Koh Phangan: A Travel Diary

Like true workers, we also deserve a few days of vacation, and what better time than the Christmas season? We certainly didn't let the opportunity slip away, and in a rush we booked a bungalow on the island of Kho Pha-Ngan for about ten days. Having arrived on the night of December 23, we settled in, and the following day, straight to the beach, we had to reckon with what everyone we told about our destination kept repeating: the bad weather. Clouds and wind were a constant, and on top of that, the resort was in the north of the island, to say the least in the most isolated part. To reach the port, twenty minutes by motorbike awaited us, but to find a bit of fun, the route stretched by another thirty minutes over steep hills to be conquered with a rattletrap: no small feat.

On Christmas Day, after the usual battle with clouds and wind to gain a few agonizing minutes of sun, we treated ourselves to a dinner in the true sense of the word, based on good old pizza, and where else but in an Italian restaurant.

The following day, on Haad Rin beach, the event that livened up the whole island and beyond took place: the Full Moon Party, and we certainly couldn't miss it. A beach party that gathers a mass of wild dancers, according to the locals ten thousand people; we certainly didn't count them, but the sight was nothing short of massive. Packed venues with deafening music and massive speakers blasting decibels all over the beach and beyond. People danced everywhere; chairs, tables, and any other platform became a valid support to go wild to the rhythm of techno music. Of course, alcohol was not lacking, the notorious Thai pocket buckets (buckets with vodka or whiskey mixed with coke or Red Bull) and all the drugs of the case... In the morning, after an entire evening spent dancing (and doing lots of other things), a surreal atmosphere had been created...

the tide rising, the sun's rays now peeking inside the venues, and people who, instead of appearing tired and worn out, were even more "wild" than the previous evening... a sight to see!

The following days we divided between the diving course and the very Italian Malibu bungalows with a charming beach that forms a sort of little island connected to the mainland by a small wooden bridge. More than once we tried to settle in this resort, since the one where we were staying was not up to our expectations, but it was a mission impossible due to the very high number of bookings, mainly from Italy.

We spent New Year's Eve again on Haad Rin beach, once again dressed up for the event that bid farewell to the old year; on this occasion, however, the number of participants was significantly reduced, though still a substantial crowd. Before that, though, the classic end-of-year dinner, once again based on pizza due to how late we arrived at the restaurant: satisfactory in any case. Having recovered from the last effort of the year, our stay on the island was winding down; our plans were turned upside down by the catastrophe that struck Southeast Asia, forcing us to reorganize our routes on this side of Thailand, thus choosing the islands of Kho Tao and Kho Samui as the next stops.