New Years Mayhem

Well I survived it. The Full Moon party was pure insanity. And another SNAFU day getting there too. I booked a return speedboat ticket that included a pickup from my hotel. One that didn't show up for two hours. When I finally got to the pier, there was a ton of people there waiting for various speedboat companies to take them to Koh Phangan. Then it developed from SNAFU to FUBAR (Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition). It started pouring rain, while backing a huge speedboat into the water with a tiny jeep the jeep became horribly stuck, then the other jeep trying to pull it out rolled down the hill, nearly into a crowd of people. E-brakes are important!

I was starving at this point and went up to get some food while I waited. This Thai dude told me I could have a whole fish for one hundred Baht, a very good deal. Then he throws a ten pound fish on my plate, not skinned or anything. I laughed while I ate that damn fish, it was actually pretty good. When the boats finally showed up, it literally turned into anarchy, like something out of the end of the world. People would flood towards the boats, pushing and shoving like it was the boat to their salvation. I ended up being the second last guy to get on one of the speedboats, and the boat staff were nearly getting in fights with asshole tourists desperate to get a bucket.

When I finally got to Koh Phangan I paid my one hundred Baht entrance fee, quickly downed some cheap Pad Thai, picked up a bucket and headed for one of the paint booths. Everyone at the full moon party gets covered up in neon paint, straight up voodoo. I had the guy paint a big neon gecko on the side of my neck going up around my jaw, and traced the bones of my hand and fingers in neon paint. I ended up hanging around with three English guys that were getting painted as well. The beach is insane, it's elbow to elbow people for a kilometer, trance and house music pumping, people skipping a rope that's on fire, and black lights. The countdown was the epic, as well as the fireworks show that went on for it. I ended up partying until about 5:30 am, walking up and down the beach and dancing my ass off in the various bars.

The speedboat situation going back was about the same as coming to the island; anarchy. It's incredibly unorganized, it's literally every man for himself, and that's exactly how I played it this time, butting in front of everyone to get the attention of the boat staff to look at my ticket. It worked. He waved me over, and I had to monkey my way around the crowd on edge of the pier, holding onto the edge of the roof of the pier so I wouldn't fall into the water. I finally got back to Koh Samui at 6am and crashed hard in my bed. Thankfully Mr. Night Light had his light off...