In Koh Phangan we stayed in the best hostel of our trip so far – called Baan Tai Backpackers which was close to the Half Moon Party that we were going to on the Saturday night (Valentines Day). The owners Karen and Tristan were so friendly and welcoming; they would drink with us all in the evenings and have great tips about the island. It was a big step up from our hostel experiences in Koh Tao. The beds were really comfy and we stayed in a 6 bed female room with an ensuite. On the first night it was just Elle and I in the room so we had a much needed relaxing sleep after our previous night of hell in Koh Tao Backpackers. 

The funny thing is though when the other room mates arrived one of the girls lent on the toilet on the first day and it fell over and broke! Unfortunately Koh Phangan was a slight fail for us… not because of the island itself, it was lovely but because of ourselves (mainly me haha).



Day Two: Half Moon Party

The second day we went to the markets in Thongsala. But first of all we stopped for a late breakfast at The Sweet Cafe and had a full English! Strangely when walking down the road we bumped into a German girl and her mum that had been staying in our first hostel: Lub. D in Bangkok! Considering we were so far away it was crazy to bump into someone again. Then we shopped in the markets for some neon tops for the Half Moon Party that night – mine was fluorescent green with a dream catcher print on it. I got it for 100 baht which is around £2… Not bad considering I will probably never wear it again.

Preparing for the Half Moon Party was really fun with the hostel hosting pre drinks and providing neon paint so we could decorate ourselves. However unfortunately I started to feel quite ill even though I’d had barely any to drink… My stomach hurt and I felt sick – I think all the different types of food was catching up on me which was really annoying as the day before Elle and I were saying how we’d been fine so far; completely jinxed it! Still we went to the Half Moon I just didn’t drink and was in quite a lot of pain the whole time. I was pretty gutted for myself and especially Elle because we didn’t get to experience it in the way we’d had liked to.

The Half Moon is in the middle of the jungle, and even though I felt ill I could still appreciate how cool it was! We ended up staying until about 3am which is longer than I thought I’d be able to last at least. The weirdest thing happened as we left the Half Moon Party; a guy asked me to take a picture of a massive group of people but as I was about to the whole group started chanting ‘Bournemouth’!! Elle and I were both like whattttttt we’re from Bournemouth too! Here we were in Koh Phangan and had bumped into a group of guys from our hometown! Elle really recognised one of them but I didn’t and a couple of days later she realised he worked at the same place as her – small world!



Day Three: Hospital Trip & Haad Salad Beach

Now… After our first night at Jizo’s hostel in Koh Tao I noticed my hand was itchy and I had started to get red bumps over it… Throughout the days in Koh Tao it spread over both my hands and began down my arms. I was worrying that maybe I’d caught something from the bed sheets seeing as it wasn’t the most clean hostel like at all… So I thought I’ll see how it goes and if it didn’t go away then I’d go to a pharmacy. 

But by day 3 in Koh Phangan (by this point i’d had it for about 5 days) I woke up and when changing into my bikini saw that the rash was now on my stomach. It was a Sunday so we were unsure where to go but headed to First Western Hospital where we spent most of the day. I had to have a nurse do my blood pressure, weight etc then wait a bit longer before seeing a doctor. It was concluded I’d had an allergic reaction … I still have no idea what caused it but it’s probably just because I’m not used to this climate or being bitten by Mosquitos frequently. 

The Doctor told me they would give me an antihistamine injection followed by anti histamine tables to take back with me. No biggy I thought after having several injections in my arm for travel vaccinations. UM no… I went into the emergency room where all the beds were with Elle sat in the waiting area. Turns out I needed three massive injections… They were thick long tubes with liquid in, two antihistamine and one anti-inflammatory; the staff saw my face and attempted to lighten the mood. Instead of injecting into my muscle it had to go in the inner arm where you get a blood test done. So they put a needle into my skin and from that attached each tube. Luckily it wasn’t as bad as the needles looked as they just had to do it very slowly so I barely felt a thing and the male nurse was talking to me at the same time. Then I just had to lie there for a good 20 minutes to relax! I felt like I was in an episode of Holby City! The female staff also loved both Elle and I as we are really pale (Some Thai women consider this attractive and want to lighten their skin) – they kept calling us beautiful and when I was lying on the bed they all came up to me putting their arms against mine. It was quite funny but surreal… As that certainly wouldn’t happen in a hospital in the UK. One Nurse even has pictures on her smartphone with Elle and I!!