we have important things to do.

Back on topic. The full moon party was super fun, but we were all pretty tired the next day when we had a full 12 hours of traveling to go through. Eventually we all made it to Phuket. Useful tip: when traveling long distances in Thailand, always, always, ALWAYS fly. You get quite the run-around if you take the bus and it takes waaaay longer then it should. Second useful tip: when traveling long distances, never, ever, EVER do it the day after the full moon party.

So here we are in Phuket. Besides Bangkok, it's much much bigger and busier then the other places we've been. It's really crazy seeing the "Tsunami Evacuation Route" signs near the beach. I can't believe that actually happened here around this time a few years ago. Right now it is just me and Ashley...the guys are on a four day dive trip in the Similan Islands. Ash and I took a day trip to those islands today to get some snorkeling action. It was awesome! The islands are breathtaking...I did a climb up to the top of some rocks (Ash's fear of heights told her to stay on the ground) and got an amazing view of it all. The snorkeling was cool, but the best part was the trip home....DOLPHINS! We had a pod of dolphins swimming and splashing alongside our boat for about 10 minutes. I've ALWAYS wanted that to happen...yay! They were super playful and there was probably about 15 of them. That alone made the whole trip worth it.

We're looking into heading to James Bond Island (how touristy is that name?) in a couple days to do some canoeing and elephant riding. Weee!!

I will see you all very soon!

-Heather