Day 34 - 37 Koh Pha Ngan

Koh Pha Ngan was 4 days of complete and utter contrast. After our short boat ride from Koh Samui we arrived at the notorious "full moon party" venue. We had arranged to meet up with Fiona and CP a few days earlier so we could experience this party haven together. We knew we had come at a quiet time, the next full moon being 5th of June and the place carried quite a sleepy vibe, but that didnt stop us visualizing the madness of the moon, and experiencing it to a certain degree. Stalls lined the streets filled with fluro singlets and body paint, bucket stalls lined the beautiful beach and with night fall came the music. After lazing around in the awesome paradise bungalows pool we ventured out in search of the crowd and found them amoungst the fire dancers and painted people dancing on table tops. The small crowd was all we needed to realize how utterly insane the place could get on a full moon party. We drank cocktails and ate some delicious Thai food as we watched the bucket stall vendors fight for business. We watched some very talented locals fire dance, and watched some very silly tourists almost burn their faces off playing the balloon game. The balloon game involved them taking a mouthfull of kerosene and spitting it out at the stick of fire they held infront of them, in order to light the target on fire. Boatfulls of people ventured out into the dark sea to partys at other bays which apparently kicked on for the entirety if the weekend. We could of almost joined those boat people but we had made a commitment for the next three days that a bad hangover would not help. The next moring after saying goodbye to Fiona and CP we where on our way to the "commitment"...3 days at a Ayurvedic/yoga/massage/cleanse retreat in the hills of Koh Pha Ngan. Something that we never thought we would experience but was actually very rewarding. At Monta Vista retreat we participated in a Ayurvedic cleanse that included fresh fruit, herbs, and small Tri Doshic Meals. We woke early every morning for yoga looking out at the amazing view and struggled with swithing the mind off at meditation. We enjoyed daily massages and learnt the principles of Ayurvedic (natural healing & the power of the mind). Even though it was a great experience and we learned things that we will incorporate into our daily life  we were glad it was only 3 days...The yoga/massages where amazing but the cleansing food or lack of it was a little hard. We are now rearing to go, refreshed, rejuvenated and ready for the next half of our adventure.