HappytimeBlog » Haad Rin

Georgie’s La La Land: Episode 21 The buckets of Haad Rin, Koh Phangan

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 08:59:31 +0000

Fun fun fun on Haad Rin, Koh Phangan, Thailand. Full Moon Party June 2009, drinking, dancing, fire and of course… The beach.
Georgie spins fire at the full moon party and the buckets do exactly what they’re supposed to…

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

Full moon party June 09… F*cked up again.

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 09:25:58 +0000

Well… The night before full moon was supposed to be one of rest and relaxation in preparation for the big one but it just wasn’t to be… Sarah was feeling the strain and went to bed good and early and Georgie and I decided we would just pop along to Glacier bar on the beach for a little one while she span some fire. Of course the problem with having a little one on Koh Phangan is that it never really stops there, it’s always cheaper to get a bucket than a couple of drinks and lured by the budget thats what we did. Georgie span some wicked fire – really getting into it and pulling off new tricks all the time and I slowly worked my way down the bucket.

Feeling all excited having played in front of the biggest crowd yet Georgie was a bit wired and one bucket turned into two… And so on!

Again somehow we managed to end up thoroughly pissed dancing like fools until Georgie realised she was far too drunk to carry on and we wobbled back to bed.

FULL MOON PARTY day!!!!!

It started horizontally on the beach as usual in a combination of tanning and recovery, only ever venturing off it for food. By midday the beach was rammed with people who have probably all crawled out of their huts because the sun had started to heat them up just us. It was a beautifully clear day and as the sun started to set the previous nights effects of the buckets had started to lift and with it the excitement and crowds grew, we sat on the sand and watched the sky turn vividly pink while the full moon rose out of the sea above us and made the sea sparkle.

We got some grub and then started the mammoth task of getting painted up… Bear in mind that I’m with two girls who love to faff and can’t make their minds up for shit… I think we managed to get all good and ready in a record three hours, which trust me is a big achievement! Georgie went for the standard more is more approach to body paint, Sarah went for a subtle line of hearts from top to bottom and I went for my world famous under water themed full sleeve – we looked the nuts!

While I was waiting for the girls to get ready I managed to sink best part of a bucket all by myself so by the time we stepped onto the sand I was already half pissed. We looked the part, I certainly felt the part and the beach was THE part – already crowded with party goers and vibrating from the thumping bass it was glorious. Having slowly worked our way up to it for a week we wasted no time and got bang on it. We started with a quiet drinkipoos at Glacier, watching some fire and of course Georgie had a go too, she played to the biggest crowd she ever has and they loved it! She went down a storm!

We finished our first bucked and then went along to see Sanny for a proper bucket – word is that some unscrupulous bucket sellers fill their buckets with cheaper spurious booze, I’m not saying Sanny is one of those sellers, all I’m saying is one of Sanny’s buckets always sees us alright.

Drink, drink, drink – Dance, dance, dance… Again.

A new addition since the last time we were at full moon was a couple of first aid tents, to one side of each tent was a large fenced off area carpeted with crash mats and even well before midnight they were full to bursting with people who had passed out and were throwing up all over themselves… It was an awesome sight and the perfect advert against binge drinking, bless them it was such a spectator sport people were passing by and taking pictures of the worst ones… It was like a big petting zoo of beached whales just rolling about and groaning. We sat for a while so not to burn out to soon and bumped into a guy we had met a few months ago in Lombkok called Benji – a great guy and loads of fun, we chatted to him and his girl for a while about where we’ve all been and what we’ve all seen but before long the buckets had battered Sarah and before she got as bad as the beach wale brigade she staggered off into the night to go and pass out in the dignity of our beach hut.

Georgie and I stayed and partied with Benji and his Mrs until the wee small hours when finally Georgie had had enough too – like a gentleman I walked her back to our hut and put her to bed, then headed back out through the crowds and the UV displays to dance some more with my Lombok buddy.

I was under orders to go and get the girls when the sun started to rise so I said my goodbyes to Benji and staggered off down the beach to our little hut. I tried to wake the girls but they were having none of, it they were still far too pissed and the hut had a stale air of fresh sick about it so I got myself a beer and sat on the beach watching the sun rise over the still pounding beach, the wreck head ravers dancing in the sea and the now exposed lovers rolling in the sand… It was beautiful but I too was completely done-in and knowing that I probably only had an hour or two of quality sleep before our hut turned into the oven I dragged myself off the beach and went to bed in a spinning room.

I’m sure you know exactly how the following day went… Hard!

Ousted from our room by 10 am because it was, as predicted, like an oven (perfect for a hangover) we took refuge on a beach under a shady palm drifting in and out of sleep all day long. We managed to book our tickets away from party central Koh Phangan for the following day while we had a few moments of energy and ventured out for dinner – but that didn’t last long and an early night was the only option left. All in all our time on Koh Phangan and at the full moon party was awesome, we were glad to have ventured away from Haad Rin if only for a day and this time round I’d managed not to get fighting with anybody at full moon which is always a bonus but as always I was sad to be leaving. The full moon party was every bit as good as last time and I’m pretty sure Sarah had the time of her life in amongst all the thumping music, white sand and cheap grog.

Hangovers gone we were faced with the sweaty trek across the peninsular to Koh Phi Phi and the less said about that journey the better…

Boats and buckets, from Haad Rin to Thong Reng

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Sat, 06 Jun 2009 14:57:10 +0000

Tan update…

I’m literally the colour of chocolate, Georgie is golden and Sarah is a little pink in places but getting there. As you can probably tell we are bang into the Haad Rin routine, lay on the beach recovering by day – drink too many buckets and dance too much by night. Wednesday was just such a day and come the evening we took a walk up the beach for a couple of buckets and a fire show, they got the football board out again and this time Sarah was with us – so they both queued up to have a go. The barmen instantly recognised Georgie and the chap with the ball rubbed sand on it to try and put her off her game… Would you believe it didn’t work!!! Yet again she managed to put the ball straight through the toughest hole without so much as touching the sides and yet again we got a free bucket of fun. Now I know Georgie can’t kick a ball to save her life and I know the odds of getting a ball through a hole that small, from that far away, on sand are pretty much stacked against and to do it once must be a fluke… But twice? In her defence – she aimed to do it, she did it and then she did it again… Must be skill!

It’s a little hazy but I’m pretty sure Wednesday night on Haad Rin went a little something like this…Bucket, bucket, bucket, dance, dance, dance, bucket, bucket…etc.

Thursday we managed to pull ourselves out of bed in good time for a little field trip we had planned to another beach on Koh Phangan called Thong Reng, where the new Treehouse lodge is located. We stayed at the Treehouse Lodge in Koh Chang when we were there last and loved it so much that we went everyday for every meal and even partied there, so we we felt obliged to check it out.

We strolled down the beach and picked up a longtail boat to take us the twenty minutes around the east side of the Island – half as long as going by car. Sarah hadn’t yet been on a longtail boat so it was mucho mucho fun all round, bouncing off the waves with the sun on our faces and the wind in our hair. From the sea the bay where Treehouse is located looks rocky and poky but once we’d thrown ourselves over the side and waded, in it was beautiful! The actual beach wasn’t very long but it stretched way back into a shady palm tree forest dotted with bungalows and a small beach bar, pure white sand framed each side by large rocks that lead up towards untouched green hills – to say it was idyllic would be and understatement. We hiked up the grassy hill to the actual main Treehouse lodge to get some breakfast, the set up here is very different to that on Koh Chang (the best beach restaurant/bar in the world… FACT) and to be honest the actual main restaurant lets it down, it lacks the rustic beach bar feel of its namesake in Chang but on the up side it does serve up the same delicious and cheap grub so we got stuck in then headed back down the hill to the beach and went for a swim to cool off.

We stayed all day down on the quiet beach enjoying perfect sunshine and the tranquil surroundings. A couple of puppies were playing in the sea which kept Georgie amused and with a hansom supply of proper deck chairs we were spoilt.

The sun set over our perfect little bay and we retreated to the restaurant for some dinner before our taxi boat came back to pick us up at 9 pm, it was nice if not a little too quiet and by the time the boat arrived we were more than ready to get back to our little slice of Haad Rin. The moonlight boat ride back was stunning, the moon is nearly full and in a clear sky it was so bright that it made the water sparkle like a million tiny candles… I would have been happy to drop anchor and sleep there!

New dream… I want an old fishing boat and turn it into a house boat, initial enquiries reveal that for the princely sum of £10,000 – £15,000 I can but one that is sea worthy and about 50ft long which means there’s plenty of space for the jet ski and many bikini clad ladies (as seen on all the best boats).

This leads me perfectly to my new and exciting competition!!!

One lucky reader will win the chance to come and stay on our new house boat with us for 2 whole weeks of the year… Every year! And actually get to Mucho Mucho love… COME JOIN IN!!! All you have to do to be in with a chance is:

Send us your name, email and a cheque made payable to Georgina Pearson for £25,000 (£15,000 for the boat £8,000 for my Captains training and £2,000 for my Captains outfit)

You have to be in it… To win it! Good luck!

Anyway back to reality, I snapped out of my day dream as we turned around the bay and headed back towards the bright flashing lights of Haad Rin, having had a quiet day with no pounding music to temp us out we had fallen into a high state of relaxation so by the time we were back at Sunrise Huts all we were good for was a chip butty and a few beers…

I fell asleep to thoughts of bobbing along on my new boat in my new captains hat, sun blazing, bikini’s strewn all over the deck…

Today is the day before full moon so everyone is relaxing on the beach, saving themselves for the big one and we are no exception. Last night we ended up at the bottom of a few to many buckets again – Georgie span fire at Glacier bar where Da Club used to be and upstaged the actual resident fire spinner then we danced like loons to limber up all the right muscles for full moon and finally Georgie passed out because she was hideously drunk… I wasn’t far behind.

Literally buckets of fun at the Half Moon Party, Koh Phangan

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 04 Jun 2009 22:02:51 +0000

So here we are back on Koh Phangan and getting our party muscles in shape for another full moon party. We left Koh Tao the very next day after diving in an attempt to save money but I can really see myself going back to do more diving.

The ferry between Koh Tao and Koh Phangan was effortless as usual and apart from the long sweaty walk up the pier to where the cheap minibuses wait getting all the way to Haad Rin was a breeze. We kicked off our flip flops and hopped down on to the dazzling white sand, we were met by a cool sea breeze and an almost empty beach – it was good to be back!

A short walk up the beach to our usual haunt, Sea View bungalows, on the quietest end of the beach which as the name suggests enjoys a perfect sea view interrupted only by sunbathers and palm trees. It was like going back to a home from home because all the staff remember us and gave us such a warm welcome, they were genuinely happy to see us again and even sorted us a discount without us even asking.

On the bus to Haad Rin we noticed that it was the night of the half moon party… We didn’t check ahead at all and completely forgot but seeing as it was on – we were there! That in mind we didn’t want to get up to anything too strenuous during the day so Georgie blew the dust off her Poi’s, Sarah got horizontal on the beach trying to tan up and I made friends with our French neighbours. The weather was beautiful and the long day of sun, sand and sea was everything we wanted and more but there was no hiding the excitement of a full on session at the party in the forest. I’m sure it hasn’t been long at all but it does feel like Georgie and I haven’t partied hard for ages and this was the perfect opportunity.

For dinner we took Sarah along to the world famous Mr K’s for some top class fast food before dragging her and our new French compadres down the beach for a super fun fuck bucket from our good friend and expert bucket maker Sanny… Sangsom + Coke + Redbull = FUN…

A tried and tested recipe and as usual Sanny went apeshit when she saw us, the perfect way to wind up for a banging night! The beach was unusually quiet but we didn’t let that slow us down we just headed off to the forest early buckets ‘n all. In fact it was the same story when we got to the half moon party, unusually quiet… This just made us even keener to get on it and by around 1 am things had perked up and we were all obscenely drunk, dancing like loons and having the time of our lives in the jungle.

There was all the usual fire spinning, UV stages and throngs of drunken people dancing to awesome music that make the half moon so much fun but as is always the case when we go to a party in a forest with Sarah – we lost her, we couldn’t find her anywhere… But as is always the case when we loose Sarah at a party in a forest – she turns up in the end and is sick!

The half moon party turned out to be as good as any we have ever been to and I think it’s safe to say we were all as drunk as we’ve ever been so as I’m sure you can imagine the following day was spent as much in horizontal positions as possible, also Sarah got her first taste of a bucket hangover and of course was sick in the morning and felt pretty rough all day… I still don’t know what it is in the buckets that make us feel so destroyed the next day, some people say its the Redbull and some say it’s the Sangsom but thats the price you pay for cheap booze I suppose and it’s always worth it!

Another glorious day of sunshine and the sea seemed to put us back together more and more with ever gentle wave, by the afternoon we were all feeling a little more like ourselves and Georgie got a Poi lesson from the chap who works at our bungalows and happens to be nothing short of amazing. Sarah kept at the tanning and I strung up my hammock between two shady palms, climbed in… And the rope snapped dropping me on my arse like a coconut falling out of a tree.

By the time the sun had set we were all rearing to go again, Georgie wanted to play some fire on the beach so we headed along to Sanny for some refreshments then got settled while Georgie wowed the crowd with her fiery skills. I think the previous nights party caught up with Sarah and she headed off to bed pretty early while Georgie and I stayed to watch the fire skipping rope, or as the locals call it “The Farang BBQ” always great to watch and this one was no exception, plenty of people came a cropper to the cheers and whoops of a crowd hungry to see them flame grilled… So much fun! Next they got out the football challenge, a large board with several holes cut in it that if you kick the ball through you get a drink… The harder the hole the better the drink, Georgie got in line to have a go and waited her turn. Nobody even came close to getting through a hole and most even struggled to hit the board, then it was Georgies turn. She put the ball down on the spot like the most girly of girls… Took a step back… And put it straight through the middle and most difficult hole without even touching the sides!!!!!!!!!!!!! The winnings were a bucket with a whole bottle of vodka in it, suddenly a quiet night had turned into yet another drunken night… We drank Georgies winnings and free drinks from the happy hour, got abysmally wasted yet again and staggered off down the beach in search of out hut… And our bed.

Georgie playing fire poi!!!

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 11:21:16 +0000

Below is a short clip of Georgie playing fire poi at Da Club on the beach on Koh Phangan… The full length video will be up as soon as I can.

Watch more of our Travel Videos.

Half moon goodbyes…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 11:56:49 +0000

Today is a sad and sombre day, partly because we are having to pack up our things for the very last time but mostly because last night was the half moon party… Which we attended in style. Knowing full well that last night will be the last night we spend in a bed for 2 days we decided to throw caution to the wind and party hard anyway.

We spent the day the same as all the rest, sunning and swimming and come the evening we got our heads down for a few hours to try and limit the damage caused by an all night party in the face a hectic 2 day travel schedule… Surprisingly its worked a treat!

We headed out after our naps to have a few warm up buckets on the beach and bumped into our neighbours, stayed until 2am with them before saying farewell and heading off to the half moon party in the forest. We got amazingly drunk and we danced like lunatics… For a good hour it rained, and it rained hard but Georgie and I were dancing too damn hard to notice, in fact it was very much needed to cool off. The raindrops were getting caught in the lasers and we swung our buckets and limbs around to some rinsin’ tunes until the sun started to come up, fully aware of the task of packing and back to Bangkok the next day we decided at 5am to get a taxi back to Haad Rin via Mr K’s of course. We strolled down the beach towards our hut still dancing and still drunk and in the distance the most dramatic sunrise I’ve ever seen was happening, a massive storm on the horizon was being back lit by the rising sun and it looked as if the sky was actually on fire. We danced in the morning light and took some last minute pics then headed into our lovely hut for the last time…

All packed and ready to head back to Bangkok the sadness is lifting and we are now getting very exited about Dubai with the parents and then back home to see all our sexy gorgeous friends and family.

Georgie’s on fire!!!…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:01:31 +0000

The only new news we have is that our friend and poi mentor for Georgie, Jo, has left on a visa run for Malaysia and probably won’t be back before we leave. So based on that, Sunday night (I think it was Sunday… But I keep thinking it’s Tuesday) Jo, Nicola and Georgie and I all went out for a spot of dinner at a really nice little Italian place just away from our beach. We chatted, ate and had a few drinks then said what will be the first of our goodbyes to the people and places we have come to love for the last 7 months…

Georgie and I went back to our beach for a few more drinks and a shisha pipe on the beach whilst watching some fire shows, nothing too heavy though.

Yesterday again was a scorcher… It was a stunning day and I was up good and early to appreciate it, I dragged Georgie out of bed too and we ran down to the sea for a swim in the sparkling water. By 8am the sun is already really hot here and the sea is still warming up so a morning dip here is a lot like a roaring hot summers day in England jumping in the river. Again making the most of the good weather we just laid on the beach reading and cooling off in the sea. At 3pm Georgie went up to a beach bar called Da Club where a Thai fella who is actually awesome at poi invited her down for some lessons, I however did nothing as strenuous. She came back full o’ beans and said that he had asked her back tonight to do some fire poi!!!!

With another beautiful sunset turning the sky shades of purple, pink and fire orange we sat on the white sand and chatted to our new neighbours until it was dark. We got some dinner up at Mr K’s again then went back to the beach for a shisha pipe… Because I have given up smoking… Some beers and then………….! We went over to Da Club where a fire show was in full swing, Georgie went over and joined in! Holding her own completely and looked like she has been doing it a lot longer than she actually has. People cheered, she didn’t catch fire and it looked amazing… A great success! Before her adrenaline had a chance to wear off our new neighbours turned up and off she went again and again, each time a few more mouthfuls into a bucket. Giddy with the glory and the booze bless her Georgie quit while she was ahead and before she went up in flames, we had one more shisha pipe and then called it a night, or morning, because somehow we had both managed to get absolutely pissed as farts…

Georgie's on fire!!!…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Wed, 05 Nov 2008 22:01:31 +0000

Georgie and I went back to our beach for a few more drinks and a shisha pipe on the beach whilst watching some fire shows, nothing too heavy though.

Sun, Sun and Sun… And more sun

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Sun, 02 Nov 2008 19:04:06 +0000

Thursday, Friday, Saturday and now Sunday… All have been absolutely perfect days, scorching hot and not a cloud to be seen. We haven’t really been doing much more than beach bumming, in fact I refuse to leave the beach on days like that because I know what’s coming soon… November in England!

We have however made pretty good friends with our new neighbours the Australians and been out a few evenings with them for some bucket fun. It always ends up though with Georgie and I kicking up a sand storm with our dance moves outside the Drop Inn bar until the early hours then slogging it up to Mr K’s for some grub…

We have also been treated to a couple of amazing sunsets and generally had the most perfect weather possible for the last week. So that’s why we have done sweet F.A. We are milking it for all its worth and although for us reading, playing poi and swimming is everything we need to do it doesn’t really make for good reading for you. But for the next few days at least, as long as the weather is good then this routine of sun, fun and booze shall continue with as much enthusiasm as the very first day…

Out of the frying pan and into the fire…

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:14:13 +0000

Since recovering from the heavy night on our balcony we had with the lovely Jo and the lovely Nicole, which took an entire day of lying on the beach, we have had many adventures! The day before yesterday we went for breakfast with Jo and Nicole and then trotted off to the other side of the island where they had discovered some gorgeous deserted beaches and showed us the wonders on a short but invigorating sea side hike. Its was a beautiful walk and apart from two apparently gay dogs, that followed us all the way from where Jo and Nic live, we were the only people for miles.

All that exercise had made us all a bit hungry so sticking with the role of tour guide, Jo took us on a short taxi ride to Tone Salat, I think there is a beach there I’m not sure we only got as far as a sublime restaurant who served me up the finest bacon sarnie I’ve had since England…

By this time it was early afternoon and the recent stint of cloudy weather was beginning to break, so Georgie and I headed as quickly as we could back to our Haad Rin hut for the last few hours under a blue sky and hot, lovely sunshine. As is normally the case with places like this everyone is passing through and if you dwell for long enough like we are then neighbours change every few days. We had new neighbours to both sides and they all turned out to be top notch, one side are an American couple the other a group of Australians… All nice and all respectful of their own, but most importantly my boundaries, as far as sand and hut frontage goes. Obviously the usual exchanges went on, where you from? Where you going to? And how long? But due to it being their first night on the infamous Haad Rin they were all keen as mustard to get on a bender… Georgie and I had already made plans with Jo and Nic but we could hardly refuse just one bucket in the interest of forging new friendships or whatever… We don’t really need much of a reason to visit our fiery bucket seller Sanny.

We slid off to meet up with Jo and Nicole at a nearby rasta bar, a definite change of pace but a welcome one too. A few quiet drinks and some amazingly comfy bean bags eased the process. The beach was dead by the time we got back because there was a dark moon party in full swing and it seemed everyone had gone there, we weren’t as keen on it and all called it a night… Obviously after a pit stop at Mr K’s…

Yesterday… Oh yesterday… I opened my eyes at about 8am and from my pillow caught a glimpse out of the window and up between the gently waving fingers of a palm tree leaf in the wind to a clear blue sky. I sprang from my peace and without any regard for my personal appearance or dignity dashed out onto our balcony, luckily it seemed that everyone was still recovering from the party the night before and as I wandered down to the beach it was almost apocalyptic… I was the only soul on the entire beach and it was one of the most beautiful mornings ever, as I walked back to the hut to wake Georgie I realised that it was a fucking good job there wasn’t another soul about… Lets just say morning glory sums up yesterdays beginnings in every sense of the word!

By 9am it was really hot, hotter than I’ve ever felt the sun in England! And with coffee and breakfast out the way the next step was of course to get greasy and get brown, Georgie was practising her poi besides me as I laid out with the rays beating down on me… It was the very definition of beautiful.

By midday the sun was hotter than I have ever experienced and I was very aware that I was burning slightly. My reaction to this was more oil and hike my pants further up on the legs as close to the point of groin-al exposure as I dared. I was also aware that my face was beginning to burn too so it was at that point we went for a swim, Georgie A.K.A poi girl master had also worked up quite a sweat so hand in hand like on a movie we sloped off into the sea. And don’t even get me started on the sea. It was the calmest we have ever seen it and there is rarely a wave at the best of times here, but yesterday it was like glass, clear and warm and shimmering as if it were filled with gold. The day continued much like this until the sun fell behind the palms that surround our hut at which point the beach seems to come alive with Frisbees and volley ball… Obviously not for us! We sat and read our books feeling warm and nice and maybe a little burned until the afternoon gave way gracefully to evening. As is always the case with sunburn, it manages to hide itself quite well until you get in the shower… But its not too bad and because I was already pretty damn brown I’m now somewhere between chocolate and crimson.

Georgie however seems to be a little slower on the uptake but at least not burned. In the evening after some dinner we arrived back at our hut with no plans with the girls and all the neighbours seemed a little jaded still from the night before so Georgie and I headed out down the beach alone, which here is never a problem. We sat at the Cactus bar watching fire shows and drinking beer and a few young Thai boys were trying their hands at spinning the fire staffs, we decided that they must be the happiest little boys in the world because surely it’s every little boys dream to be up at midnight, with loads of pissed adults playing with fire and being applauded for it! Next came the balloon game, where each contestant has a balloon tied to one foot and has to pop all the others, Georgie was about to participate (and surely win!) When we remembered the whole broken toe thing and sensibility told us NO. It got very exciting and came down to one of the small boys who had been playing fire and rather large and far too competitive Israeli bloke. Im not sure who won but I think the crowd united in cheering on the little Thai lad of no more than 8 years old. We left as all the drunks were trying and mainly failing at fire limbo and of course went via the awesome food God, Mr K’s…