Posts tagged Ko Phanang

Part 9: Full Moon Party and Ko Tao

Last night was wild.

After our festive dinner at Little Israel, we headed over to HaBait to check out the Purim party, however, since we only got there at 11 PM, most people had already left for Haad Rin beach. So Daniel and I said goodbye to the people who ran the place, bought a bucket, and headed for the Full Moon party.—I know we keep saying it gets more packed everyday, but last night was beyond words, they said there were between ten and twenty thousand people on the beach…total insanity.

Purim Party costumes double as Full Moon Party costumes. Us at Habait.
Purim Party costumes double as Full Moon Party costumes. Us at Habait.
Full Moon Party Face Paint
Welcome to the original Full Moon Party on Ko Phangan!

Full Moon party is basically a massive children’s birthday party (with a few adult modifications). All over the beach you can buy beach buckets (filled with alcohol), you can jump rope (rope dipped in kerosine ablaze with fire), you can play games (these also involve fire), you can get someone to paint your face and body (this gets quite raunchy), you can pee in the ocean (most people are too drunk to go to a bathroom), you can strip completely and roll in the shallow waves (doesn’t have the same cute connotation as when you’re a kid). The whole experience is definitely a trip, it’s kind of like a massive spring break on steroids. Every bar at the beach blasts their own music and has their own vibe, and everywhere you look you see neon. From the moment we got to the beach there were already people falling over themselves because they were too drunk. We found one guy that Daniel had some serious fun following with the GoPro—he was a mess.

Later on, we started to hear rumblings of people getting pick pocketed and decided to snap a few more photos before taking all of our possessions back to the hotel for safe keeping. Once we deposited our stuff, we headed back to the beach to party. Throughout the night we met a string of characters, too many to describe in detail, but it was throughly entertaining. Around 3 AM we walked to one side of the beach to sit down. After sitting for a while I turned to my right and realized I was sitting directly next to Graham (a friend I worked at Airbnb with for two years)… I mean of all ten/twenty thousand people on that beach what are the odds?—well actually Daniel worked this out last night. (Backstory: the night before, Graham had messaged me, but we realized it would probably be impossible to meet up at Full Moon and never really entertained the thought any further). Such a small world.

Look who we ran into on Haad Rin beach for Full Moon Party!—Graham, a friend/co-worker from Airbnb.
Look who we ran into on Haad Rin beach for Full Moon Party!—Graham, a friend/co-worker from Airbnb.

For the remainder of the night, we danced, walked, drank, people watched, and waited for the sun to rise (which it eventually did at 6:20 AM). After that we headed back to or hotel, put in earplugs (because the hotel’s next door neighbors host the monthly Full Moon after party which starts at 7 AM), and passed out until 11:30 AM. I hate to say it but I think we’re past or prime with regards to pulling all nighters.

We took a open taxi-truck to the Haad Rin pier and boarded the high-speed Lomprayah ferry to Ko Tao. On the ferry we listened to Serial (podcast) to keep ourselves awake. We arrived in Ko Tao around 2:30 and were picked up by our hotel and driven to the Amanjirah Resort. The place is beautiful with an infinity pool that looks right over the ocean! When we booked the room a few weeks back, we selected “The Mystery” option on their website, which means you basically roll the dice and take your chance at ending up in any room from a private pool villa to a budget room for a fixed price. Tonight we are staying in a nice room, but the next three nights it looks like we hit the jackpot with a really nice sea view room.

The high-speed Lomprayah ferry to Ko Tao.
The high-speed Lomprayah ferry to Ko Tao.
Lomprayah Pier in Ko Tao
Taxi-hunters madness on the Ko Tao pier, right after getting off the ferry.
Aminjirah Hotel Room Mystery
We booked “The Mystery” at Aminjirah Hotel. This is our room for tonight.

This afternoon we ate a late lunch (our first real meal in a while), and went for a dip in the pool—beyond refreshing; it’s humid as can be here. Daniel took a nap while I did some writing. Then we came to the pool to watch the sunset—it was spectacular, obviously. We’ve seen two consecutive sunsets and a sunrise now—we definitely won’t make it for tomorrow sunrise.

Ko Tao Sunset Infinity pool
“There’s a sunrise and a sunset every single day, they’re absolutely free. Don’t miss os many of them.”–We managed two consecutive sunsets and a sunrise.

Sorry for the lack of excitement in today’s post, the lack of sleep is finally wearing on me.

Ok tootles.

Part 8: Ko Phangan

Chag Purim Sameach!

Wednesday, yesterday, we decided to take a little day trip to a place called Thongsala, per our friend Steve’s recommendation. We got into a taxi aka the back of a truck and drove, or rather gunned it, for 30 minutes up and down some serious hills to get there. In the back of the truck we met two guys from Germany who told us places to go in Ko Tao (our next island). When we arrived we decided to go for lunch at a place called “Clean Vegetarian Restaurant”. Now I’m not sure if the owners of the place thought that Clean Vegetarian Restaurant sounded like a cool name, but I can assure you this place was the opposite of vegetarian and definitely not clean. We opened a menu, the size of a children’s book (complete with lots of colorful pictures), to find pages and pages of pork dishes. We finally found a small section that said Vegetarianism and ordered from there. The food was good, but nothing special, especially since Daniel found two hairs in his (is hair vegetarian?).

Vegetarian Restaurant Thailand
“Clean Vegetarian Restaurant” – aka lots of meat with a side of hair.

After lunch we wandered around the streets for a bit, went to a shop Steve told us to go to run by an Indian man named Hit, and then went to haggle with some of the local vendors to buy Full Moon attire (neon clothing) for Purim and Full Moon party. After about two hours we decided to take another truck-taxi back to Haad Rin beach. The ride back reminded me of the way taxi drivers in Buenos Aires drive—fast, furious, and with no regard for other drivers or people on or near the road. We were thrilled when the ride was over.

We spent the majority of the day back at Haad Rin beach hanging out in the ocean—the water was much calmer than the day before, however the beach was twice as packed. It’s amazing how the number of people in Haad Rin has at least doubled everyday since we’ve been here because everyone is starting to come for the Full Moon party. When we left the beach I couldn’t help but notice a local vendor selling rad tie dye print clothing. Long story short we decided to be Hippies for Purim.

We came back to Little Israel, changed into our Purim costumes, applied some body paint and went down to the beach to watch the sunset and the Israelis. I don’t think I’ve mentioned his yet, but the Israeli girls here make my photo game look weak. These girls spend all day taking hundreds of modeling shots on the beach, regardless of the fact that their friends all take the exact same shots. It is quite possibly one of the most entertaining things to watch…ever. I’m pretty sure competitive posing and modeling will at some point be considered a national past time for Israel.

Chag Purim Sameach—Hippies were as creative as we could get because the only clothing for sale on Ko Phangan is neon or tie dye. Also an Israeli friend at the Cocohut directed this photoshoot (with the sunset in front of us).
Chag Purim Sameach—Hippies were as creative as we could get because the only clothing for sale on Ko Phangan is neon or tie dye. Also an Israeli friend at the Cocohut directed this photoshoot (with the sunset in front of us).
Ko Phangan Sunset Full Moon Costumes
Hippies for Purim
Full Moon Party clothing  Ko Phangan
Jumping Jaxy—Full Moon/Purim attire in Ko Phangan for good measure.

After sunset we walked over to Habait HaYisrael for a Megillah reading (it had nothing on you Peretz). Turns out Daniel and I were the only people there in costume (not that I mind as I love any opportunity to dress up). We later learned that even though the Megillah was read, the actual Purim party was moved to Thursday night (the same night as the Full Moon party) because of Buddha Day. As I mentioned before, no one is allowed to sell alcohol or throw parties on Buddha Day, and if they get caught doing so, they will receive a 22,000 Baht ($7,300) fine. So, we hung out at Habait for a few hours and had another amazing dinner. While eating we met a Swedish chick who lives in Israel named Naomi. She told us about the northern part of Ko Phangan, much more of a yogi/hippie vibe up there and about a yoga retreat she did in Ko Samui—sounds awesome. Then we chatted with Steve for a while about Full Moon party before leaving to go to Haad Rin beach.

The beach was fuller than any other night, but eerily quiet without any music playing. As we walked down the beach it was the first time we could really hear people talking—so many different accents here it’s crazy. Over the beach, we went back to our room to pass out.

This morning we woke up and went to breakfast. The breakfast bar was so much more full than it’d been every other day. Another observation I’ve made about the Israelis is that they eat bread at breakfast like it’s going out of style. In the middle of every table, whether there are two people or six people, is a plate of bread (about half a loaf, no exaggeration) stacked pretty high. Such an interesting thing. Go gluten.

We spent the afternoon working on Say it with a Sock and then went back to Habait for lunch. No new restaurants ever (I mean we found a place that serves delicious food with a great atmosphere and nice people, so why chance it with hairy food). After lunch we went to a very very full Haad Rin beach and got in the water on our floats. All of a sudden we started feeling stinging sensations everywhere, as did many of the people around us. We got out of the water, skin burning and turning red, from either jellyfish larval or sea lice (gross). As we sat back down on the beach, all the people surrounding us told us they left the water for the same reason. We decided to call it a day at the beach and head back to our pool.

Last sunset aka last Israeli modeling competition in Ko Phangan.
Last sunset aka last Israeli modeling competition in Ko Phangan.

We watched our last sunset in Ko Phangan and scouted for the future Miss Israel pageant—the jury is still out on the winner.

Tonight we had a Full Moon dinner at Little Israel, which entailed a decked out dinning area complete with a DJ booth made to look like a boat and a very earnest welcoming committee of staff ready to give out lei’s made of Styrofoam and purple flowers.

Now we’re headed back to HaBait for a Purim party, and then to Haad Rin beach for the Full Moon party.

We’ll give you all the details in the next post!

Xx

 

LJ + DS

Part 7: Ko Phanang

Happy Buddha Day! (I just learned about this holiday last night, which recognizes nine full months after Buddha reached Enlightenment, but to tourists it really just means a day where almost all places don’t sell alcohol).

No alcohol in Thailand on Buddah day
Buddha Day – no alcohol sign in 7-Elephant.

Sunday was a day of planes, trains and automobiles (minus the planes and trains and add in a ferry and a high speed boat).  We got up early (at 7:45 am) and boarded a two and a half hour ferry to Krabi. From Krabi we took ten minute taxi van to a double decker bus. We took the double decker bus two and a half hours (driving under 30 mph the entire time) to Don Sak Pier, where we waited an hour because the high speed ferry was delayed—thank goodness for the Serial podcast. At 4:00 PM we boarded the two hour high speed ferry and headed for Ko Phanang. Mid way though the ride someone’s backpack (from the pile where they make you store your bags when you get on) flew off the boat and the crew just kind of shrugged—I can only imagine how frustrated the owner of that pack must have been when they arrived because there is definitely no such thing as luggage insurance on these boats. When we finally arrived on the island we took a twenty five minute taxi van and then a five minute truck ride to our hotel the Coco Hut. All I can say is I was definitely glad that this was where we landed after such a long schlep. The place is magnificent!

Sunset view from the CoCo Hunt upon our arrival.
Sunset view from the CoCo Hunt upon our arrival.

The hotel is run by an Israeli and is basically little Israel—you hear more Hebrew than any other language here (I keep waiting for Adam Sandler to make a surprise entrance as the Zohan). We checked in and were shown to our room, a fantastic modern bungalow with an insane view. The only catch is that a bungalow with a view requires climbing A LOT of stairs. As in, we feel like we are climbing the 306 steps up Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, so basically our bungalow is a temple that requires an act of great strength and meditation to get to.

The view from our bungalow at the top of the world's tallest staircase.
The view from our bungalow at the top of the world’s tallest staircase.
Stairs up to our bungalow wat.
The stairs up to our bungalow make us feel like we are climbing the 306 steps up Wat Phra That Doi Suthep in Chiang Mai, so basically our bungalow is a temple that requires an act of great strength and meditation to get to.

Delighted with our accommodation we realized we were starving from not eating a real meal all day. We walked to the town and found a restaurant with Israeli food—quite a nice change from everyday Thai food.

I know that earlier I touched on the notion that I was not designed to carry a backpack, but I really wasn’t joking. I must have done something really bad because my lower back was in a bad way the whole day of travel. Sitting and lying down every which way I tried on all the busses, boats, and taxis was a struggle, so after dinner I decided a back massage was in order. For 300 Baht ($9) an older Thai woman named Gidt was able to change my life. I showed her where I was in pain and she proceeded to give me the works. It was definitely the most unconventional massage I’ve ever had but I’d do it again in a heartbeat. She performed moves* (that I’ve named myself) like Santa’s Sleigh, Flappy Bird, the Elephant Dancer, Snap Crackle Pop, and Surprise I’m Standing On Your Back like a true champion. I now know what a dog feels like when it’s getting trained. Gidt would tell me to do something. I would proceed to move myself into every imaginable position I thought she might want me to move into, only to be corrected again and again. I had her in tears laughing at me, but I don’t care because after that massage I felt like a new person. Later that night we walked the beach where the full moon party takes place and watched the poi shows. Then we went back to our hotel, ascended the steps to our personal temple and passed out.

7-Elephant (an interesting approach at 7-11) .
7-Elephant (an interesting approach at 7-11) .
Many of the bucket booths have people's names on them, like Johnrambo and Anna (but we wouldn't have gone to Anna because she was tweezing her leg hairs over the buckets).
Many of the bucket booths have people’s names on them, like Johnrambo and Anna (but we wouldn’t have gone to Anna because she was tweezing her leg hairs over the buckets).
One of the many bucket bars. This is one of like 40 named Sara.
One of the many bucket bars. This is one of like 40 named Sara.

Monday we woke up, ate an Israeli breakfast, and went down to the beach. We may as well be in Israel with all of the cucumbers, Israeli music, Hebrew and matkot down here. It’s amazing how much more Israeli than Thai this place feels (all the restaurants serve hummus, schnitzel, Israeli salad, in addition to Thai food—they definitely know their audience).

Ko Phanang beach aka Little Israel.
Ko Phanang beach aka Little Israel.
"the University of Timbuktu never existed —the only thing that existed in Timbuktu was a beach bar hut." Shake your coconuts at the Coco Hut in Ko Phangan.
“the University of Timbuktu never existed —the only thing that existed in Timbuktu was a beach bar hut.” Shake your coconuts at the Coco Hut in Ko Phangan.
CocoHut - volleyball courts sponsored by Swatch?  (which no one seems to play on).
CocoHut – volleyball courts sponsored by Swatch? (which no one seems to play on).

After a day of chilling at the hotel we went back into town and had dinner at the Israeli restaurant called Habayit HaYisraeli. Our Thai waiter asked us in Hebrew what we wanted to order—so funny. We had a lovely meal and then decided to lay in the hammocks in the restaurant and digest. At some point we met a guy from Brooklyn named Steve, who has been living here for two years running a company called Sababa Tours from inside of Habait HaYisraeli. Steve is kind of like the glue in this very transient island life atmosphere. He’s just constantly networking trying to connect people with each other to go to parties and such. He told us some cool places to go on the island and introduced us to Avivit (from Israel-obviously). We hung out with them for a bit and later ended up at Haad Rin beach again to watch the entertainment.

Habayit HaYisraeli restaurant vibe.
Habait HaYisraeli restaurant vibe.
Us at Habayit HaYisraeli in a hammock with Steve of Sababa Tours and Avivit (from Israel).
Us at Habait HaYisraeli in a hammock with Steve of Sababa Tours and Avivit (from Israel). We took this photo cause Steve said this selfie would do wonders for us.

At the beach we ordered our first bucket since being here (gin and tonic, which were both pretty sure was gin and soda) and watched yet another poi show. Curious by lights we saw up on the side of the mountain surrounding the beach, we climbed up some serious stairs to get to a bar called Mellow Mountain. From up there we could see all of the activity going on down on the beach. Not a bad way to end the night.

First Bucket
First Bucket—(gin and tonic, which were both pretty sure was gin and soda). Don’t worry mom, I didn’t drink this all by myself.

 

At Hadd Rin beach they have these swatches of neon paint designs at that they will pain on your body (for a small fee ;) of course).
At Hadd Rin beach they have these swatches of neon paint designs at that they will pain on your body (for a small fee 😉 of course).
Mellow Mountain —art on the walls.
Mellow Mountain —art on the walls.

Yesterday we slept in and went to breakfast at the last possible minute before they shut down. Then we wandered around town for a while and got lunch at the self-proclaimed Delight Restaurant.  We spent the majority of the day on the beach playing in the waves—it was the best!  At one point in the day I went to go to the bathroom and  happened to walk in on a local sitting on the throne, speedo around his ankles, smoking a cigarette with the door wide open—I was much more startled by the interaction that he seemed to be. After we saw each other he kind of half shut the door without so much as flinching. I couldn’t stop cracking up.

Daniel playing in the waves with his selfie stick (waves not pictured).
Daniel playing in the waves with his selfie stick (waves not pictured).
A memorable day at Haad Rin beach!
A memorable day at Haad Rin beach!
Mellow mountain koh phangan
Bathroom where I walked in on a local sitting on the throne, speedo around his ankles, smoking a cigarette with the door wide open (man not pictured for obvious reasons).

We came back to the Coco Hut (aka Little Israel) to watch the sunset and it was absolutely magnificent! Between the sky and the ocean, every beautiful color you could imagine was represented. After sunset, we went into the pool to cool off.  Everything was going swimmingly until we turned around to see two of the maintenance staff using a hairdryer to dry something in the pool filter. Oy. It really goes without saying (but I’ll say it for your sake), that our swim at the pool ended there.

Sunset in Ko Phangan
Sunset from Coco Hut beach—between the sky and the ocean, every beautiful color you could imagine was represented, but this shot doesn’t do it justice.

Last night we went back to dinner at Habait HaYisraeli (same place as last night). After dinner we went to partake in usual beach night fun before calling it a night.  All in all, we are very happy to be here!

Hammock Chiils at Habait HaYisraeli.
Hammock Chiils at Habait HaYisraeli.

Now it’s Wednesday morning and we’re putting up this blog for you to enjoy before we switch rooms (long story).

Boker Tov from us and Laila Tov to most of you. Xx from Ko Phanang (the Israel of Thailand)

*I can later show these moves if anyone would like to see.