The journey from Bangkok to Koh Phangnan consisted of two buses, a ferry, and 17 hours. Luckily I had company in the form of Sir Richard Marshall, a Brit I had met at a crater lake in the dusty northeast of Cambodia and now a friend and traveling companion. Richard is a man of euphoric highs and sinking lows (this will be explained later). Though many travelers I had met assured me that we were arriving to close to the 24th, that we wouldn't find accommodation, and would have to pay a gazillion dollars for anything we did find, yada yada yada.One lesson I have learned since I began my travels is that always listening to other travelers' advice is a bad idea. Some people are by nature extremely negative and plan everything meticulously, while on the other hand, others have no idea what they are doing. Just because their experiences were bad they think that everyone's experiences will be. I have found that listening to some travelers and not ignoring the rest is wise.

Back to the matter at hand. We were told to expect doomsday, and guess what?! We arrived on the island on December 20th, and we found a place to stay at the first place we looked. So we arrived in Koh Phangnan with plenty of time to train ourselves for the infamous 'Full Moon Party' on Christmas Eve. I had heard stories about this mythical event, and thought that from this second hand knowledge I knew what to expect.

Once I arrived in Haad Rin, I met up with two buddies I had met by chance in Laos, Karl Campbell and Dylan Milord, both Vancouver and UBC boys. I also met up with Megan Lievesley and Peter Lunka. These reunions quickly set off a chain reaction of drunken beach debauchery that would last my time in Haad Rin. Haad Rin was unlike most places I had been Southeast Asia thus far. The beach was beautiful, but predominantly the people visiting were only on brief holidays. I had arrived at the height of the tourist season, and found plenty of action to busy myself.

I entered a beach soccer tournament, a good way I thought to get back in shape and enjoy the sun. I used to play plenty of soccer and thought that I would easily measure up against the competition. Dylan even seemed confident in our eventually victory. So we assembled a hasty crew of Canadians, Brits, Poles, and Israelis, and set off in pursuit of glory. We lost our first game 4-0, and quickly realized we were out of our league. For starters, most teams had jerseys and strategy, while we didn't (unless a nice sunburn is considered a uniform). We hadn't even considered strategy. We licked our wounds after our shellacking and regrouped for our next match, one we had to win if we were to have any future.

After strategic discussions we decided that given the sand and its effect in rendering our limited skills useless, that the ole' fashioned Canadian hockey strategy of crashing the net was the most achievable and intelligent. Our next match saw us lose a respectable 2-1, especially when we found out that two ofthe other teams players play professional soccer for Galatasaray FC in Turkey (a club that won the UEFA Champions League several years back) and a lesser Swedish club. They also had this massive lunatic hack job with no skill, who cruised around kicking and body checking people as he lurched slowly and awkwardly towards goal. If he didn't get his way his eyes lit up like hot coals and he would swear his head off. Suffice it to say, I steered clear of him in every possible instance. We tried to keep up, and Peter Lunka did his best to slide tackle the hell out of one of the pros, but ultimately we fell a hair short.

TheFull Moon Party snuck up on me. Some had told me that the parties leading up to the big shaker were amazing and made the Full Moon anti-climatic. This was not true. I had come to Koh Phangnan for the largest Full Moon Party of the year, incidentally falling on Christmas Eve and after 2 days of alcohol prohibition due to the Thai national elections. In short, everyone has ready to let loose. Boats from nearby islands, Koh Samui and Koh Tao arrived and soon Haad Rin was packed. The festivities started before the sunset, but I didn't get involved until hours later. Soon the beach, alight with flashing lights was rammed with 20,000 people, all pulsating to loud dance music and indulging in whiskey buckets. Most people were decorated in fluorescent body paint, and coupled with fireworks and fire dancers, it gave the impression we were somewhere not of this world.

The party roared all night and I met people from all over the world, though their names and details were quickly forgotten. The party flew by and before I knew it it was Christmas Day and the sun was coming up. I will never forget how beautiful the sunrise was over Haad Rin Beach that morning, nor the subsequent scene of the party's carnage as it was revealed by first light. Dylan and me kept it going as long as we could, but by 9am I thought that a bed and pillow were a good idea. All in all, it was the craziest party I will ever see.

?