Twenty-four Hour Party People

I'm at my last stop on Koh Phangan at the party beach known as Haad Rin. Last night they had a half moon party out in the jungle. I'm staying at a lively guesthouse called Same-Same run by two Scandinavian girls. They ran a half moon warm up party starting at nine pm including free glow in the dark body paint and beer pong the drinking game. I thought it would be a good place to meet some people but all the twenty somethings kept tightly to their groups as I sipped on a well crafted Margarita. The taxis to the party were scheduled to start running at midnight. Amazing. In Vancouver I think the skytrain stops running about an hour later? I couldn't decide whether to go or not, being by myself and feeling a bit self conscious about it, so I went to the beach and chilled out on a mat at one of Sunrise Beach's beach bars with a Mojito bucket. They did a good job. After finishing off my five ounce drink I had the courage to go. And I'm super glad I went. It was a fun adventure and an impressive and well organized venue with two DJ's, numerous bars and food stalls. I was expecting a very basic thrown together setup out in the bush but was pleasantly surprised with a well designed party arena. I don't normally like dance music but the whole setup was just so damn cool. The entrance fee include two drink tickets. Plus I had a couple of beers with my food earlier in the day. I felt fine when I went to bed last night but felt poisoned when I woke up. I wonder why?

Sunrise Beach is, you guessed it, another crescent shaped beach. I really like it because it is a lot smaller than the other beaches I've been to. It is easy to explore the area. 

I tried Indian food twice yesterday, one of which the guide book recommended, and they were both disappointing. I'm quite surprised with the food in Southern Thailand. I've gone out of my way to try the recommended Thai places and they've ranged from very good to average but strangely I have yet to have an excellent meal. The best Thai food I've ever had was in Kuwait of all places. Even though the quality is average it's a wonderful and healthy food to eat every day. I'm sure I'll miss being able to get a Thai stir fry or curry for three or four bucks when I get home.

The boat ride over to this side of the island was scenic and reminded me a bit of one of the boat tours I was often on in Huatulco, Mexico. Same same but different as they say. 

I've already been thinking about my next holiday, whenever that might be. I'd like to go back to Cabo San Lucas and Huatulco with my two brothers. That would be a gas to share that together. There's a fantastic bar in Cabo called Mi Casa that is filled with truck loads of Day of the Dead figurines and looks like a place Tim Burton would design. Baja California in Mexico is very scenic, has some charming towns, has excellent food and drinks, dramatic beaches, and it has good surfing. Plus it's a lot more affordable from Canada than South East Asia is.

I only have three more beach days left on this holiday. Poor Deano. I'm off to Koh Samui tomorrow for two days. I want to rent a scooter and spend a day driving around the islands 100km ring road stopping at whim for a swim, photo opps, and some tasty meals. Don't worry Mom, I'll ride carefully and booze it up later.