Koh Pha Ngan

We arrived in Koh Pha Ngan at about 8pm on Wednesday after being en route from Koh Lanta since 7:30 a.m. Travel in Thailand takes a while. A van picked us up at Where Else? (our sweet eco-chic rustic bungalow) at 8:30 am and there was a little mix-up with our receptionist (if you could call her that...more like some young girl who showed us to our room) because she thought we were booking our trip (3 vans +3 buses + 1 ferry +1 songthaew) through her so that she would get the commission. Unfortunately, we had wandered around town and found a cheaper deal from a little travel agency...so this girl became rather annoyed. It was the first time I saw a Thai roll their eyes in disgust.


Along the way, we bounced along muddy roads with massive pot-holes. It was impossible to read, and I was dying for a sports-bra after about 15 seconds. Luckily, Jen brought us some nuts to munch on because we didn't have any breakfast, and at one point we stopped at some crappy rest area while we were waiting to transfer to another van and we grabbed some panang curry and rice to tide us over a little longer. Little did we know that would be all we would be eating until midnight! At one of our rest-stops there were disgusting soi dogs with scabs and sporadic patches of hair hanging around us, and one had a whitish viscous substance hanging off of his balls. It was enough to make me dry-heave, so, naturally, I had to alert jen to its existence--much to her dismay. Our final bus ride before arriving in Suratthani where we boarded the ferry was plush and pink and fabulous. We watched Sin City and drank beers and reclined allll the way back.

The ferry was much grosser. It made me a bit sea-sick and there was a disgusting amount of smog being released into the atmosphere--billowing black clouds that occasionally blew back in our faces. It is quite unnerving how much people litter and pollute the islands here. The longtails run on car-motors that have been juiced up and and create an insane amount of smog. There is also a LOT of construction going on everywhere. Huge fancy hotels and resorts are choking out all of the smaller backpacking joints and I think the cheap- and quaint-ness of the Thai islands might soon be a thing of the past.

When we finally arrived in Koh Pha Ngan, we hiked around in the dark, in circles, in search of lodging. Because of the full moon party, every little crappy bungalow was way overpriced and not worth it. We took a songthaew to the west side of the island (further away from all the partying) and found nothing. We eventually ended up back where we had started on the east-side and got a bunglow at Pilada Lodge(sp?) in the back by a swamp and completely surrounded by mooing bullfrogs that were so incredibly loud we couldn't hear each other when we spoke in a normal tone of voice. Then, just as we put down our shit and were about to go eat dinner, we noticed a huge leak--basically our floor was caving in--so we had to go switch rooms. At this point I am about to keel over and die of starvation and when we were finally are on our way to go eat, it started pouring on us and then the island went completely black! I was really worried that I wasn't going to get to eat my pad see ew if they weren't able to cook it, but eventually after watching the storm outside and the palm trees swaying madly in the darkness, and after driking a couple of Changs, the food came out and we feasted! Vegetarian no-names (fried vegetable nests served with a sweet chili sauce, seafood pad see ew (drunken noodles with veggies and prawns and squid) vegetable spring rolls, two orders of rice, green curry, hot and sour chicken, and a broccoli, tofu, and mushroom broth soup crowded our table. We feasted and then we slept. And we were so exhausted that even those damned howling bull-frogs couldn't keep us awake.

The next day we decided that we don't have to live like stinky hippies the entire time we're backpacking around, so we splurged on a really nice, clean, air-conditioned room. Cool tile floors, a huge lovely bathroom with a western toilet that flushes and comes complete with toilet paper and a hot shower...heaven! We realized that after a long night (or three) of full moon partying, we would probably need a nice clean place to crash in, complete with mini-bar full of water, gatorade and Chang. We also have an infinity pool in the shape of a club that looks out over the sea.

Koh Pha Ngan is a party haven for young westerners looking for drugs, loud techno, and other travelers to mingle with. Most of the restaurants here show movies or American TV alllll day. There is one little alley where literally every bar/restauant blasts Friends. Different episodes, different seasons, but all at full blast. Last night we found an amazing bar called Mellow Bar which is situated up on a hill overlooking the sea. It is built into the rocks surrounding it, but does not destroy or take away from the natural beauty of the area. It creativly works it's way into the nature, with lots of steps and different levels to hang out on. There are curving patios with cusions and low tables to lounge around, and really good djs as well. From this high place you can also hear all of the loud music coming off of the beach and see the flashing lights and neon body paint writhing around on the sand below. I drank a happy shake for 500 baht and we spent the night hanging out with some crazy irish kids and enjoying the scene.