Full Moon: Koh Samui and Koh Phangan

After my family left I spent one final night in Krabi before heading off to the airport and catching a flight to Koh Samui to meet up with Matthias and make it to the infamous Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan that night. I arrived to the island and caught a taxi to my hostel. It was a very strange hostel and one that I will never go back to. There was only one other guest with me in the entire hostel, a girl from the UK. The staff was in and out of the hostel and they had self check-in with a sign that read something like "sorry that we are not here to welcome you. Please grab a key and check yourself into room 8." It was quite odd, at least they were there for me when I checked in. They left right after though so I was uncertain about how the rest of my night and getting to the next island for Full Moon was going to work. So with me not knowing anything I figured I should at least go buy some refreshments for the evening and some food. The walk to the Family Mart (like 711 but not 711 thankfully) was easy and it was just down the road. On my way back I stopped at a place to eat off the side of the road with this little Thai lady. I'm sorry to say that the food was horrible. I don't even remember what it was but I ate as much of it as I could in order to not be disrespectful and told her I liked it when she asked. Once I couldn't handle any more I paid and walked out leaving a lot of the soup and whatever kind of bony meat was in there on the table. I tried to get out of sight before she saw how much I left and could tell that I really did not like it.

I made it back to the hostel and met my one and only roommate in the entire hostel. She was also planning on going to the Full Moon Party and once the hostess finally made her way back to the hostel we booked a speedboat and taxi ticket which would get us to and from the party. This turned out to be a very good decision and one I'm glad I made. I was able to leave anytime up until 6 AM with the speed boat and if not I would've had to take the first ferry out in the morning at 9 AM! That would've been such a long night. Since the Full Moon Party is a huge party there is no need to go into much detail but it was a fun time. It was not as great as everyone hyped it up to be but I still enjoyed myself. There were so many people though and the beach was PACKED! It took forever to find Matthias and it was so hard to keep track of him. I believe it would've been a lot more fun with DJ's directly on the beach and not a bunch of bars along the beach playing music and trying to get people to come inside. Long story short I got tired and sick of looking for friends after repeatedly loosing and finding them so I just went back to the hostel and called it an early night. I would not have had the energy to go till sunrise like many did. Too much of a party for me I guess....I must be getting old or something. 

When I awoke in the morning the hostel was completely empty. Not a soul was there besides me as the girl from the UK had checked out. The host was gone doing whatever it was she always went away to do and I just laid around in the dorm room watching tv and movies all day. It was quite odd being alone in a dorm room but was also kind of nice at the same time. I was able to get some alone time after being with my family and before heading to Koh Tao to meet up with Matthias for the rest of my time in Thailand. After my lazy day was when I finally got on the ferry to Koh Tao to meet up with Matthias for his birthday. Unfortunately the ferry I tried to catch was fully booked and they told me the later ferry was also so I was a little upset and was about to tell Matthias we have to celebrate his birthday tomorrow instead but luckily a lady in the back of the ticket office yelled to the girl at the counter saying they could get me on board. And with that I was off to the final island of my journey which I enjoyed so much that I will be stopping here so it can have its own post! 

Thailand Family Time: Coconut Island, Koh Phi Phi, and Krabi

After Cambodia I got to get a nice break from the poor backpacker lifestyle; staying in and out of hostel dorms. With my family coming out to visit for our first family vacation in 10 years I got a nice taste of the resort life.  

View of the resort from the ferry

It was really nice to see my family and be able to spend some time with them. I wasn't aware just how much I missed them until I saw them walk up to the resort. I ended up flying into Phuket the day before my family and spent one final night in a dorm. The next morning I made my way to the resort. Not knowing exactly how to get there I looked at a map and found the way that made the most sense to me and made my way to the ferry that is very close to the resort. Apparently this is not how the guests get to the resort. It was how the employees make it to the island. Coming this way I met a guy name King that was very nice and took quite a liking to me (I believe a big part of it was the fact that I came to them like a humble traveler not someone just in vacation to their resort). Luckily they let me check in for my family though I could not enter the room for some time so I bought some beer and sat down by the pool waiting for the family to come. The ferry for the guest is in view from the pool so I kept my eyes open for them. Shortly before they arrived I made my way a little closer and read and waited for them to arrive, my excitement growing. Once they stepped off the ferry and made their way to me my smile just grew along with all of theirs. They got driven up to check in but I refused to get on the cart for a ride to the desk that took the same amount of time for me to walk there. I'm really not too set up for the resort life, I couldn't stand them all trying to wait on me, I kept saying repeatedly "I'm used to dorms"and "I'm not a sir". It was such a big change in the style of travel. We had a 4 person flat in the resort which was amazing, we just had to share a bed or sleep on the couch from time to time. Occasionally I took mom and dad's bed once they woke up. We had a private pool, a nice kitchen and the master bathroom was wonderful. Overall it was a beautiful room in a beautiful resort.

The crab city

The first night we decided to just keep it simple and eat at the buffet in one of the resort's restaurants. This was ridiculously expensive and was a big reminder that we are at a fancy ass resort. So in order to continue to afford to stay at the resort, which we got a huge deal on to originally stay in, we went shopping. It was a very long and very fun trip to the mall. I was able to show my family a little bit cheaper side of Thailand as we had a nice lunch in the food court for all 5 of us which was less than the cost of one plate at the resort's buffet the night before. After is when we went to the grocery store. We didn't treat it as a grocery trip to have some snacks and food to eat from time to time but a full grocery trip to feed us all week. We paid for a place with a kitchen and we planned to use it. After a few hours in the store wandering around trying to find things, interpret signs and get the best price (just like at home) we got back into the taxis (we had to take 2) and we stocked up with food. Oh yeah, and beer. That was a must. We made burritos that first night and they were oh so good. Mexican food has been and still is one of the things I miss most. I did just make burritos again this past weekend and I must say they were amazing it's nice having a kitchen again but that's talk for later.

Besides having great food cooked by Mama once again we were able to spent a lot of time as a family and enjoyed the pool and slides at the resort, relaxed on the beach at a nearby island, collected crabs all night long on the beach one day and made them their own city, and we're really able to enjoy ourselves. Mom and Dad even gave themselves a spa day. My good friend Matthias (the German if you've forgotten) actually came and visited us at the resort for a few nights and as always we had a good time. My family enjoyed meeting the guy I spent pretty much every day with for about 2.5 months. His first night there he brought us some beef and we were able to make Skyline chili (another one of my food cravings) and like the Mexican it was oh so delicious. When we talked to people at the resort they were always so shocked when we told them we've been cooking, it was always funny to see their reactions. That's just our family though, we all like to save money and we all like to cook. Eventually it became time to leave the resort and we headed to the island of Koh Phi Phi (Pee-pee).

Koh Phi Phi sunset

Mom got to stay in a stilt house which she was very excited about. We saw one of the best sunsets I've seen in Asia and enjoyed the local area on a snorkeling tour. It was a lot more of a tour than snorkeling though but we still had fun.  Unfortunately the island has become a huge tourist and party destination so it was a lot more touristy and crowded than expected and luckily we did not stay there too long. The next and final stop was Krabi, Thailand. We only had two days in this city and I wish we had more. It is definitely a place I could spend a lot more time at. The city was small but still a nice sized city with a good night food market. There was a nice temple and my family got to see their first temple in Thailand. The first day there we went to a beautiful beach called Railay Beach. There were giant cliffs filled with climbing routes that I was very upset I didn't have the time to climb, multiple beaches with great water, and monkeys everywhere. We all enjoyed our day thoroughly and that evening is when we celebrated my birthday since they would be leaving just a week before it.

The final morning of their visit we went on a hike up to a temple on a hill that gave an overlook around the entire area. It was a 30 min hike for Chris and I (about 40 mins for Jesse and an hour for my parents) up many many steep stairs. But the view up top was worth it. After the hike down there were monkeys all over the temple area and there we people selling bananas to feed them. Of course we did. I was real fun seeing them all, feeding them, and having them climb on us, grab the bananas and quickly run away after. We got tons of pictures and laughs out of them.





After this though it was time to say goodbye. Looking back on this all I am very glad that they came. It was great to see my family and get a taste of home. I loved every moment with them and enjoyed creating all of the memories. I hope that they can come visit me once again during my travels but I know it is expensive making your way across the world.  So, thank you Mom and Dad for getting our family out to me and showing your love as you do all the time.

Until next time, ❤