The previous four days we have been on the notorious party island Koh Phangan. I’ve been here before and just like the first time I loved it. Koh Phangan has beautiful beaches and a great nightlife.
At Beach, Bed and Bar
We booked a private bungalow At Beach, Bed and Bar because of its v
ery promising name. We arrived around 20:00 at the hostel, with a warm welcome by one of its owners. He treated us to 4 Chang (Thai beer) showed us our little shelter for the coming 4 nights and we couldn’t be more happy; it was so spacious and (even though it didn’t look very tempting) had a bathtub! By day the place was very nice and relaxing as well. It was located right at the beach so we’ve been chilling all day until we were treated to the most stunning sunsets, every night.
The secret mountain
During one of our many chill sessions at the beach, the owner came up to us and asked us if we wanted to join him and some fellow backpackers to watch the sunset at ‘The Secret Mountain‘. We had to decide quickly as the car was about to leave, so we jumped up and got in. Unfortunately the car couldn’t bring us all the way up to the mountain because of some construction work, but a few locals were kind enough to taxi us up and down the mountain on motorbikes, one by one.
And the sunset was gorgeous indeed! With a Chang in my left hand and my iPhone in my right I enjoyed shooting pictures of an incredible sunset. We hung out some more with our fellow backpackers and returned ‘home’ two hours later, reminiscing about this spontaneous little trip.
Half Moon is the new Full Moon
Koh Phangan is famous for its full moon party where thousands of tourists gather on Haad Rin beach wearing fluorescent clothes and are covered in glow in the dark paint. I’ve been to the full moon two years ago and loved it, but I was happy we were on Koh Phangan during the half moon this time so I could experience this party as well.
We started with drinking some buckets and decorating each others bodies with glow in the dark paint. Around midnight it was time to go to the party.
The half moon party is, unlike the full moon, not located at the beach but in the middle of the jungle. Costing 1000 baht (around 28 dollars) it’s a lot more expensive than the full moon (100 baht). Our host at the hostel told us this is because they fly in famous DJs from all over the world.
The venue was amazing. It was right in the middle of the jungle and beautifully decorated. It was crowded – but not too crowded. When we were dancing for about an hour the music suddenly stopped. Word on the street was that the Thai tourist police invaded the party. A lot of people left but luckily the music continued after 45 minutes, so we could dance the night away.
In my opinion the Full Moon is more fun than the Half Moon party. At Full Moon you get to choose the type of music because there are many different stages whereas at the Half Moon you’re stuck with the same kind of trance tunes all night. Even though the music wasn’t that good we had a fun time, and returned home around 5.
Yesterday we took the boat to Koh Tao, a smaller, more relaxing island north of Koh Phangan. We stay at a beautiful bungalow overlooking the sea. Next update will be on this pretty little island!
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