The Golf Coast,

Since planning our trip, we had always wanted to make it to one of Ko Phangan's famous full moon parties. We had decided that March's party would fit in well with the rest of our plans and set our sights on this. Having enjoyed too much of Cambodia we were still in Phonm Penh on the 3rd of March with many miles to travel. With this in mind, and Thai land boarders only issuing 15 day visitor permits (Viza's) we decided to fly from Cambodia to Bangkok, 'av it large on Khao San road once more, and fly the next day to Surat Thani. Yes, I believe this makes us "flash packers" but it made sense and its a damn sight better than bus travel. Many people wouldn't have made this sacrifice for forms sake and good luck to 'em but that's not us.

So we arrived refreshed and on time a Surat Thani, still smelling of cold complimentary face towels (Bus. Pffff!) and got straight on the boat to Ko Samui; which is the largest and most southerly of the islands on the golf coast archipelago. In usual style we had nothing booked and strolled down Had Chaweng sniffing out a deal which we found above an Indian restaurant at 300B! A steal, and to wake up with the smell of Dahl wafting under the door. yes please! As we arrived after dark and we had done no prior investigating, we had no real idea where the beach was located. This is made more difficult by the extent to which Samui and Chaweng in particular have been developed. We found out we were no more than 100m from the beach and our view was simply blocked by MacDonalds. Despite this development the beach itself is amazing, the water is flat and Crystal clear and the beach is clean and shaded with palm trees. You would hardly believe the carnage that happens only meters away every night on Had Chaweng. After another night and day on Samui, and the moon getting fuller by the minute, we jumped on a boat to Ko Phangan.

Due to the busy period surrounding the full moon parties on the island we booked our hostel ahead to ensure we at least had somewhere to rest. Unfortunately, as is always our fear, our accomodation was located on Baan Tai; a hilly four kilometers from the main town of Haad Rin. Despite this, our bungalow was clean and at least you could get away from the melee due to descend on Haad Rin beach the following night. In order to properly orientate our selfs in preparation for what was likely to be a messy one, we headed out the night before full moon to scope it out. As so often is the case (with the restraint of saints) our "quiet" recce turned into a full blown party. It was hard to imagine as we swaggered (or staggered) down the beach with our drink buckets swinging and sloshing in hand, that the following night could be any busier. it seemed to us that the whole of the traveling community in Thailand had taken to this one beach. We were mistaken.

We tuned up, fashionably early, at Haad Rin on full moon night - still haggard from the antics of the night before. Our hungover bodies needing feeding before undertaking any more drinking. To our surprise, even at 8pm the party was swinging, people where passed out all over the place (that's not me in the photo above by the way. Poor guy) obviously this was going to be mad. We spent the next 8 hours wandering round, bucket in hand, sometimes in the pouring rain (it absolutely hammered it for two hours straight, the party didn't even slow its pace). It was like Saturday night on Guildhall walk times 1000! We had a chuckle at a few of the drunk ones and pitied the really hammered ones but generally kept our self's out of mischief and had a really enjoyable night. Not that i'd be in a rush to do another one anytime soon.

The day after we headed back to the seen of the chaos, mainly to lord it over those with heads worse than ours, and maybe assist in the mammoth clean up effort, only to find the beach nearly spotless and not a drunk in sight! It was remarkable, like it never happened. Maybe it didn't. We decided to leave the next day with our mission accomplished and headed for ko Toa.

We arrived in Ko Tao late morning, having survived a mid sea fire upon our boat. This did wonders to our delicate temperament, so we set out immediately to find accommodation on Sairee Beach on the west coast of the island. What we didn't realize at this point was that we were not the only people who had fled Ko Phanhan for quiet and the majority of the budget accommodation was booked up. So we wandered round for a few hours with our heavy back packs squabbling like children about what we should have done (we should have booked ahead) finally spending over the odds for what turned out to be a very nice room on the north section of the bay. Although we were a short walk from decent amenities (well two minutes but that's far enough for me!) we were right on the beach and ready to immerse our self's in welcoming sea. Ko Tao is well known for its clear waters and snorkeling/dive sites and is a hub for divers on a budget taking the open water diving courses. We decided that this wasn't for us despite hearing of its greatness from a variety of sources and settled for snorkeling. We saw an amazing variety of fish but sadly not a great deal of coral due to the El Nino damage of 1997. I was also on the lookout for sharks, not to admire them however, but so I could give Alice a good warning and a head start to the ladder back on the boat. We spent only four days on Ko Tao in total but absolutely loved the place; it has a busy nightlife that can be avoided if wanted and enough to see and do during the day that could have kept us entertained far longer.