Around 5 pm Rachel and I strolled into the village of Thong Nai Pan Noi to procure a ride to Haad Rin on the other side of the island of Koh Phangan where the Full Moon Party is held. We successfully bartered a deal, and after a delicious dinner of spicy noodles and curry and a couple of beers, we were on our way to the very hyped FMP.
We piled into the back of our new Thai friend's pickup truck, along with a fun British couple and a handful of chatty Russians that we couldn't understand. Koh Phangan is a very mountainous island with mostly dirt roads, so the drive there was a bit frightening. Our driver was quite speedy and the roads were "bloody mental," to quote one of our British companions. The death grip I had on the side of the truck dulled my buzz a bit, but that all changed once we finally got to Haad Rin Nok.
As soon as we got out of the truck, we were bombarded by vendors selling all kinds of food, t shirts, and the famous liquor buckets (literally beach buckets full of liquor) and body paint that the party is known for. These stalls lined the streets and the beach. The beachfront area is full of bars and nightclubs that were pumping their music onto the beach for the thousands of partygoers (they estimate 8,000-30,000 people at each FMP depending on the tourist season).
Once we got through the crowd and onto the sand, we grabbed a bucket of rum and coke and started wandering down the beach. There were performers every hundred yards or so juggling flaming batons or swinging flaming jump ropes for everyone to test their luck with. I've never seen anything like it before. Reckless does not begin the describe the activities that we partook in... Oops I mean that we witnessed (sorry Mom). While watching one such fire performance, we met a couple of Aussie bros who would turn out to be our companions for the rest of the night.
One bucket down, we decided to go down a waterslide through flaming hoops (lots of fire at this party, if you haven't picked up on that). Next we spotted a platform in the middle of the beach that was about 7 feet off the ground and just knew that we needed to dance on it. After getting a refill on our buckets, the four of us climbed up on the platform and danced the night away for at least an hour an a half (my sense of time wasn't all that clear at this point).
The rest of the night was filled with much of the same - fire, buckets, dancing and Aussies. I had been skeptical of whether the FMP would live up to the hype, and I must say it exceeded my expectations. If you can make it happen, I highly recommend you head to Koh Phangan at the next full moon.
If you do make it here, a word of advice - don't book a 2 hour ferry and 6 hour bus ride for the next day. It doesn't mix with the bucket-induced hangover very well.
Sent from my iPhone
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