WHO WANTS TO PaRtY? - If I pose this question to all the readers of this article, how many of you would decline the choice of saying 'yes'? Well although I am not a party animal and would rather cozy in the room reading a book or while travelling explore the street markets and eateries, it would not be bad to experience an Island party to its heart's content!
*Opens google and types in BLUE MOON PARTY HAAD RIN ISLAND*
The party date for June 2017 was on the 9th day. June is a perfect time for me to plan any trip. So i spent the next couple of days planning the entire schedule. I am a backpacker and usually plan hectic schedules. Spanning over 5 days I wished to visit 5 different places and enjoy the party too. Booked places from airbnb, checked cheap flights and planned night bus journeys to cut costs!
I was lucky to have to pay nothing but a processing fee of only Rs 200 towards my visa. It was under an ongoing visa exemption scheme implemented to strengthen India and Thailand ties and promote tourism in their country. (One can easily procure the visa by booking return tickets, hotels or stays and having 20000 INR in the bank account. These are important for visa application that can be filled online and later submitted at the office). Better to exchange Bahts from India or carry dollars or euro for better exchange rates. Avoid cheap exchange stalls in India and in Thailand to avoid forged notes. Forged notes are a huge gamble! Be ware! Rates come to approximately twice of the Indian currency, but 1.88 and 1.98 makes a huge difference when exchanging a rather big amount. One can issue travel cards too where you will be charged per transaction basis. If you own a global debit card, that works too but charges for each transaction may amount upto Rs 200.
With this preliminary preparation and lots of reading and research, I finally passed the immigration counter and hopped onto my flight, taking me to the 'neighboring country' ;).
I landed around 9 am in the morning, passed the immigration counter again, where they hardly care about anything other than stamping and letting you go. They spoke no English and atleast I found them quite indifferent to help. Again beware, you might be cheated for the cab fare, my advise use Uber! Also fetch yourself a sim, all brands cost quite similar from the airport itself. On your way out, series of network brands have their stalls by the side, choose one and get it. My stay was near Khao San road, which is famous for the night life and the street market. I drop the part of the rest of the trip, that will be posted in another part, since i would like to focus this article on the full moon part at Haad Rin Island.
To keep it simple and easy the route was as follows:
BUS + Ferry Route
Bangkok to Surat Thani- Night Bus - 800 Baht (1st Class)
Conventional Ferry -cheap yet slow - 500Baht
Other options may be a little costly, one can take Lomprayah bus+ferry service that would make the journey easier. I took it on way back. It is costlier by around a 1000 INR.
I started at 9pm from Bangkok travelling by bus all the way to Surat Thani. The bus was awesomeeeee! watched movie till late night then dosed off. It reached the destination around 6am. Had to wait since the ferry was starting late. It was almost 2 pm when i reached my place at Koh Samui. Please always book serviced apartments they are way more convenient. My place was right by the sea. Lovely!
Not sure about other places, but my place provided arrangements for ferry service conveyance to Haad Rin. One has to travel to Koh Phagnan island. You may stay at Koh Phagnan too. A 1000 Baht for car and ferry service up and down. You will get a sticker of the company that should be there when you return.
After some careful reading and personally attending the party some precautions to note -
1. Wear slippers rather covered rubber shoes work best. There were a lot of drunk people smashing bottles here and there.
2. Be free to wear whatever, but its better to be in a group, the crowd becomes quite wild as you near midnight and over
3. Carry a sling bag with some cash and card
4. You can buy a thai bucket for experience, but its way cheaper to keep swiping your card at 7/11 shops for your drinks.
5. We are from warm country so it wont matter much to us. Yet if you feel soaking in warm sea is a really nice idea at Haad Rin, please avoid. lol!! I have seen and read it too, people pee a lot by the sea, that makes the water really warm i guess, here. avoid taking a dip!
6. Carry as little items as possible, everyone wants to party and many a times they are out of money. So be careful! try not to help people. sounds rude, but well for a solo female that works quite fine!
7. An entry fee of 100 Baht is to be paid at the pier to enter the island, since the whole island is partying
Well i happened to befriend a Chinese group of friends with whom i tagged along to party. It was something to be approaching the island. A serene night lit up by the moon with no island in sight, only vast expanse of the Gulf . It turns really rough, which makes the speedboat almost jump from a wave to another. Its exciting and amazing in-spite of the sting of fear. What a delight it is to finally be able to view some fireworks in the sky - ushering land is nearby!
We paid the fee and entered the walk to the other side of the island. The roadsides are filled by the localite selling nick-nacks, snacks, drinks, phosphorescent paints, tattoo artists, balloons, masks, accessories and so on. Being an artist myself i bought some paint and advised my group to try painting on each other rather than getting tattoos drawn by an artist. I brought no brush, it was fun to let imaginations fly and draw wherever skin is visible with paint. In not time it began a paint shooting game though! This island for sure knows how to party and sets no limit to craziness.
Be ready to see everything and get bewildered. The island seems in a total mess with pandemonium and overflowing crowd.
I bought tiara, mask and a thai bucket to start with. It was a long walk to the main party area. There is no designated spot though. There are numerous Djs, fire shows, pubs and shacks that together make this party happening. But major action takes places here, on the other side of the pier. There is hardly any place to sit down other than some quiet restaurants. So we danced our heart out on the beach, spilled drinks and screamed till we lost our voices. To take breaks we sat down on the roadside nearby. There are fabulous fire shows and fire games. Only if you are confident try them otherwise, its wise to not show off and save some burns! Games like walking under the fire rope, jumping in tune to swiveling fire ropes, blowing fire torches etc. I tried walking under the fire rope, it was kept quite high, so it was the easiest shot!
Famished from the hard work put into partying, we indulged in some pad thai and prawn snacks. I left around 2 am while the group went on with the night. There was long queue to get the scheduled ferry back. Had to wait around 45 mins for the ferry.
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