What a weekend!
Jul. 4th, 2004 08:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
windandwaterRawr... so much happened in the past four days and I'm tired, sore, and a bit tender from it all, but all in all, I enjoyed this weekend. Now, feel free to live vicariously through me as I chronicle my adventures in Koh Samui.
Yes, I took pictures. And bought postcards. The postcards will be addressed and mailed sometime this week. Probably tomorrow.
THURSDAY:
TRAVEL AND HOTEL --
Woke up early so that I could finish packing and get some breakfast before I headed off to the airport. There weren't any snags with anything, except for some reason, my bag felt very heavy for a 4 day trip. I have a tendency to overpack because I'm paranoid. ^^;
I arrived at the airport with enough time to get a little lost before I found the proper terminal (as evidenced by a previous post). There was a cool courtesy counter there, and they had the best banana chips ever. And orange juice that tasted like Tang. XD I love Tang. It's horribly cheap orange-flavored beverage, but I like it.
Anyway, when we boarded, we had to take a little tram thing to the plane. My first thought upon seeing the plane was: OMGWTFIT'STINY!!!
Seriously, this was the smallest plane I've ever been on. The damn thing had PROPELLERS. I was a little nervous, but I guess I was worried for nothing. The in flight meal (wtf? SouthWest only gives you peanuts for a one hour flight, and here we got lunch! no fair!!!) were these open-faced sandwich things, of which only one I could identify as chicken, so I ate that one. Also, more Tang.
Arrived in Samui with no problems, and I took the airport shuttle van to my hotel. Miguel told me later that the taxis just outside the airport gate were asking 300 baht; I'm glad I paid only 140, and there were only 2 other people in the shuttle van with me. X3
Checked into the Samui Park Resort with no problems either; it was very nice considering what I paid, even if I had two twin beds instead of one king sized. XP I inspected the room a bit, then wen to catch a nap before everyone else started trickling in. I hadn't slep very well the night before and NEEDED that nap.
I was woken up promptly at 3 pm, by both knocking on my door and a telephone call. It was Miguel and his girlfriend (whome I had told they could leave their bags in my room for the party). I never did find out who was calling though.
We had introductions and talked for a bit and tried to figure out what to do. I was hungry by this time, so we walked around near the hotel, investigating the tourist travel agencies, to see about getting our ride to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party. We finally decided on a speedboat (because it had more flexible times and was fastest) for 600 baht, roundtrip including transfers to and from the hotel. We also decided to leave with the first boat at 6pm, and perhaps leave on the first boat back at 3am, depending on how the party was. The speedboats went back to Samui every hour from 3 am until 7 am and I fully admitted that I didn't think I could party until 7 in the morning. XP
Ah, and I had a good snack of a ham&cheese croissant and an ice cream bar. I ate light because we were going to have dinner at Haad Rin (the beach where the Party is held). We went back to my room again and chilled for a bit, and Miguel decided to get a room for the night at my hotel, since the shuttle would bring us all back here anyway. He and his girlfriend went to their own room and I decided to attempt to nap for an hour before getting ready for the party.
FULL MOON PARTY --
The shuttle driver was very prompt. o_O* I actually had to call Miguel's room so they could come down to the lobby. I thought I was a minute early, but when I stepped out of my room, I saw the shuttle pulling up. Wow... definitely not operating on Thai time.
When we got to the dock at Bophut Beach, I was a bit surprised to see all the people gathered there to take the one speedboat. It was a big speedboat, but still... they really packed us in! I'm glad I took my Dramamine, too, because the ride was... bumpy... and it was low tide! I didn't even want to imagine what it would be like going BACK, on a boat full of drunken people.
Ick.
Anyway, the sun was settting and the moon was rising on our trip out to Haad Rin. I was glad to get off the boat, and we decided to wander around a bit and find the one bar we were supposed to meet everyone at. It was a bit of a walk, but I finally did manage to find a cute little purse (like I've wanted) that had no elephants or Thailand designs on it. I propmtly bought said purse and chucked my money, room key, identification, and my camera into it. Yay.
We also found a little cafe place to eat at (Miguel's girlfriend wants to eat Thai, and I was just hungry), that happened to be playing 8 Mile when we entered. We caught the end of that and the beginning of 28 Days Later while waiting for, and eating, our dinner.
Why the hell didn't someone tell me that 28 Days Later is really scary?! I only saw about half of it, and I want to see the last half. ;-; But we left to wander Haad Rin town more, so I missed the end.
Bug repellant spray was bought and used. This is important.
Anyway, out of sheer dumb luck, we ran into out group of people on the beach. We hung out and wandered and found a table on the sand to chill at and claim as our own. A bunch of us (myself included) got blacklight bodypainting. I got a dragon all across my back. X3
Okay... description. One of the purposes of the Full Moon Party is to get wasted. The locals gleefully help you out with this. Everywhere we went, people were selling "Buckets of Joy." Think of a little plastic bucket -- the kind little kids bring to the beach to make sand castles -- and in the bucket is a small bottle of vodka (or whiskey or rum or whatever), a can of Coke (or Sprite), and a can of Red Bull. You buy one of these buckets (200-400 baht), and the seller mixes everything in the bucket for you, with free ice and a bunch of straws (not the Red Bull though, but I'm not sure). Then you drink up.
@____@
... I had some of someone in our group's rum & coke. It was good... and strong. Then I double fisted something called "Vodka Cruiser"; they're like the wine coolers I like to drink (one was raspberry and the other cranberry). Hey, it was two for 100 baht! I'll take a bargain like that. Everyone was trying to rip you off anyway. I was called a pussy for drinking them, but I don't care. They have the same amount of alcohol as beer, but taste better.
Well, I walked around a bit with Samirah and Zhu, and bought a little pizza to munch on. T___T Half of it was lost when some guy slammed into me and made me drop it into the sand. I was bitter. And then it turns out that the group LEFT the table it took us so long to find and stakeout! And I had left my sandals and shirt and bottle of water there! Found the table again and retrieved the sandals and shirt, but the water was gone forever.
Ah, and another reason why you should get drunk is that so you don't complain about getting hosed by the locals. USing the bathroom cost 10 baht a go, and I went twice. The bathrooms weren't nice at all. I bet if I was smashed, I wouldn't care so much. Damn my bladder. It's been a LONG while since I've drunk much of anything, so those two vodka cruisers and the rum&coke were enough to get me a bit unsteady and happy.
The group split up to do their own things (they guys were hitting on girls and the girls were hitting on guys). I went with Samirah and Zhu (who were sober because they don't drink), and we hung out at this bar place with some Thai friends they met... somewhere. I promptly sat down and dozed off a bit; when I drink, I get sleepy sometimes, and my naps did NOTHING for me.
After hanging out at the bar place for awhile, I decided to leave and get myself an hour-long massage before catching the 3am speedboat back. It was a lovely foot/leg massage and it actually went over by about 20 minutes. So I wandered Haad Rin on my own (avoiding the drunken, sick, unstable, and horny people as I went) and caught the 4 am boat. It was an interesting experience, wandering through the beach, trying to avoid the people making out on the sand, the people passed out, the people being sick, the people sleeping, and the people dancing. And there's nothing quite like seeing a drunken (or worse) mass of people wading into the sea up to their waists to get to the speedboats.
The ride... was hell.
It was high tide and the waves were huge and bumpy and I was in the FRONT of the speedboat with the wind and salt water blasting into me. I was rather nauseous and clinging to the rail boat to keep from bouncing up into the air everytime we hit a wave (I failed miserably and squealed like a little girl -- and like everyone else on the boat). The sky was turning dawn gray by the time I got back to Bophut and it was past 5 am by the time I wandered into my hotel. I just HAD to shower before I went to bed, as I felt rather dirty, and then I finally fell asleep at about 6 am.
Huzzah. What a party.
And that was Thursday.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will have to come later. I need to shower and get ready for class.
x___X
Yes, I took pictures. And bought postcards. The postcards will be addressed and mailed sometime this week. Probably tomorrow.
THURSDAY:
TRAVEL AND HOTEL --
Woke up early so that I could finish packing and get some breakfast before I headed off to the airport. There weren't any snags with anything, except for some reason, my bag felt very heavy for a 4 day trip. I have a tendency to overpack because I'm paranoid. ^^;
I arrived at the airport with enough time to get a little lost before I found the proper terminal (as evidenced by a previous post). There was a cool courtesy counter there, and they had the best banana chips ever. And orange juice that tasted like Tang. XD I love Tang. It's horribly cheap orange-flavored beverage, but I like it.
Anyway, when we boarded, we had to take a little tram thing to the plane. My first thought upon seeing the plane was: OMGWTFIT'STINY!!!
Seriously, this was the smallest plane I've ever been on. The damn thing had PROPELLERS. I was a little nervous, but I guess I was worried for nothing. The in flight meal (wtf? SouthWest only gives you peanuts for a one hour flight, and here we got lunch! no fair!!!) were these open-faced sandwich things, of which only one I could identify as chicken, so I ate that one. Also, more Tang.
Arrived in Samui with no problems, and I took the airport shuttle van to my hotel. Miguel told me later that the taxis just outside the airport gate were asking 300 baht; I'm glad I paid only 140, and there were only 2 other people in the shuttle van with me. X3
Checked into the Samui Park Resort with no problems either; it was very nice considering what I paid, even if I had two twin beds instead of one king sized. XP I inspected the room a bit, then wen to catch a nap before everyone else started trickling in. I hadn't slep very well the night before and NEEDED that nap.
I was woken up promptly at 3 pm, by both knocking on my door and a telephone call. It was Miguel and his girlfriend (whome I had told they could leave their bags in my room for the party). I never did find out who was calling though.
We had introductions and talked for a bit and tried to figure out what to do. I was hungry by this time, so we walked around near the hotel, investigating the tourist travel agencies, to see about getting our ride to Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party. We finally decided on a speedboat (because it had more flexible times and was fastest) for 600 baht, roundtrip including transfers to and from the hotel. We also decided to leave with the first boat at 6pm, and perhaps leave on the first boat back at 3am, depending on how the party was. The speedboats went back to Samui every hour from 3 am until 7 am and I fully admitted that I didn't think I could party until 7 in the morning. XP
Ah, and I had a good snack of a ham&cheese croissant and an ice cream bar. I ate light because we were going to have dinner at Haad Rin (the beach where the Party is held). We went back to my room again and chilled for a bit, and Miguel decided to get a room for the night at my hotel, since the shuttle would bring us all back here anyway. He and his girlfriend went to their own room and I decided to attempt to nap for an hour before getting ready for the party.
FULL MOON PARTY --
The shuttle driver was very prompt. o_O* I actually had to call Miguel's room so they could come down to the lobby. I thought I was a minute early, but when I stepped out of my room, I saw the shuttle pulling up. Wow... definitely not operating on Thai time.
When we got to the dock at Bophut Beach, I was a bit surprised to see all the people gathered there to take the one speedboat. It was a big speedboat, but still... they really packed us in! I'm glad I took my Dramamine, too, because the ride was... bumpy... and it was low tide! I didn't even want to imagine what it would be like going BACK, on a boat full of drunken people.
Ick.
Anyway, the sun was settting and the moon was rising on our trip out to Haad Rin. I was glad to get off the boat, and we decided to wander around a bit and find the one bar we were supposed to meet everyone at. It was a bit of a walk, but I finally did manage to find a cute little purse (like I've wanted) that had no elephants or Thailand designs on it. I propmtly bought said purse and chucked my money, room key, identification, and my camera into it. Yay.
We also found a little cafe place to eat at (Miguel's girlfriend wants to eat Thai, and I was just hungry), that happened to be playing 8 Mile when we entered. We caught the end of that and the beginning of 28 Days Later while waiting for, and eating, our dinner.
Why the hell didn't someone tell me that 28 Days Later is really scary?! I only saw about half of it, and I want to see the last half. ;-; But we left to wander Haad Rin town more, so I missed the end.
Bug repellant spray was bought and used. This is important.
Anyway, out of sheer dumb luck, we ran into out group of people on the beach. We hung out and wandered and found a table on the sand to chill at and claim as our own. A bunch of us (myself included) got blacklight bodypainting. I got a dragon all across my back. X3
Okay... description. One of the purposes of the Full Moon Party is to get wasted. The locals gleefully help you out with this. Everywhere we went, people were selling "Buckets of Joy." Think of a little plastic bucket -- the kind little kids bring to the beach to make sand castles -- and in the bucket is a small bottle of vodka (or whiskey or rum or whatever), a can of Coke (or Sprite), and a can of Red Bull. You buy one of these buckets (200-400 baht), and the seller mixes everything in the bucket for you, with free ice and a bunch of straws (not the Red Bull though, but I'm not sure). Then you drink up.
@____@
... I had some of someone in our group's rum & coke. It was good... and strong. Then I double fisted something called "Vodka Cruiser"; they're like the wine coolers I like to drink (one was raspberry and the other cranberry). Hey, it was two for 100 baht! I'll take a bargain like that. Everyone was trying to rip you off anyway. I was called a pussy for drinking them, but I don't care. They have the same amount of alcohol as beer, but taste better.
Well, I walked around a bit with Samirah and Zhu, and bought a little pizza to munch on. T___T Half of it was lost when some guy slammed into me and made me drop it into the sand. I was bitter. And then it turns out that the group LEFT the table it took us so long to find and stakeout! And I had left my sandals and shirt and bottle of water there! Found the table again and retrieved the sandals and shirt, but the water was gone forever.
Ah, and another reason why you should get drunk is that so you don't complain about getting hosed by the locals. USing the bathroom cost 10 baht a go, and I went twice. The bathrooms weren't nice at all. I bet if I was smashed, I wouldn't care so much. Damn my bladder. It's been a LONG while since I've drunk much of anything, so those two vodka cruisers and the rum&coke were enough to get me a bit unsteady and happy.
The group split up to do their own things (they guys were hitting on girls and the girls were hitting on guys). I went with Samirah and Zhu (who were sober because they don't drink), and we hung out at this bar place with some Thai friends they met... somewhere. I promptly sat down and dozed off a bit; when I drink, I get sleepy sometimes, and my naps did NOTHING for me.
After hanging out at the bar place for awhile, I decided to leave and get myself an hour-long massage before catching the 3am speedboat back. It was a lovely foot/leg massage and it actually went over by about 20 minutes. So I wandered Haad Rin on my own (avoiding the drunken, sick, unstable, and horny people as I went) and caught the 4 am boat. It was an interesting experience, wandering through the beach, trying to avoid the people making out on the sand, the people passed out, the people being sick, the people sleeping, and the people dancing. And there's nothing quite like seeing a drunken (or worse) mass of people wading into the sea up to their waists to get to the speedboats.
The ride... was hell.
It was high tide and the waves were huge and bumpy and I was in the FRONT of the speedboat with the wind and salt water blasting into me. I was rather nauseous and clinging to the rail boat to keep from bouncing up into the air everytime we hit a wave (I failed miserably and squealed like a little girl -- and like everyone else on the boat). The sky was turning dawn gray by the time I got back to Bophut and it was past 5 am by the time I wandered into my hotel. I just HAD to shower before I went to bed, as I felt rather dirty, and then I finally fell asleep at about 6 am.
Huzzah. What a party.
And that was Thursday.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will have to come later. I need to shower and get ready for class.
x___X
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-04 10:51 pm (UTC)I could have told you that. It's a zombie movie, after all. Only zombie disease ever spread by eye contact. Rawr.
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-04 11:45 pm (UTC)Eye CONTACT?
(note: don't reply to this unless you want me to never ever sleep again)
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 02:14 am (UTC)*thwaps over the eye contact*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 02:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 02:41 am (UTC)Glad you had fun at the party. Kinda. Sorta. ^_^
*huggles*
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 02:57 am (UTC)And it was... an experience. I don't regret it, since I think everyone should do something stupid every once in awhile. XP
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 03:02 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 03:13 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 04:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 05:19 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-05 03:36 pm (UTC)I believe I mentioned that it was really scary in my LJ at one point. I remember mentioning that I went to hide upstairs to avoid watching it!!!
(no subject)
Date: 2004-07-06 08:01 am (UTC)