Me and Rach headed out on boxing day bound for Bangkok. Friends who had been there told us to get out of the city and head for the southern islands. We found out later how good of advice that was. After a brief layover our destination was Koh Samui. Thailand's third largest island located on the south eastern coast. Previously just a small fishing community that was self sufficient from mainland Thailand has now grown over the last few decades through tourism and now is a popular destination. Filled with palm trees wherever you look, it had the laid back appeal that I found awesome. We had accommodations for 3 nights at Mae Nam Beach which is quieter than some
of the more popular ones. Relaxing was a top priority. The rest of our trip was open for adventure. We enjoyed three days of tanning, great curry and pad thai dishes and of course Thai Massages on the beach. I would go back for the food and massages alone. 300 Baht ($8 or 9) for hour long sessions keeps you going every day. Our little cabin was great and right by the sea. Breakfast on the beach and warm nights were a welcomed change from the winter jackets and cold apartments back in Seoul.Our next plan in mind was to head to the island that was to the east of us, Koh Phangan. This island is home to the famous Full Moon Parties at Haad Rin Beach. We were told this is an absolute must attend event if you are in Thailand. They are held every full moon and the biggest of all is on New Years Eve. What perfect timing for us! We had a few days until the big party and decided to check out the less crazy parts of the island as we didn't like the idea of thousands of people cramming the beaches. We were told of a lesser known beach located on the other side of the island, Bottle Beach (Hadd Khuat). After going online to try and book a place to stay we found that every was
fully booked due to New Years. There are only a couple places to stay at this particular beach. We decided to try our luck anyways and turned out to be the best gamble ever. After a bus, two planes, a taxi, a ferry, another taxi and a Long Boat ride to get to this secluded place, it was worth all the trouble in about 5 seconds. This was my idea of complete paradise. The sand and water were unbelievable matched with our bungalow right on the beach, massages, great food, perfect weather and of course my love, I couldn't have been a happier man during my time there.On the 31st it was time to check out this Full Moon Party everyone was raving about. We hired a pick up truck to take us through the bumpy, dirt, winding, hilly back roads of Koh Phangan which was fun on its own to take us to the other side of the island. Here I witnessed the most insane scene of my life. Thousands and thousands of young, party hungry people jammed into this
small town and beach. Instantly I could see why this event was so popular. Really an exciting place filled with bars, restaurants, shops, massage parlours, hotels, cabins, and about a billion street vendors. The group of us wandered the streets until deciding to endure the beach. 60,000 people were said to of covered this few kilometer long beach. Tons of fire shows, a big fire jumping rope (which I tried and inevitably sinched my legs hairs off, but much worse for others), DJ's, music, and alcohol flooded this place. A great way to count down to 2010. This party lasts through the night into the next day but we decided to head out around 3am. We had a ferry booked for the next morning to take us back to Koh Samui. Unbelievably hard to leave Bottle Beach, but we agreed it wouldn't be the last time we saw that place. On the 1st we were back on a plane to Bangkok.We had a day to explore the capital of Thailand and were kind of glad we didn't stay long than that. It really is a dirty, rough, and crowded city. We got the feeling that there was extra pressure on getting the most out of tourists there. I had the constant looking over my shoulder feeling that wasn't pleasant. An endless scheme of tourist traps, people coming up to you, sales pitches and shady cab drivers to only drive you mad. I understa
nd it's these things that make Bangkok what it is, and for that it was good to experience it, but not a place I want to stay for long. What was great though, was the Grand Palace and infamous Golden Buddha. We took a tour of these places and WOW were they ever cool to see. The palace was extremely large and beautiful. The Thai type buildings are flashy and impressive. Our tour guide told us lots of information on the Thai people, culture and facts about these places. The Golden Buddha was a 2000kg pure gold sculpture. It had only been open 2 days after 2 years of construction for a new building to house it. That night it was back on the plane headed for Seoul.Can't say enough about Thailand. Was one of the best vacations ever and if you have not been, you have to check it out. I recommend the southern islands and not to spend too much time in Bangkok. Year round nice weather, beaches and amazing scenery is my kind of place. Where to next???
