full moon epidode III: the final conquest

Yup, back to Koh Pha Ngan. It seemed a shame for Kate and Ori to be down on the islands and not go to the Full Moon Party, and of course, who better than a true veteran to show them around. We stayed at Had Yao for the few days beforehand to chill out, and just enjoy our last few days in Thailand. Lots of beaching (the poor Israeli started to peel, which was unfortunately amusing!), lots of reading, lots of early nights. It was really great just to chill out. The place was filled with Israelis, like the rest of Koh Pga Ngan. I hadn't seen so many altogether before. Of course, once we moved to Haad Rin, Ori kept meeting people he knew. Typical.

The Full Moon Party was just as to be expected. Drinking, dancing til dawnm meeting old friends, everything. Kate and Ori had a good time, although Ori couldn't really handle the Irish pace, and had to take a wee break in the middle of it, but other than that, no complaints at all. We saw some of Ori's friends, we saw the English boys, we saw Casey. All good fun. Of course we got home at about 10am, and then we decided to move back to Haad Rin, and so on very little sleep we managed to find the best bungalows I have stayed in on the sunset side of the town. A very traditional backpacker way to end the trip for Ori.

Another backpacker tradition that was accomplished was to rent motorcycles, and come back in pain. Kate has some lovely scratches all over her arms from riding up some steps, and I have a sore back from falling off the back of Ori's as we tried to go up a hill and change gear at the same time. More people have bandages in Haad Rin than anywhere else maybe in Thailand, and all for the same reason. No real damage done, apart from to our wallets as we had to pay for the damage to the bikes, which is incidentally, how the rental places make all their cash. To rent out a bike at 150B ($4) a day is a loss-maker, so they recoup all their profits through the inevitable accidents. Bastards. Pain and poverty.

So, Ori has gone home, which of course is horrible. Right now I have Kate with me, so I am not alone, but tomorrow I arrive in Bali all alone and with no accomodation. Back to square one, and I'm not looking forward to it. Travelling with someone is a lot of fun, travelling with your boyfriend who looks after you and stops bad things happening (motorcycle injuries excepted) is fantastic, and I'm really going to miss it.