Day Fourty-Seven

Today has been quite relaxing. Last night, however, was insanity. I haven't mentioned it yet but Ko Phangnan is best known for its Full Moon Parties. According to some island natives the party actual started out as a ritual performed by monks who resided here nearly 600 years ago. Since then the ritual has evolved into a full fledged beach party! The party happens once a month on the night of the full moon and brings on average 10,000 partiers. Although there are a lot of drugs, among other vices, I can assure you Jeff and I are taking precaution and steering clear of any questionable situations.

Anyways, last night we found out that the beach we had been at that afternoon, Rin Nok beach, is actually the location of the Full Moon Party. We ended up just hanging out there meeting some "Euros" and dancing with the fire baton performers, (just like mom).

Like I said today has been pretty relaxing. As soon as we woke up we walked into the Haad Rin shopping area and booked our ferry and bus tickets to get to Phuket. Once we got that all figured out we dropped out gear back off at the hotel and returned to Rin Nok Beach. Besides lunch and dinner at the beach at the "Family Guy Bar," (a bar that plays the TV show Famly Guy episodes all day), we also played volleyball, read our books, hiked down the northside of the cove during the day.

Tonight we plan on going to the, not as popular, Black Moon Party which. The party is located at a different beach called Ban Tai Beach and is done on nights when the moon is not visble. Supposedly it isn't as chaotic as the Full Moon but it should still be exciting. Other than that we leave tomorrow around noonish to head over to Karon Beach in Phuket, (10 hour trip). See ya guys!

Day Fourty-Six

Woo hoo, I'm in Ko Phangnan! After enduring 11.5 hours on a train from Bangkok, 2 hours in a crowded bus in Surat Thani, 3 hours on a rickety ferry across the Gulf of Thailand, and another half an hour in a hot taxi on the island we arrived to Ko Phangnan in the early afternoon. Although the trek took a lot of energy and patience it seems to have been completely worth our efforts.

The name of our hotel is the Drop In Hotel. I know it sounds a little "shady" but it's actually one of the nicest places I've stayed at all trip. Our hotel is located between the Baan Tai and Haad Rin beaches. It's own beach is actually called Rin Nok beach. Rin Nok beach is a white sand cove lined with beach stand bars and restaurants.

Jeff and I relaxed at Rhinnok beach for a couple of hours and got back to our hotel around six o'clock. Tonight we plan on going into Haad Rin where there are supposedly a lot of American and Euro expatriates our age. Anyways, we don't have any big plans for tomorrow but we may do a hike or two. Love you guys!

Day Fourty-Five

Today has been quite interesting but not as interesting as I expect our train to be tonight. The first thing we did this afternoon was lunch on Khao San. We walked around and browsed through the shopping stalls. Jeff and I also stopped at a suit tailor shop. I got fitted for a suit jacket and Jeff got fitted for an entire suit.

After we got fitted we hired a taxi to take us around the city. We just looked out the window and soaked up Bangkok. Our train leaves tonight at 7PM and we should arrive in Surat Thani tomorrow morning. Peace!

Day Fourty-Four

Leaving China

Hey everyone! I'm leaving China in a matter of hours and then I'm going to be in Thailand. Unfortunately, I won't have internet for most of the trip in Thailand so I am formally making this my last blog for you guys until I get back to the U.S. I promise I'll bring it back up to date once I get back. Love you guys and I can't wait to come home.

Arriving in Thailand

So I said I won't have internet but I think I may have access every once and awhile so I will unofficially try to keep you guys posted. Last night my flight didn't get into Bangkok until 9:30 PM, about an hour after I was supposed to. I wandered aimlessly around the airport trying to figure my way to the city when I happened upon the tourist bureau. The tourist bureau set me on my way in a bus.

I got to my hotel approximately an hour later to find my partner in crime waiting with beers! Our hotel is situated on Khao San Rd. Khao San Rd. is an expats paradise! The promenade is lined with cheap souvenirs, hair braiding Thai hippies, bars, and even some of Thailand's coolest clubs. I was really missing white people so we people watched while drinking Tiger beers until two in the morning...it was great!

Day Fourty-Three

Writing three blogs in a day is overwhelming. I'll give you guys a quick run down of my day today, my last full day in China. We slept in until noon. We got up and did some planning for Thailand. We went to lunch at Subway on Nanjing Lu. We came back and did some more planning and I did my blogging.

Tomorrow Jeff has to leave really early so we're probably not going to do much tonight. Anyways, glad to bring you guys back up to date as I bring my China chapter formally to a close. Love you guys and see you in Thailand.