Sunday Jan 20 2008

Finally had a full day off from yoga class so I decided to explore the island some more and check out some beaches on the far side of the island I hadn't been too.

The previous night I had been at the Black Moon party, referred to as Black Moon Culture on flyers and advertisements, and didn't get home till 5am. Had a good time at the party with some friends from yoga class. It was held on a beach on the southern side of the island, near Haad Rin which hosts the monthly Full Moon Party. Danced some and drank some beer but otherwise didn't have too wild a time. Had been hoping to have a happy shake as they are referred to on the island. They contain some kind of mushrooms i'm not too familiar with but was told make you feel good in natural drugfree way. Unfortunately they weren't available at the party site so settled for a few beers. Mostly the beach was filled with a bunch of Europeans and other numerous Thais attempting to sell ectasy, acid, and other dangerous drugs. Lots of techno, trance, jungle, and other varieties of rave style music conducive to such a party. Many people getting their bodies painted up with designs glowing in the purple lights. Others out on the beach playing with fire and doing all kinds of crazy stuff. Was a good time but nothing amazingly incredible that I need to go back again. Also seemed like too many guys and not enough girls. I guess it didn't really matter though since I was there with some nice looking chicks from class.



Sunday morning got up a bit later than I hoped from having been up so late and jumped on my bike to get out in the sun and explore the island. My first stop was beach of Thong Nai Pan in northeastern Ko Phangan. A beautiful and isolated beach that took me about an hr getting to driving on beat up and rutted mostly dirt roads through the mountains. Alot of dust driving on these roads from pickup trucks and other large construction trucks kicking it into the air. Lots of construction and development going on in areas throughout the island with this side no exception.


After Thong Nai Pan Yai I headed south back where I came from and turned down another road leading east to a series of waterfalls and carvings on rock from past Thai Kings. I didn't visit them all but was able to see one of the rocks where King Rama V carved into. This carving was located at the Thongnang Monastery. This I checked out and was shown around by one of the monks living on the grounds. I only saw 2 monks present, one older in his 50's and another in his early teens. Perhaps there were others off in a separate area of the Monastery but I didn't see any others. They tried to interest me in coming back and spending a few nights meditating at there facility. I was shown a small primitive looking shack in which I would spend the night. Nothing but a small, cramped up space with concrete floor and no door, perfect for insects and spiders to crawl up with me. Certainly not be a cozy situation but would definitely make my trip to the island more memorable. When my time at Agama Yoga is up after the 30 days I am considering heading back and giving it a shot for a night or two.

After visiting the Thongnang Monastery I kept heading east to check another one remote beach highly recommended by the authors of Lonely Planet travel guide. The roads were very tricky but I was able to make it too my destination soon enough. Arrived at the small and neighboring beaches of Haad Sadet and Haad Thong Reng, very isolated by themselves on the east side of the island. I would image most people arrive at these beaches via boat as the roads were very primitive and would be very tough carrying luggage and other gear on a motor bike. Much different than the west side of the island, the ocean gets deeper much quicker and had more waves than the calm and relatively placid ocean on the other side of the ocean. Beautiful beaches with bungalows and cottages high up into the cliffs on the side. I didn't have much time to hang out or jump in the ocean for a swim as it was getting late in the afternoon and about time to get back on the roads before it got dark out. Along with Bottle Beach, I would consider these two beaches the most secluded and peaceful I had visited so far. There are several more isolated beachs areas south of these two on the way to the southeast corner of the island that I hope to explore later on. The southeast corner of the island is referred to as Haad Rin. It is the party capital of the island where the monthly full moon party occurs