Our route from Kuala Lumphur to the island of Koh Phangan was filled with a plethora of transportation methods. From our hostel we took the monorail to the airport from there we flew to Surat Thani,* then took two seperate busses to get to the coast in order to board a ferry that took us to Koh Phangan island. (We also took a taxi to our hostel.)

Koh Phangan

We spent the most amount of time on our trip on this beautiful island. The nine days drifted by too fast. On the island, time really is relative, businesses open at... sometime in the afternoon and stay open til.... lateish. The only thing that keeps track of time is the lunar cylce.

Blue moon party

 Koh Phangan is most famous for its full moon party, the largest monthly party in the world. A gathering of about 30,000 youths draped in neon and covered with body paint. The party didn't really need much more hype, but incidently enough for the first time ever, the full moon party landed on Australia day (at least 1/5th of the teenage wasteland were Aussies). The night was a bit of a blur, or a whirlwind of colors. At around 8:00 in the mornning we hopped in the ocean as the DJ was still cranking Frank Ocean (that's what happens at a party based on moonshine). Although the party continued to rage, by that time we had experienced enough and decided to call it a day/night.The party was definitely and experience. I am still painted and tainted from it, but a party like that only comes once in a full moon.

After the creation of the full moon party, the island became a little LUNEY. In addition to the full moon party, they also host the half moon and the new moon parties as well. However, the island has much more to offer than just the party scene. About more than half the island's inhabitants engage in some sort of yoga each day. The yoga classes are suppose to be world reknowned and many will stay for several months at a time to become certified instructors. The island's attractions bring quite the dicotomy between binge drinking party goers and spiritual yogis.

Elephant tracks

The BIG experience was being able to ride a towering 15 foot elephant. After being escorted up a rickety wooden staircase we climbed out on all fours to get settled into our seat that was tied precariously around the elephant's stomach. The whole setup had liability written all over it, which made it all the more exhilarting. The best part was at the end when we got to feed the elephant. I was quite ignorant to how an elephant ate bananas, and was trying to peel them as fast as I could. Our pal, informed me not to waste our time by taking his trunk and pluking the bushel out of my hands. The %&$@ was bananas.

The best part of our stay was our beach side bungalow facing west. With two porch hammocks facing the ocean, our days usually had little aspirations beyond finding food and sun screen. The view was stunning, it might even be the background picture to your computer or cell phone. The only glich in our gambler's par-a-dice (lots of poker was played on our porch) was the presence of bed bugs, but it wasn't really worth *itchin about.