Full Moon Party

I literally spent most of today sleeping as knowing I would not reach my bed till about 10am tomorrow, I knew I would need to make up for it this morning if I was to have any chance of coping; I think I got up about 2.30pm in the end. I went down to the restaurant to grab a bit of lunch so that I could shut my belly up as it was just making such an almighty rumble – clearly did not agree with the lie in. I began getting ready for the party shortly after, I had bought a neon pink top especially for the occasion, so I put that on along with some loose shorts. I did also put on some make-up but virtually as soon as I put it on, I was already sweating it off, but oh well, all part of the fun of a festival abroad.

We began our journey to Koh Phangan, the next island across, around 5pm; this first required getting a taxi to the pier before we could board the catamaran prior to another taxi to the beach where the party took place. The catamaran took just over an hour to reach the island and I found the sea quite choppy today so did not really enjoy the ride there and was already dreading the ride

back across when people were drunk; my only distraction from the movement was the sunset, I wish we got these beautiful sunsets back in England, but I know if we did, then we would not appreciate it when we go away. The taxi drive when we got the island was an experience to say the least with our taxi driver leaving no braking distance and continuously needing to break sharply; I put up with it for around 15 minutes until I thought this was ridiculous and I was actually slightly worried I would not make it there alive as he also kept driving on the wrong side of the road; in the end I ended up raising my voice to the driver and telling him would he mind not getting so close to the cars in front as he was scaring us. Surprisingly, he listened, and the remainder of the journey was a lot more pleasant. We passed loads of stalls selling neon clothes and as we got closer, the crowds and traffic grew more intense.

We eventually arrived at the place of the festival around 7.30pm; we were all starving so first point of call was a food stop, we found a burger stand which was cheap and yet the food tasted great and provided a base to drink on. We all then got our first drink of the night, although I was not planning on starting to drink this early, I also did not want to pay for the toilets, so I got myself a bucket to start off my night. We then headed down to the beach where the party was and

received our wristband; on the walk down the path that led to the beach, there were loads of stalls doing neon body paint, drinks and food (more expensive than what we had just bought). There were so many people all getting excited about the night ahead and as we got closer to the beach, the music started pounding through our bones and I could already feel the atmosphere was ecstatic. When we reached the beach and looked along, all you could see were bright lights up and down, with loads of large, neon statues and flashing lights from the bars; it was only around 8.30pm so the party was yet to really kick off. We used this quiet time to walk along the length of the beach seeing what the different bars were playing; there was a mix of pop, 80’s, electronica, dance and probably a few more that I don’t recognise.

The beach started filling up by around 10pm and it was becoming increasingly difficult for all 21 of us to stick together, so we ended up splitting into smaller groups. Many people in my group were already on their second or even third bucket and were quickly becoming drunk, so as I had had only one drink, I ended up becoming the carer and making sure people were drinking water, not going in the sea, and staying with the group. I didn’t mind it though as it gave me a purpose for the night. I had my second and final drink around midnight, so I really enjoyed the night with only ever feeling tipsy and never ill or worried I was not in control. I was

dancing with everyone and taking in the party vibes. The only way I can think to describe the beach is imagine loads of different clubs rammed with people all right next door to each other, so you are free to walk between them, there was hardly any room to move or breath except right near the sea. Along the beach, there were also fire dancers and fire limbo and fire jump rope; obviously, with the alcohol, many people tried these, and I also saw several bad burns on peoples bodies. By around 3am I had had enough, the beach was beginning to empty out and my body ached from the hours of dancing, yet our pickup was not till 6am. I somehow lost everyone else and I later found out that it was as they had gone and found some sofas to nap on, so I went to the far end of the beach to sit on a rock and read a bit of my Kindle to pass the time. By the time it reached about 5am, I made my way back to what was left of the party and was appalled by the amount of glass, plastic and cigarette butts which were strewn over the beach, I do not understand what is so hard about finding a bin, or at the very least, putting your rubbish near one of the stalls. It shames me how people could destroy something so beautiful with rubbish. On my walk, I came across some of the Dutch girls so I stayed with them until it was time to walk back to the taxi rank. There were a few squabbles trying to find it, as where we were all tired and didn’t really know where we were going, we kept arguing

over directions.

The taxi drive back was a lot better than on the way to the beach thankfully. When we reached the pier for our ferry back, we were 2 hours early so most of us found a bench to nap on to pass the time although it was not comfy, so I must have only slept for around 10 minutes; that wait felt so much longer than just 2 hours. When we finally got on the boat, I believe everyone simply passed out and slept the duration of the 60 minute journey back to Koh Tao. We finally arrived back at our hotel just gone 10am; I have never been more excited to see a bed at this time of day before, it felt like bliss to finally be able to close my eyes and rest my weary bones.