Serenity amidst chaos

Koh Pha Ngan, an island in southeast Thailand, is the home of the famous Full Moon Party - one of the biggest parties in the world. This boisterous night-long celebration, which is tied to the lunar calendar, draws travellers to its south-eastern peninsula, Haad Rin.

Most festivities centre on the Sunrise Beach, and the beach-bungalows that attract a backpacker crowd. On the north coast lie quieter, white sand beaches including Hat Khuat and Hat Thian. 

During high season, as many as 30,000 people descend onto the island in one day for the ultimate party. But just hearing the stories and going through pictures online was scary enough for me.

"I am short, people will step on me; I will be a smashed potato!"I yelled to my friends; it was like talking to a wall as they were already too busy with their smartphones looking for the flight. 

Before we could start 'island-hopping', I realised we were 'airport-hopping' in Bangkok, going round and round. After paying almost 500 baht as taxi fare, we ended up at the Don Muang Airport and got tickets with Air Asia to Surat Thani.

We had an hour long flight and we didn't know if we would reach our destination on time to get the bus. We had to catch the 6pm ferry to get to our final location, which I was not at all excited about. Seats were reserved and could only be accommodated if some people didn't show up. 

My friend Azra was already looking for places to stay at Surat Thani; Rowshan, our other travel companion, was googling for a place at KohPhaNgan. I decided to guard our backpacks. 

Finally, we were able to get seats and after an hour and a half, we reached the ferry exactly 10 minutes before it left the dock. Despite the stress of running to the ladies' room, buying water and food, and the hassle of dealing with our backpacks once we got on the ferry, there were still rays in brilliant shades in the sky, smiling upon us. 

There was a statue of Buddha far away on top of a hill, and I remembered the saying, 'three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.'  Almost two and half hours of being in the ferry we observed a mesmerising sky.The sun went to sleep and the moon was up; it was full moon alright!

The Full Moon Party was held the previous week and the island was now tourists free. "You really thought we would bring you to thismadness after all the medical check-ups?" said the TV star and everyone started laughing at me. 

We dumped our backpacks in our rooms and headed out to Haad Rin looking for food. And there it was - my friends were wrong - it was not tourist free; it was a ghost town! 

'Phangan' means Sand Café, and there were cafes, one after another by the beach, each playing loud music with people spinning fire, apparently for no one except the four of us . 

Morning started with heavy rain followed by a drizzle that lasted the entire day. Right before sunset, the hint of sunbeam on the blue waves glittered away; we were in our own paradise. This island was so calm, without any chaos that we didn't mind the rain. We were chilled out and enjoying the solitude. But not for too long, as we sat at Tommy's Resort café, enjoying the enchanting sea view. We grew nostalgic recollecting our experience of the island we had visited 15 years ago and how it might look 15 years in the future. 

We did wish there were a few more people and we could make some money by making Rayyan read Tarot cards. "Next time in some other island" he said.

It's fascinating how we humans change the atmosphere of a place.There we were at the biggest party island having conversations about life, love and laughter. Just seven days ago, the place was so crowded that people could not hear each other even a few inches away. 

Waves crashing at the shore, scent of the salty breeze, sun playing all shades of blue and grey, Adele singing 'Rolling In The Deep' in the music player and a few old friends - all you need to live. 

By Tanziral Dilshad Ditan
Photo: Tanziral Dilshad Ditan