There were 3 Poles from Krakow and 2 Aussie brothers. The Poles spoke good English. I told them how much I enjoyed the Polish hospitality and the weekend I spent in Krakow during two weeks of travel in Poland about 15 years ago.
From Surat Thani to the ferry boat dock was about a 45 minute van ride. We stopped halfway and got our ferry tickets to Koh Phangan, an island to the north of Koh Samui, often referred to just as Samui.
I had done some researching on the web about the two islands. Samui is more of a deluxe resort island, with thousands of hotels. I saw some places on Samui that were going for over $2500 a night.
I opted to go to Kho Phagan. It sounded like a more casual, less developed place, with more backpackers and travelers and fewer tourists. It used to be a hippy hangout years ago - until the younger set took over the place.
I offered to buy everyone a beer when we stopped at the halfway point on the van ride. As we clinked our beer bottles, I said to the Poles "Nostrovia", the Polish "Cheers". They were impressed. No sooner had we cracked the caps off our beers, it was time for the van to leave. We took the beers with us. The driver did not say a work about our open beers in the van. For the 45 minute van ride and the 2.5 hour ferry ride, the charge was just under $15.00.
We waited for the ferry for about an hour...it departed late so we drank more beer.
On the boat, the Poles and the Aussies amply returned the beer I bought them and by the time we docked at Kho Phagan, it was dark and we were all toasted. At least I was.
I had not booked a room, so I said I would ride along with the Aussies and see if there were any rooms available nearby, wherever it was that they were headed. I really had no idea where we were headed. We negotiated a ride in a tuktuk taxi, agreed on a price, crammed all our bags in and crawled in. After about a 20 minute ride, we landed in Haad Rin.
Haad Rin is famous for the monthly Full Moon Party. 12 times a year, on the night of the full moon, there are over 20,000+ wild, crazy, half naked, drunk, drugged, twenty somethings staying up all night long and partying on the beach until sunrise. It is a legendary happening. The beach is 150 meters from my dorm style room.
I found a hostel, with 16 beds in one room, nice hot showers, clean bathrooms and floors, AC, wifi - for $15.00 a night. It was the day before the full moon, and there were still plenty of open bunks. I picked out one on the bottom that was near an electrical outlet. Private rooms in the hotels and bungalos skyrocket in price during the Full Moon Party, so think I will just hang here at the dorm and watch the party. After the Full Moon Party I will book a private room on the beach somewhere.
The full moon is tomorrow night, 12/6!!!!!!
Only by not reserving a room in advance did I land in the heart of the party zone.
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