So we arrived at our last Thai island destination, Koh Pha Ngan, home to the famous Full Moon Parties.

Vlog #4: Contiki Thai Island Hopper East : Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand

httpvh://youtu.be/q8PcWD0DUzc

Chef Tummy Thai Cooking Class

For the first day on the island I got a chance to participate in a Thai cooking class. This one was taught by the hilarious Chef Tummy.  I was a bit worried going into this Thai cooking class because I was afraid it was going to be the same items I learned to cook in my first Thai Cooking Class in Chang Mai. Luckily it was a completely different menu of Thai dishes that I have never had before.

SHRIMP WITH GREEN PEPPERCORN THAI “PESTO”

The first dish we made was a quick and simple shrimp appetizer.

MASSAMAN CURRY

After our appetizer we moved to an entrée dish. This was a type of curry, which I learned from Chef Tummy that it doesn’t actually containing curry at all, none of the Thai curries do.

After my last curry cooking attempt turned out less than desirable, I had higher hopes for this one.  Although I did impress myself a bit more than the previous curry, I think curry making is not my forte. Even with adding the amounts of salt and sugar to the dish slowly, somehow it didn’t quite work out for me.

STIR-FRIED GREENS WITH GARLIC

After was another simple dish; stir-fried greens. Yum! I will most definitely be making this in the future. I never knew the deliciousness of oyster sauce until now.

BANANAS IN COCONUT CREAM

Last we made a chilled pudding like dessert. Very rich and creamy and perfect for the lactose intolerant since it’s made with coconut cream. Although I am usually not a huge fan of creamy foods, I ended up eating my entire bowl .

Shiralea

We stayed at this super fun backpacker resort on the opposite end of the island to where the full moon party was taking place. So, lucky for us we were far enough away from all the chaos that we could still enjoy the quite beaches.

Beaches near the Shiralea

Although the rain created a bit of a damper on the first day, we were lucky enough to have a perfect evening for the full moon party.

Full Moon Party

Before heading to Koh Pha Ngan, Thailand, I had only briefly heard about the full moon parties that happen there. I had never seen photos, or videos, I just heard that they were big and wild. Boy was I in for a surprise, I definitely was not expecting this.

We started the evening with casual pre-drinks and fluorescent body paint.

At the Shiralea they had black lights set up, perfect to painting each other under.

Unfortunately, once you stepped away from the black light you didn’t look nearly as cool.

Once we had our bodies all painted up it was time to head towards Haad Rin Beach, home to the full moon party.

They definitely weren’t joking about 25,000 plus people there. All of Haad Rin Beach is lined with bars side-by-side each playing different music, so if you preferred a certain type to another you could simply walk a few feet over and listen to a different song. And if you were being indecisive, you could simply stand in the middle and hear both songs; however, this will most likely lead to a headache and dance confusion.

Things you should know about full moon parties:

FULL MOON PARTIES ARE DANGEROUS

We all got briefed on the dangers before we went out so we knew what not to do and where not to go. We had a really good group of people so everyone looked out for each other to make sure nobody was getting to out of control. We also had two different prearranged pick up rides back from the party to make sure everyone got home safe. Of course you can never be 100% safe, but we were pretty educated on the dangers and nobody had any problems.

DO NOT GO INTO THE WATER.

Unless you plan on taking a shower immediately afterwards, don’t do it. I can’t even tell you the countless amount of times during the night I spotted someone going to the washroom in there.

STAY AWAY FROM FIRE

Although it might seem like a good idea at the time, stay away from all forms of fire at these parties: ropes, slides, hula-hoops, etc. Whether your sober or not, fire will still burn you.

This was just something I laughed at. Very clever thinking.

Now I had one goal before heading to the full moon party, and that was make it to sunrise. Which I am very happy to report I succeeded! This was because I kept a straight head and was pretty self aware all evening.

I was actually surprised with the amount of people that stayed for sunrise, which was around 6:15am. The amount of dancing definitely reduced, and once the sun was up you could really see how large this party truly was.

This was our group that stayed till sunrise.

Breakfast of Champions. No, we didn’t go to sleep after our 45 minute cab ride home, we went for breakfast.

That evening, after everyone had rested and recovered during the day, we went for our final group dinner. Just a small chill place on the beach.

To end off the evening we got to light lanterns as a group and send them off.

Ah, how romantic. It reminded me of the movie Tangled.

And then that was it. The end of our Thai Island Hopper Tour and the end of my Contiki trip.  Well, guess it’s back home to Canada for Nadine.