Welcome to paradise

Imagine, if you would, looking out on a beautiful cove surrounded by jungle and palm trees, hearing warm emerald water gently lapping at ivory white sand, feeling a refreshing breeze on your face and holding a cool fruit shake in one hand. This was my life for eight blissful days on the tropical Island of Ko Pangh Yang at Thong Pan Yai beach. This beach was far quieter than the touristy Had Rinn area, much cleaner and definitely more enjoyable. We braved the madness in Had Rinn for the infamous Full Moon Party on Christmas eve. At 10:00pm, under a huge full moon my friends from Korea and I waded out to a long boat, joining a bunch of other ravers including two Canadian girls wearing nothing but bodypaint (shhhhaaawing) a yoga instructor and her Tibetan monk boyfriend, plus a bunch of other rowdy characters. We speed off into the night, around the coast to the Full moon party beach, singing Christmas carols and Tibetan chants! The party itself was great and exactly what I expected. Thousands of people grooving on a beach to house, progressive house, techno, drum and bass, breaks, jungle, old skool and roots, fuelled by buckets of cheap Thai whiskey, red bull and coke. In the early hours we all piled back into the longboat and rushed back to our quieter piece of paradise.
After much hedonism and over indulgence, my friend Scott and I managed to pull ourselves away from the Island before heading back to Sukothai in Northern Thailand via ferry and bus combo. The ferry was great but the bus was a nightmare, filled to the brim with Thai's standing in the isle for a good 6 hours. Thai movies playing on the T.V blasted out over the speakers so loudly that I couldn't even hear my friend Scott talk beside me. But we eventually got to Bangkok and stayed the night in our old favourite guest house, New Siam 1.
The next day we wasted no time getting the hell out of Bangkok and up to Sukothai in Northern Thailand on another 6 hour bus ride. Sukotahi has an incredible Historic park spanning a huge area and filled with temples, Wat's, lakes, Chedis and Gigantic Budahs. We spent the whole day riding around on our bikes in constant awe at the beauty of the place.After Sukothai it was another 6 hours on a bus to Chang Mia, where we celebrated the new year wandering around the market known as the Night Bazaar, chewing the fat with the locals and admiring the fireworks and floating lanterns at midnight. We raved it up with some Auzzies at Bubbles nightclub until the early morning.HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!2008!!!