i drove on the left side of the road

and this time, it was on purpose!

in order to explore the island a bit more, we rented a scooter to get us around the island. none of ya'll need to hear again that i'm not the best driver, and last time we rented scooters in seattle i ran into a van at the stoplight. however, somehow i ended up being the driver with jo sitting behind me (talk about pressure!).

i must say, i was quite successful on all those curvy, unpaved roads. maybe if i drove on the left side of the road all the time, i'd be a better driver??

so happy to be scootering

we tried to check out a waterfall nearby, which had dried up completely due to lack of rain this year =/ so instead, we just hiked up to a viewing point to enjoy the view- in our crocs!! we were completely drenched in sweat by the time we made our way to top, but the stunning view was totally worth it. we could see all the way to koh samui!

starting off our hike

dried up waterfall :(

much of thailand reminds me of LOST islands

this may be off topic but i have to say, i LURVE my crocs. say what you may, but my crocs (it's the sandal kind, so it's way cuter than the regular version) completely kick ass. they're super comfy, they have much more grip than reefs or rainbows, and they're totally hygienic! two enthusiastic thumbs up from the world travelers :)

full moon

koh phagnan island

after finishing up our diving course, we got on yet another boat and made our way down to koh phangan. It's a much larger island than koh tao, and we're booked at a “resort” that has a tv, a mini fridge, flushable toilets, soap, and... drum roll please... AIR CONDITIONING! Hallelujah!!!

I don't want to sound like a total princess, but staying in the tropics with nothing but a dingy fan was pretty miserable. It didn't help that we'd be all dirty and sweaty from our lessons. I think the only time I stayed clean and sweat-free were about ten minutes after my cold, cold shower, which I wanted to stay in forever just to escape the mugginess of our room.

sunset over haad yao bay, koh phagnan

We're in koh phagnan to check out more beaches, relax and rest a little, and attend the full moon party. It's supposed to be pretty nuts, since january and july have the fullest moons, which equals biggest parties. There's been a lot of forewarning about the parties- i.e. don't take any valuables, don't get mugged, don't get drugged- so obviously even before we headed out, I was a bit apprehensive on if we would even enjoy the night.

The full moon party was completely out of control. It's hard for me to describe the scene.. imagine miles of soft, sandy beach, filled with thousands of backpackers, completely trashed... it actually scared me a little to see how wasted some people can get. Some people came on this island purely for this party, so I guess it only makes sense to go all out. And had I been ten years younger, I'm sure I would have been equally wasted? I drank one beer at a bar, and watched people consume buckets of cheap liquor, dance on stage, sleep on the sand, pee in the ocean, jump rope through fire, draw figure 8's with glowsticks... the whole works. It was definitely something we wanted to see for ourselves, but I'm pretty sure I wouldn't ever come back. It was a bit too much debauchery for me. Seeing thousands of wasted people packed in one place totally turned me off- do I look that horrific when I'm drunk?! :(

We also spotted numerous ladyboys working the drunk euro crowd- many of them ended up making out... now THAT's scary!

people were waiting to jump over the fire rope!!! needless to say, so many people got burnt and had to get treated at one of many clinics on site.

more than 10 of these huge dance areas blared techno, top40, trance...

Fortunately, we still made most of it as we've done so far on our trip with our new friends, watching the moon glisten the ocean... I never knew moon could shine so brightly.