Author: Kristen Aschenbrenner

Our last few days in Koh Tao were amazing. I definitely miss that island already. Our amazing guides organized the most epic night of drinking I will ever remember (barely). They arranged that we would stop off at a number of bars and take a shot/chug and had to keep score as to how many sips it took to get the drink down. This masterpiece was called bar golf. We were paired into groups of two and made our way onto our makeshift pub crawl. A sloppy night of hilarity soon followed. I think this was the best night we had as a group so far.

We left Koh Tao for the crazy island of Koh Phangan where the full moon awaited us. The only way to best describe this island is to imagine Las Vegas… on a lot of speed and with little authority. No amount of time could prepare us for what was waiting for us there. The curse of Koh Phangan was lurking in the dark, as many of our group landed in the hospital for a variety of ailments. They were lucky enough to escape for the full moon party, however. It was a slew of parties on this island, and I definitely did not have the energy to partake in them all. The original pool party was like a frat party gone wild. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many boys thrashing around in a pool together in my life. Patricia and I were tossed into the pool against our will, and we couldn’t see past our elbows… I don’t even want to know what was in that water.

We took it easy, spending our days on the beach and meeting new friends. The sea lice got the best of some of our group and kept them out of the water. I soaked up as much beach as I possibly could. I’m going to miss it when I head home.

Finally, it was the day of the full moon party! I was more excited than I could have imagined. Patricia and I headed out bright and early to hunt out our costumes. It was a great success! We were decked out in flowers and ready to party until the sunrise. The group met up at 10 to get our paint on. I loved how into it some of our group got, especially Darcy and his zebra costume. I was overwhelmed at first as to how many people were there (and already waaaasted), but as we got situated and began to dance, I was in heaven. I didn’t think I was going to make it the whole night, but I danced until the sun rose and only turned myself in at 8 am because my body was exhausted. We made memories that night that I know we will never forget.

The next day was a lazy one, with most of the group sleeping into the early evening. We had a quiet dinner and the mood was a little somber as we knew we were going to be parting ways with some of our new friends. The 3 weekers were leaving bright and early, and the goodbyes were difficult to make. I miss them already, but we’ve made some friendships that will last a lifetime. So long Koh Phangan!