I just ducked into an Internet cafe here in Koh Phangan to check on some email and send out a quick update. I'm here on Koh Phangan (a small island in the Gulf of Thailand) until Wednesday - I'll have to wait to upload my pictuers until I return, but wait until you see them!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Koh Phangan is the home of the infamous full moon parties. The actual full moon is tonight, but that hasn't stopped everybody from partying all weekend. The freaks certainly do come out at night over here. This is the first place I have been in Thailand that is predominantly farang (i.e. white)... it seems like most people are coming here from Australia, New Zealand, and parts of Europe. I've met very few Americans (other than the ones I've come with). In any event, I really need to wait for my pictures to fully describe the scene, but it is basically the biggest party you can imagine all taking place on the beach. For those of you who have been to spring break in Mexico - it is that times about a 100. Most of the people seem to be a bit younger than me (college-aged) and they certainly seem to be enjoying themselves. I prefer to stick to the booze, but judging from some of the dancing, fire jumping, and craziness I've seen on the beach, most of these kids are doing a bit more than having a few beers...
In any event, in addition to the party, the islands are quite beautiful (although they are a bit built up and touristy). Yesterday, Marc, the other Fuqua guys and myself took a ride up to the northern part of the island to try to do some snorkeling. The ride took about 30 minutes - we were all piled into the back of a pickup truck and the driver was doing about 50 mph on these really narrow roads that twist and turn and climb all over the island. It was a crazy ride, a lot like a roller coaster, except no seat belts... I was basically gripping the side of the truck the whole time like my mom does when I'm driving!
Snorkeling was a bit of a bust, the water was pretty murky and about an hour into we got attacked by some sort of micro jelly fish-type thing. I never actually saw what it was, but all of sudden we felt stingy bites all over - they hurt pretty good, I can only imagine what a larger jelly fish would feel like. Needless to say, that pretty much ended our snorkeling adventure, but the area was beautiful (wait until you see the pictures), so we bought a deck of cards and hung out for the rest of the day. All in all it was a nice escape...
We woke up early this morning to watch the Patriots game (HEADED TO THE SUPER BOWL, BABY!) so today we're just relaxing on the beach and resting up for what is sure to be a big night. I'll write more when I get back to Bangkok - in the meantime, if you're in Boston, stay safe and warm in all the snow, and for everyone else take care!
Matt, Reading your electronic journal is certainly entertaining and informative. I look forward future descriptions and your interesting adventures. Keep on truck'n.
love, Uncle Jimmy
Posted by: uncle jimmy | January 24, 2005 at 06:21 PM