Thailand (part 5) Nightlife

Well, a report on Thailand wouldn't be complete without mentioning the amazing nightlife.  The are where we stayed (Chaweng) had a vibrant nightlife.  There was quite a variety of venues available; from pubs to nightclubs.  Almost all of the places were open air.  So, it was great to shoot pool, dance, or have a drink while enjoying the great weather.

Steve, Sophie and I began most nights at a place called Moby Dick.  It was a quiet little open air pub with decent pool tables that was just around the corner from our hotel.  There were usually very few people around early in the evening, and we could easily get a pool table for a few games.

Another great place nearby was the Ark Bar.  It was right on the beach.  You could grab a drink and relax on a chair right by the water, dance by the DJ, or watch the fire dancers that they had on some nights.

Thailand (part 4) Black Moon Party

On one of the nights we made the trip over to Koh Phangan for the Black Moon Party.  It is basically a rave/dance party on the beach.  Koh Phangan is a small island near Koh Samui.  It was about a 30-45 minute trip by speedboat to get to the party.

The Black Moon Party is an offshoot of the Full Moon Party.  The Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan started in the 80s and has grown into a huge affair.  As the names imply, the Full Moon Party occurs each full moon, and the Black Moon Party occurs when there is no visible moon.  The Full Moon Party apparently draws 10-15 thousand people.  The Black Moon Party only had probably 500.

In the spirit of the event, Steve, Sophie and I got some body painting done by local vendors outside the party.  Of course, they glowed in the blacklights!

One of the coolest parts of the event were the fire dancers.  There was a group of Thai guys that did some really amazing dances.  Sometimes they used chains with the ends on fire, and other times they used flaming staffs.

All in all, it was a really fun time.  Although I wish that the return boat had left before 5 am, it was a great way to spend a night.

Thailand (part 3) Big Buddha Temple

On one of the days, I hopped on my motorbike and made the drive to see the Big Buddha.  By the way, renting a motorbike is by far the easiest and cheapest (about $6 a day) way to get around the island.

The Big Buddha is a statue and active Buddhist temple.  For some background, Thailand is predominantly Buddhist.  You can see little shrines and offerings in front of many businesses.  Often it is just a few food items and some incense, but some places have more intricate shrines.  Even the bars and clubs often have these.  It was interesting to see what appeared to be shots of alcohol next to some incense in front of a bar.

Well, I zipped down to Bang Rak (I was staying in Chaweng on a different part of the island) to check out the Big Buddha.  I first saw the statue from a pier in Bang Rak:

I then stopped on the bridge to the island to check it out again:

It was even more impressive as I got closer:

The temple also had a lot of other interesting art:

Finally, here's the view from the statue:

Thailand (part 2) The Food

The food in Thailand is amazing!  It's fresh, full of flavor, and cheap!  My favorites were the different types of curry.  The best that I had was a massaman curry with shrimp (I was going to take a picture of it, but I ate it too fast).  The pad thai was excellent as well.

I also sampled some non-Thai food (I allowed myself to do that because we don't have access to good western food in China).  While we were touring around the island on motorbikes, we stopped at a place called "The Romantic Bamboo Cafe."  (There are pictures, but I have to get them from a friend.)  The place was run by an Italian man and Thai woman, and they served an excellent seafood pasta.

On my last night there, my friend Steve and I went out with some locals.  They took us to a restaurant where locals eat (you needed to speak Thai to order), and I had a delicious noodle dish.  They also ordered a couple other traditional Thai dishes throughout the night, but I couldn't handle how spicy they were.

All of the restaurants were pretty cool.  They were all open air places.  The service was great and extremely polite.

The drinks were also really great.  The fruit juices tasted very fresh (whether on there own or in a cocktail).