Footsteps in Asia Research Trip For The Full Moon Party
Posted on 15 February 2012 03:44 AM by admin
By Simon Sweet, Director of Sales, December 2011.
No visit to Thailand is complete without a visit to one of the many stunning beaches the country has to offer, and no holiday is complete without a good party somewhere along the line. With this in mind I set off with a good mate of mine, Andy to conduct essential ‘field research’ of the Full Moon Party on Koh Phan Ngan, with the mind of developing a tour specifically built around this phenomenon.
These parties happen every month on the Full Moon on an island called Ko Phan Ngan, a real backpacker haven that in more recent years has seen development aimed at the more discerning traveller. The main beach where the party happens, Haad Rin has remained true to its roots however. The plan to visit was hatched at the last minute, and following a series of frustrating phone calls it was apparent that we weren’t going to find any accommodation available at such an 11th hour moment on the island, so we decided to take a hotel on Koh Samui and commute to the party by speedboat.
Koh Samui is the big brother of the lesser island, and is by far and away more commercialised. After a couple of days settling in, we booked a taxi and speedboat package to whisk us over to the island, very Martini Advert stuff…. As the afternoon wore on, our excitement and anticipation began to grow. We have both partied before, from Alaska to Sydney, Durban to Moscow but something inside both of our stomachs told us that this was going to be special. It had been a while since we had enjoyed some time away together, married life and different careers can knock a decades old friendship out of synch, this was one night where that was about to be put right.
We were picked up from our hotel and whisked by minibus to our awaiting speedboat. She was super deluxe (no, really she was). I was expecting a fishing trawler that would take hours to chug over, leaving us with the sensation that we might just make it there for the next full moon. Anyway, it had 3 huge engines on it, and took only 20 minutes to zoom across the waters that divide the islands. This thing was a beast, no chance of getting sea sick, as your stomach was still dangling in mid air at the exact point that the captain cranked up those diesels!
We could hear the party before we could see it. Getting off at the pier we walked through to Haad Rin for our first encounter with the night of chaos that was about to ensue. We emerged from the coconut trees into this amazing bay, bathed in moonlight. About 300 metres long with at least 10 different bars all pumping out music at a volume that would drown out a jumbo jet. The beach was heaving with people dancing or just lying around drinking and chatting.
Andy rushed out onto the sand, like a 6 year old child on Christmas morning only to do the king of all face plants into the sand in front of the entire beach. Muttering something about the sand bed being ‘deceptively flat’ Andy composed himself, tried to make it look like it had been his plan all along to ‘eat sand’ and headed off towards the numerous bars that lined the shore. Each was playing a different style of music, from Techno to Trance, and people were stood out on the beach, dancing, or with the ‘it’s my first time here and I’ve drunken far too much far too soon’ expressions on their faces.
Andy added brown stains to his already sandy trousers when a man carrying a huge iguana shoved it in his face and said ‘want to pet it?’ Turns out he’s not a big fan of the large lizard family, can’t really blame him, I mean, they aren’t exactly the friendliest looking creatures are they? It’s also a bit irresponsible wandering around the beach doing that when there are so many people partying like their lives depended on it. Imagine, you’re happily dancing away thinking life is great, and the world is full of fluffy bunnies, and then suddenly someone shoves a small dragon in your face!!! Next stop therapy. I petted a man’s python for a while and asked him if it was ‘bring your pet to the party day?’ but he didn’t seem to understand what I meant.
We settled on a bar that was at the end of the bay, and about 10m up on a cliff. This took us away from the madding crowd, but afforded us a great view of the alcohol fuelled dancing that was the Full Moon Party.
Once up there, I decided to try a local legend, The Bucket. I had heard so much about these, but really had no idea what they were, so ordered one at the bar. The barman looked at me with a mixture of respect, pity and contempt in equal measure and I was handed was a can of coke, a can of Red Bull, half a bottle of Sangsom (very strong local Thai rum) and a small bucket (like the ones toddlers have on the beach) filled with ice and 3 straws. The idea is that you pour all three into this bucket and then drink it down through the three straws. After that, your next priority is to try and get up to find the bones that have disappeared out of your legs. We are talking serious stuff, especially as by this point I was already well lubricated.
Andy decided to head down onto the beach, and we arranged to meet up 3 hours later back at the bar. By now the group of Aussies that I had been talking too had been joined by 2 very drunk Swedish girls, 2 girls from London, and one of the top DJ’s who would be playing that night. The bucket had long since been drained, and I was now on the Double Vodka Red Bulls, knowing that the amount of caffeine that I was putting into my body would get a donkey around the Grand National course.
I stood amongst this band of bucket brethren and we chatted for quite a while. Eventually the draw of the music became too much and we made our way down to the beach, dancing to some kind of Indi Trance Music. People were falling all around me, and taking 30 seconds to get back up on their feet, and all the while, I’m dancing and slowly burying myself into the beach. It’s hard to put into words what it was like, loud music, fire jugglers, people lying sprawled out or skinny dipping, lasers, neon necklaces, the waves, moonlight, boats moored off the shore, smells of food being cooked. It was like a sensory overload, almost confusing, but in a really nice way. I have never done drugs, but I can imagine that this is what a good trip would feel like. There was no intimidation, no pretentiousness, just everyone having the time of their lives. For those few blessed hours, time seemed to stand still and all the pressures that come with everyday life took on less importance.
By now I had danced myself knee deep into the beach sand like some kind of mole getting his ‘freak on’. Preferring not to dance my way to China, I peeled off from my new found friends and went off to the rendezvous spot with Andy. As I approached the bar, I spotted him down on the shore, and the first thing that hit me was that Andy had ‘the face’. This is a phenomenon that happens when Andy gets drunk; all of his face muscles relax and he looks like a completely different bloke.
To make things more complicated, he was talking to a ladyboy and to put it correctly, they appeared to be getting along handsomely. This was one of those moments in your life where you have to make a split decision, an act distinctly hampered by the presence of Vodka and fatigue. Imagine my relief when I realized that was just chatting in a drunken state like we all do; it seemed like they were both enthusiastically telling each other about their passions, his being Rugby and hers handbags.
You may read this and think that that is really strange, but all I can say is that it is different here. The culture in Thailand is so tolerant, and as a race they are very accepting of alternative life choices. My dilemma did not come from the choice that my friend might make; it came from the fact that he had made one already by marrying a good friend of my wife.
Back to the story. I realise Andy is pretty hammered. I’ve had so much caffeine that by now my senses are so acute that I can hear mice breaking wind and giggling behind the speakers. Its 15 minutes before the boat back so we decided to head off. As the speedboat carved its way through the waves, I looked back at the party as it faded into the distance, the diesels finally winning the battle over the sound systems on the beach. Our taxi was waiting for us when we returned to Samui and with we headed back to our hotel, getting there for 5.30am. The caffeine guarantees me a fun evening of staring at the ceiling for a few hours, with sporadic twitching fits, but I finally drift off at 8am.
The experience had was unlike anything else I have encountered during my many years of travelling and research. The sheer size of the party, the hype, the reality exceeding the hype, the friendliness of everyone we met, all surpassed my expectations and left me wanting to go back for more. We have since devised a Full Moon Party itinerary which is now featured on our website. It takes all the difficulties out of getting there and back, finding accommodation or friends to travel with. Accompanied by a trained tour leader, you are left to relax and enjoy the beach in the lead up to and after the party with your only concern being what you are going to wear on one of the biggest nights of your life.
One thing I know for sure, is those 12 hours of my life were some of the best, and that is saying a lot considering I have been a professional traveller for almost 20 years. These are the stories that I will share one day with my grandchildren, when I tell them about how hard grandpa lived!
This entry was posted in Thailand by admin. Bookmark the permalink.