Full Moon

The stunning Angthong National Park

There couldn't have been a greater contrast between our new home for the next couple of weeks, the island of Koh Pha-Ngan in the Gulf of Thailand, compared to Koh Phayam in the Andaman Sea. Here the sun shines, the water is like a bath and the people are friendly. In fact it's sheer bliss.

As the ferry docked we were a little nervous as the island holds the infamous full moon party where up to 75,000 revellers in the high season paint themselves in neon paint and then continue to lose their minds, literally. The Thais are a pretty shrewd bunch though as they soon realised that full moon comes around far too infrequently so they've introduced a half moon party and of course, a black moon party.

Paul on one of the Angthong islands

We were confident we'd find somewhere perfect for us though. And we did. A cosy hut on Salad beach where ironically nothing but curry passed our lips and the owners had a pet dog called Baguette which we didn’t know whether to stroke or choose off the menu. Set on a tranquil bay with turquoise waters and a good selection of eateries the order of the day was pretty simple. A swim before a leisurely breakfast, several more swims, sit in the sea to watch the sunset and then choose a location to consume more delicious Thai calories in the evening.

Reading has become the novel pastime as the last time I read a book was 18 years ago but book number four is now being thumbed through. After Vanessa's read them first of course.

Our busy schedule has been rudely interrupted a couple of times however. Firstly by us deciding to grab a moped for the obligatory look around this tropical island to confirm that we'd chosen pretty well and had no desire to move. Only Hat Rin beach where they hold the full moon party was more picturesque but only if you can ignore the smell of kerosene and the discarded bottles of just about everything. Secondly, a day trip to the stunning Angthong National Park. A string of 40 or so jungle cloaked islands with hidden emerald lagoons and perfect white sand beaches that rise out of the calm blue waters. An arduous 500m climb rewarded us with a spectacular view and aching limbs for a few days after.

The full moon shone brightly as the party-goers donned their neon body paint, fluorescent shorts, vest tops and headbands and ventured off looking really cool and original, or so they thought. Looked more like a very bad 80’s Wham video.