Back to the sea - some work hard, others party hard

The last time I eventually walked along a beach was in April the day before I left Beira and the African continent behind. And while globetrotting for two months up north Thailand and Laos, I finally arrived at the old-fashioned sea-bath of Hua Hin, known for its small fishing port and fresh seafood. It makes a nice stop-over on the way down to the famous islands on the east and west of Thailand, scattered over the Golf of Siam and the Andaman Sea. Celebrating the occasion, I enjoyed my sun-downer right at the jetty watching the local fishermen unloading the daily catch, while others departed for a long night of hard work offshore.

Next day I took the night ferry to Ko Samui, one of Thailand's pearls southeast. On board I met a group of American students on an exchange program in Singapore, all heading for the probably biggest party event in Southeast Asia: The Haad Rin Full Moon Party on Ko Pha Ngan (www.phangan.info). It went off some 25 years ago as someone's birthday party, and it is said it was such a good party that the same crew met up again to party again under the next Full Moon. By now there are over 10 sound systems along the beach playing everything from psytrance to drum and bass with each one representing a different genre, attracting crowd sizes of up to 30.000 in the high season.

I decided on the eve to join the party in style, crossing by speadboat to the neighboring island for a few hours, heading back before dawn to reach the ferry and bus to Krabi, a small city that serves as hub to the islands on the west coast.

Movie fans, ever seen "The Beach" starring Leonardo Di Caprio? I just came back from Maya Beach, the place of no escape. By the way, the karst needle in the sea that served "Goldfinger" as secret hideaway in the James Bond movie is only "a block further''.

One last little story for cineasts: Alex Garland's cult bestseller of "The Beach" eventually was inspired by a small landlocked lake on Ko Mae Ko, one of the islands of the Ang Thong National Marine Park on the east coast next Ko Samui. And as it often happens, the original location continues to be off any touristic track, while Di Caprio turned Maya beach on Ko Phi Phi Leh into something like Disneyland, with boats fighting for anchor spots and tourists stumbling each other on their feet. "The Beach" - as in real life - is a narrow stripe of white sand indeed.

Links to the foto shows of this blog post:
Hua Hin fishing port
Hua Hin - back to the sea
Ko Samui - tropical island in the Golf of Siam
Full Moon Party @ Ko Pha Ngan
The Beach - greetings from Leonardo Di Caprio