Ko Phangan, Thailand: From what we’ve been told, any self-respecting backpacker could not travel to the Thai beaches without at least attempting to make it to the legendary Full Moon Party, held on the beach the night of every full moon on Ko Phangan—starting at sunset and ending at sunrise. When we found out that some of our friends from Phuket had a house to themselves for the week on Haad Rin (the Full Moon Party beach) and that Ko Phangan was a short 45 minute ferry ride from our hotel in Ko Samui, we knew we had to make the trip.
Imagine an event that is part bonfire, part Burning Man, and part techno-fest and you have the Full Moon Party. They estimate about 8,000 young people in the low season—and up to 30,000 in the high season—make the trek to Haad Rin beach to decorate themselves in neon paint and bask in the glow of the full moon. We’re not sure how many people were there this past Saturday, but it definitely was a lot.
We had a wonderful time and met people from more countries than we could count. In the span of just a few hours, we chatted with people from Germany, France, Finland, Australia, Ireland, England, Chile, the list goes on and on…To be honest, it seemed like we were some of the only Americans there. We spent the night dancing and people watching and ended the evening sitting and watching the sunrise with our 10,000 new best friends.
P.S. Pad Thai tastes even better at 3:30 in the morning than it does during the day
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