a couple of inevitabilities

I suppose that if one of the biggest and most famous parties in the world is happening on the same tiny island that you are on, you really should go. That was the attitude Casey and I took to the Full Moon Party, and it more or less summed it up. We wandered around, we talked to people, it was good fun. The whole place had a carnival atmosphere, with people doing koi, a ring of fire to jump through (or stumble through, as most people seemed to do), lots of different sound systems, and everyone drinking buckets. I had a good time, but not a great time - I wouldn't plan a trip around it, that's for sure. We got home at around 6am, and then I had a taxi to get at 10am (later delayed until 11.30), so it was a long night which turned into a very long day and night again travelling back to Bangkok. I'm not very sure how it happened, but I managed to get booked onto the car ferry rather than the passenger speedboat to Surat Thani. I was certainly not the only person who was in this situation, and with only two rather pathetic fans to keep us cool, it was a very long, sticky journey, hardly helped by the hangover fevers. From there, it was another long bus journey, and a couple of hours hanging out in Surat Thani, before our spiffing VIP bus back to Bangkok. I did manage to sleep through the whole bus journey home, and then sleep some more whenever I arrived in Bangkok at 5am this morning.

However, travelling by tourist VIP bus will not be happening again for me. The reason? On the way down, my secret stash o' cash, and Casey's secret stash as well, were both taken from our backpacks, making me $200 lighter. And on the way up, my credit card was taken from my wallet. Nice. So yes, no more tourist bus for me. Public transport all the way.

I'm in Bangkok now, and I start teaching in a couple of days. This situation is worrying me greatly, and I really have no clue how I'm going to manage this, but I guess I'll find out tomorrow whenever I meet my coordinator, Ram. I have just found out that I am the only volunteer starting out this week, but hopefully there will be more than just me teaching. If there isn't, I'll be running like the wind.