One Year Away

Penny

We have posted a new Southern Thailand album with pictures from Christmas in Bangkok and New Year’s in Koh Phangan.  Enjoy!

After spending 2 luxurious nights at the Davis Hotel, we were once again on an  overnight bus.  This time our 21 hour journey that included a bus ride, a ferry and lots of waiting took us to Thailand’s east coast and to the island of Koh Phangan.  The island is very popular for its full moon parties where thousands of people party the night away to music blasting from the beach bars.

When we arrived on the island, finding a place to stay for 6 nights was difficult.  Space was very limited and we had to settle for a a clean but rather plain and unwelcoming room.  From our guesthouse, we were able to book an organised day tour of the island.  The tour called the ‘Munchies’ tour was somewhat of a disappointment. On the other hand, the tour did give us the chance to meet a really nice Norwegian couple who we hang out with throughout our stay on the island. 

The island only has a population of about 10,300 residents but it sees a lot of party-goers during the monthly full moon parties and especially on New Year’s Eve.  As New Year’s Eve approached the island and the town of Haad Rin got more and more crowded.  Drunk teenage tourists on rented scooters filled the streets and finding a seat in a restaurant at dinner time was almost impossible. 

On the afternoon of December 31st, there was a real party vibe in the air.  Everyone was rushing around to prepare for the New Year’s Eve party on the beach.  In the afternoon, the boats and ferries coming form other islands and the mainland increased constantly dropping off more and more people at Sunset Beach to party the night away.  We spent the day hanging out with our Norwegian friends at their resort’s pool and sipping watermelon shakes.  Wanting to make sure that we were going to be in-shape for the party, Joe and I headed back to our hotel at about 5pm and had a rejuvenating nap.

For dinner, we headed to the Lazy House. Patience was needed as the staff tried to cope with the flood of orders on probably what is the busiest night of the year.  After our mediocre meal, we met up with our Norwegian friends and headed for the beach.  On our way, we purchased our first ‘bucket of joy’.  What is a ‘bucket of joy’?  It is literally a small plastic bucket that is filled with your choice of hard liquor, mixer, red bull and ice. Prices for a bucket usually range between $5 and $10 for a 200ml bottle of foreign liquor or a 400ml bottle of Thai whiskey.  Vendors sell them by the side of the street or on the beach and hand them to customers with about 5 straws for sharing.

Once on the beach, the sight was incredible.  The 700 meter long beach was packed with party-goers; mainly foreigners.  Every bar on the beach had its own music blasting from huge speakers and partyers had their choice of styles from pop to techno to trance.  We mostly hung out around the Cactus Bar where they had a great mix of different types of music. 

At midnight, the beach was lit up with a great fireworks display.  We wished each other a Happy New Year and the party continued.  During the night, we also met up with two guys from London who were staying a the same resort as our Norwegian friends.  We all had a great time welcoming 2007 in with 10,000 of our closest friends on Sunrise Beach.

As the night went on, the beach became more and more littered with beer bottles and buckets.  Walking without tripping was impossible and people did end up with some nasty cut feet due to the broken glass.  We also started loosing friends to inevitable exhaustion at about 3am.  One of our London friends, Joe and I tried to hold on.  We were determined to see the sunrise.  We tried to re-energize by having a Nutella/banana/Twix bar crepe at about 5:30am but at about 6am we lost our friend.  Alone, Joe and I sat on a plastic table and waited for the sunrise.  As the sky was brightening, we wished each other Happy New Year one last time and returned to our guesthouse for some much needed sleep.

To all our family, friends, colleagues and to our new Norwegian and English friends we met in Koh Phangan, Happy 2007 and we wish you all the best!