New Year's Eve/ Full Moon Party: Koh Phangan

Koh Phangan: an island on the south-western coast of Thailand, between Koh Samui and Koh Tao, famous for it's full moon parties.  This island really takes advantage of the moon, hosting half-moon and black moon parties as well.  And it just so happened that the year I'm in Thailand, a full moon party fell on New Year's Eve - first time in full-moon partying history, to my knowledge, at least.  In addition, it was the second full moon of the month, making it a "blue moon" ("...once in a blue moon" ring a bell?).  So, of course, that's where I went to ring in the new decade.

Jacqueline and I got on a big, yellow bus from Sri Racha on Wednesday, December 30th at 6:30 pm.  We arrived at the Don Sak pier around 7:00 am the following day.  The trip wasn't so bad, as the seats reclined quite far and were relatively comfortable.  Then we had to get onto a 2.5 hour boat journey to the island.  Thanks to Rob and friends, we already had a place to stay - Seaside Bungalows.  We had our own bungalows, a restaurant/ bar right on the beach, and our own strip of beach to watch the sunrise on January 1st, 2010.  We were lucky to have friends already there to get bungalows, as the island was so packed full of partiers, that many had to find creative ways of making it through the night.  Some slept in the lobbies and homes of Thai guesthouses/ owners, some camped on the beach or crashed on bar couches, others simply partied through the night and into the morning hours, catching a boat back to the mainland, or neighboring islands, the next day.

We arrived on Koh Phangan on the 31st with a full day to relax on the beach, despite/ entertained by the thousands of people.  According to articles/ online sources, there must've been around 30,000 people there for New Year's Eve/ Full Moon Party!  Can you imagine?  We got jet-skiis and pranced around the blue waters for 15 minutes on these high-speed water toys.  I was a passenger, of course. 

Despite losing our group at around 2:30 am, only to meet up with them a few hours later back on our side of the beach, it was a pretty perfect island New Year's Eve getaway.  I really couldn't have asked for too much more.  And Rob even managed to score some champagne.  I just can't properly ring in a New Year without champagne.  Is that the upper west side New Yorker in me? 

Wishing you all a happy and healthy 2010 from Thailand...

Leaving Don Sak Pier on the mainland

2.5 hours later, Koh Phangan is in sight

(Jacqueline's photo)  View from our bungalows.  Really.

December 31st, relaxing on the crowded beach

The beginning of our evening

(Jacqueline's photo)

At some point in the midde of night, amongst the crowds in 2010

Beach mood at our bungalows on the evening of the 1st

Goodbye Koh Phangan

For the first part of our boat journey back, we were not so lucky in finding seats, just like all these people below.  But Jacqueline was eventually able to find us a couple stranded empty ones.

We had booked our return ferry/ bus combo ticket home with a horrible company: The Real McCoy Travel Company.  While it all worked out in the end, they certainly gave us enough problems for me to mention it here in my blog.  We arrived at Bangkok's southern bus terminal on Sunday, January 3rd at around 6:30 am, and then had to wait a couple hours for the first bus back to Sri Racha.  This return ride home was not as easy as the trip there, but we eventually made it home to Sri Racha with a full day to wind down, and all in one piece.  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!