Bit of a rocky start though... For all of us. I couldn't leave work early so I was arriving early in the afternoon on Saturday. Everyone else was to arrive late Friday night. Everything started out just fine for myself and my buddy Andrew. We just had a long, long jorney to the island. This all started when we decided to hang out at a few late night bars before we had to catch a cab to the airport at 4 am. Why spend all that money on a hostel for a mere 5 hours of use? So Friday night after a few beers on Khao San Road (Backpacker party zone) we caught a cab at about 5 am to the airport. We were taking an express shuttle from the BKK airport to the island. Shuttle left at around 8, though we nearly missed our boarding call. Lack of sleep finally caught up to us. Jumped on the bus and slept our way to the island. From the port we caught a ferry and then a cab to our hostel. We thought we had had a long and tiring trip out to the island but as it turned out we were having the best luck of our friends so far that weekend.
Our friend Laura and Ben met us at a hostel and informed us that our accomodations had been given away....What? Apparently the night before the crew showed up too late and our huts were given to other travelers. Great. So many people simply did not sleep at all that night, or found hammocks in different places around the island in the front of bars or what have you. So like Andrew and I, many of the other teachers didn't sleep at all Friday night. We were all lucky to find something for Saturday night though, we had a place at a pretty cool hostel later on but for Saturday night, Andrew and I had to share a "bedroom" in the back of a deserted bar/ tattoo shop/ someone's garage. There were free weights everywhere, a few motorbikes, and though the sign said bar and tattoo parlor there were absolutely ZERO people drinking or getting tattoos. Creepy. Also instead of a deadbolt lock for our room we had a wooden chopstick we could wedge into the hole. Not kidding. Security at it's finest. Bed was just a wooden platform with one pillow. Surprisingly enough we both slept fine and just got the hell out of there in the A.M.
Also speaking of rough luck I should probably mention that my friend Nick fell off a motorbike. He had on shorts and a bro tank so he got pretty bad road rash. Here is the damage
This photo has been shared in many places already. Including our organizations facebook group as "cautionary tale"
Nothing like some weird shit for a good travel story later on to share with your friends. From then on being on the island was exactly what we were all expecting. Relaxing and beautiful. Hanging out on the beach with some adult beverages served in coconuts and spectacular views.
Also we went snorkeling. Here is Alyssa. Clearly ready to get goin...
Then came New Years Eve. We were informed that there was to be a large beach party in the area. So all 20 of us or so went. Craziness resulted. When we arrived I was deffinitely surprised. There was a lot of stuff being lit on fire with a lot of inexperienced pyro-technicians setting of fire works.
There was a jump rope they lit on fire...
Because how else can you make jump roping badass and extreme?
Getting in was easy. Once I was in I realized I was jumping over fire and getting out was a bit hard. I saw a few people get burned in the ankle so I dove out face first into the sand. It looked about as smooth as you are all picturing it right now.
Mouth full of sand and a damaged ego but at least I made it out burn free!
The Farang Gang infront of the pre-lit New Year Sign
After our brief stint as fire daredevils we moved on to the crowd of beach ravers and danced until Midnight. As midnight approached we realized there was no visible countdown device. No ball dropping, no countdown clock, nothing. Just when we thought we were going to have to have to watch a cell phone for an official time. But then right on time, the music went dead and fireworks went off for what seemed like a good 20 minutes. It came on pretty suddenly!
And then it was 2013...
It was one of my favorited weekends so far here in Thailand and I am glad that I got to celebrate the holidays with some other pretty cool teachers. Had a blast despite all the weird setbacks that happened along the way. Wish I had taken more pictures (most of what I included in this post was borrowed from friends) and wish I had more time to stay.
HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM THAILAND!!!
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