Islands Part III - Full Moon Edition, + Day 1 in Laos

Koh Phangan

We got to Koh Phangan two nights before the Full moon Party. We took the ferry from Koh Samui with Lesley and Fallon. The ride was anything but smooth and for the first time I was actually scared. 45 minutes later we made it to the dock and everyone, looking slightly green in the face, got off. We taxied to Neptune's Villa, by far the nicest place we've stayed at (as it should be for 100$ a night per room) complete with fridge, air con, TV, shower and pool. The hotel was about 5 minutes away from Full Moon beach which we thought was perfect so we could actually get some sleep (ya right). The first night we met up with some of our classmates and had a little predrink reunion at a small pub named Jaya. Buckets were 5$ and after two Sangstrom + diet coke + red bull I was having a good night. We hit the beach and eventually all got seperated, which can only be expected when there are 5000 other people surrounding you. After calling it an early night around 4, I walked back to my room (only getting lost once) and passed out in my comfortable double bed.

Best drunk food in Koh Phangan

The second day we spent on the beach. There were about 7 or 8 of us from school who were on the island, along with some other Montrealers so we all tanned, talked and filled each other in on our trips. Katie and I got some good tips on where to go next. I also decided I'd go for a nice leisurely jet ski, which was so fun while I was the driver (and not so fun when I got the wind knocked out of me as the passenger after hitting the ocean...I mean brick wall...at full speed). My new Montrealer friend Ariel and I explored the bay at Full Moon Beach and then went to go check out the neighboring beaches. After half an hour we called it quits. That night was basically a repeat of the night before (minus one of our friends who was spending the rest of his trip in the clinic due to a gash in his foot he got after stepping on a sharp rock). We met each other at Same Same bar, ordered some buckets, got out the full moon paint and most importantly, I beat Jeff Chan's record at flip bucket. Then we headed to the beach, to be separated once more.

Full moon beach by day



Full Moon beach at sundown



On the night of Full Moon, we all met up at Jaya Bar (except for Nathaniel and Mark because according to them it didn't exist), we painted each other in Full Moon styles, ensuring we all had our room numbers painted on ourselves in case we were in no state to find our way home. At 12:30, with the whole night (and half the morning) ahead of us, we headed to the beach. This night was different than the previous two. Even walking to the beach was impossible. There were people everywhere. And I mean everywhere. The streets were packed with people dressed in fluorescent yellow, green, pink and orange with their country's flags painted on their bodies along with other symbols and profanities. This time the beach was overwhelming. You literally could not move. We weaved in and out of people, saw the fire slide and fire skipping rope in the distance and realized we were in a crowd or something around 15 - 20 000 people. Where the night goes after this I cannot really say, maybe because I do not remember but mostly because what happens at Full Moon stays there. All I can say is that this night I did not call it early and only climbed into bed around 9AM.

Full Moon Party July 17, 2011

Sunrise

Laos

Vientiane
Katie and I left Koh Phagnan, took the ferry to Surathani and then the train to Bangkok. We had a few hours to kill so we grabbed lunch at a local Thai street vendor and then being adventurous we decided not to cab to the airport. Instead we took the metro and then the sky train. We were worried about the metro system being dark, dirty and dangerous but it was anything but. The trains looked brand new, they were air conditioned and there were TVs playing in the background. Definitely about 10 steps above Montreal. The sky train was even nicer. I was starting to understand why they said Bangkok is one of the most technologically advanced cities in the world. Once we got to the airport we killed a few hours, I finished my third book of the trip and then after a slight weather delay we boarded the small plane to Vientiane. The flight was short, only about an hour and a half and we arrived at Mixay Paradise around 9:30PM. We showered and headed out to the local bars to check out their party scene. We soon realized there wasn't one. Bars here closed at 11:30, so after having a beer at the rooftop bar Bor Pen Ngang, we went home to bed. We woke up early and at 9:30 caught the bus to Vang Vieng. If you don't hear from us after this, I guess the river got us.