Have you guys heard about the Full Moon Party in Thailand? You probably have. There is this beautiful beach on Koh Phangan - Haad Rin Beach - that is transformed into one massive party zone once a month: Loud techno music, enormous amounts of (probably not the most trustworthy) alcohol, fire and thousands of people dancing, screaming, shoving you around and - best of all - urinating and vomiting into the ocean. How wonderful!

Most people A and I met along our trip through Thailand asked us if we'll see each other again at the Full Moon Party - as if that was even possible in a crazy crowd like that. No, of course not. I had no intention whatsoever of going there. It seemed like every backpacker traveling in Thailand planned his or her whole trip around the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan. Except us. We ended up there, anyway. 

Our original plan was to relax on the beaches of Koh Jum for a few days - which we did - and then quickly hop onto a ferry, a bus and a ferry to find ourselves on a beautiful little island called Koh Tao ten hours later. Perfect plan, in theory. There have just been small problems with the practical implementation of this plan. First mistake: We did not buy tickets when we had the chance to on the mainland, because we thought there will come a better time. We had not considered the fact that Koh Jum is - unlike most islands in Thailand - close to a deserted island and does not come with a bunch of travel agencies. So we booked our tickets through our hotel, which seemed like the safest way. Spoiler alert: That was mistake number two. 

So, after four days of doing nothing at all on this paradisiac island, we entered the ferry back to the mainland in the morning, totally unaware of where we would end up by the end of the day. The woman who was supposed to give us our tickets for further transport to Koh Tao casually walked up to A and me and told us that Koh Tao won't happen for us today. No seats available. She did not seem to care about the fact that we booked these tickets three days before nor that we had a room reserved for the night - Welcome to Thailand!
Clearly, I was not happy about that. We had a wild discussion with the ticket lady and I might have said some things I am not particularly proud of. In the end, there was only one thing we could do that brought us closer to the island we wanted to go to in the first place: spend a night on Koh Phangan, which is the island right next to Koh Tao. The more I think about it, the more it baffles me that there were no seats available to Koh Tao, but apparently more than enough to Koh Phangan, where it just "happened" to be the Full Moon Party that same night. Strange...

As you see, we were kind of forced into it, but we tried to make the best out of it - true traveler spirit and all. On the way over to Koh Phangan we met two lovely ladies from New York City, with whom we connected from the very start and who turned into really good friends after this faithful night we had together.


Looking back at the turning of events that day, I would not change a thing. Frankly, I am glad that we got scammed into going to Koh Phangan. Otherwise, we would have never met P and C and had one of the best nights of our lives. Also, we would not have met the Australian Professor who taught us how to be happy and appreciate what we have. And we would not have spent a magical morning on the heavenly white beach with people whom we just met but felt like old friends, swimming in the crystal clear water, sipping coconuts, exchanging compliments and hugs and as for A: Getting sunburnt to a rather unhealthy extent. So, thank you, ticket lady, for making all of this possibe!

The moral of this story, my dear friends, is: Everything happens for a reason. Seriously, it does. Just be spontaneous and happy and live a little. You will not regret it!

xx Lena

PS: If you ever find yourself at the Full Moon Party, leave immediately and take a boat to Garden Eden instead. Why? First of all: The Full Moon Party itself sucks so bad (just as I had imagined) and: Garden Eden will change your life, trust me!

Photos taken in: Koh Phangan, Thailand