Pinch Me?

Yes, actually, please do. This past weekend, I went with a few girlfriends to Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. Although the infamous Full Moon Party was supposed to be the highlight and focal point of the weekend, another completely unexpected experience overshadowed the supposedly "epic" beach party--a 24-hour stay at the luxurious Four Seasons Estates in Samui. A friend from NY invited me and a friend (I brought Kate) to stay with her and her friend in their hotel room they had gotten for the weekend, so that we could all go together to the Full Moon Party. But before I explain the shock I was in for, let me begin with how I got to the Four Seasons Estates, because the contrast, in retrospect, is too hilarious.

Kate and I took an overnight train departing Friday night down to Surat Thani, a major hub town for travelers going to Koh Tao, Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. When we made our train arrangements, we were told that we would get beds to sleep on on the train--the ability to be completely horizontal at night was one of our main reasons for taking the train down as opposed to the VIP bus which we'd taken to Nongkhai. However, once we got on the train and were escorted to our places, we were shocked to find that they weren't beds, but normal train seats. We immediately started freaking --how were we going to sleep on seats that didn't even recline! Here we were thinking we were so smart to get beds! The woman seated across from Kate saw we were clearly distressed and to try and make matters better for us, she offered Kate a wing from her KFC dinner (?!). After Kate kindly declined, she then explained to Kate that the train staff makes the beds at about 8pm--our seats would be transformed into bottom bunks and an upper bunk would be pulled down from above. Thankfully, we did get beds and were able to sleep comfortably, curtained off from the train passageway. It was a bit noisy, though this didn't disturb my sleep nearly as much as the elderly woman who pulled back my curtain and woke me up at 4:45 AM, barking at me, in what seemed to be a very concerned tone, in Thai (she'd had clearly lost her memory). After I patiently told her that I did not speak Thai, and close my curtain to fall back asleep, she wouldn't take no for an answer--she opened my curtain again, tried to talk to me, again, and I tried the same tactic, to tell her that I didn't speak Thai and shut my curtain. This went on for about 3 or 4 more rounds until finally she woke up the KFC woman who spoke to her in Thai and I could finally go back to bed. In the morning, the KFC woman told me she was an old woman who'd lost her mental faculties. Other than the noise and the early morning visitor (albeit humorous after the fact), the train, overall, was a great way to travel.

After the train arrived, 2 hours late, in Surat Thani, Kate and I boarded a double-decker bus to take us to the ferry where we would cross from the Surat Thani pier (40 km away from the train station) to Samui. The bus was packed to the GILLS with backpackers--old, young, European, Australian, American, hippies, punks, yogis--I've truly never seen such an interesting mix of Westerners in my life. Kate and I immediately knew that we were on the "Full Moon Express" and that the majority of these people would be heading to the Party. The bus attendant asked Kate and me where in Samui we would be staying so he could recommend an appropriate mode of transportation. When we told him, "The Four Seasons," he just stared at us blankly for a moment, to make sure we were serious, repeated what we'd said, and after a nod of agreement, he told us, still in disbelief, where on the island the hotel was and how much we should expect to pay to get there.

After about an hour on the bus, we were dropped off at the pier to board the ferry to Samui, which was the first stop; the ferry continued on to Phangan after. The ferry, which was also packed with people headed to the Party, traveled through the Samui archipelago for about 1.5 hours in some of the most beautiful seas I've ever seen--we passed gorgeous mountainous islands emerging from the crystal-clear waters, which varied in shade--sometimes blue, and other times turquoise or aqua. Upon arrival in Samui, Kate and I took the most memorable motorbike ride ever--two of us on the back of one bike, with our backpacks stored up in front of the driver. The bike strained under the stress of our weight as we climbed up the island on our way to the hotel.

View from the ferry

We finally made it to the hotel and took a seat in the reception. I think the concierge was just as surprised as Kate and I were--what were two young backpacking girls doing here?!?! Kate and I looked out and we really did have to pinch each other; this wasn't a hotel, but a collection of villas steeped into the luscious green mountain, overlooking a breath-taking view of the ocean. We were given a complimentary welcome beverage, which we sipped, still stunned by the beauty and elegance of the resort, as we filled out our arrival forms, becoming actual guests in the hotel. After the registration, we were taken in a golf cart to our home for the night and two days. We passed different "villas" until the cart stopped in front of a residence with the sign "Estate 10;" we weren't staying in a hotel room, or even a villa, we were staying in an estate.

Views from the Four Seasons

We entered the building, which then opened up into a dining room, living room and I could tell there was a pool. It turns out, the estate was a collection of four villas, each a separate building--3 for sleeping, and 1 for entertainment; there was also a dining pavilion, 2 private pools (each the size of any respectable hotel pool), heaps of outdoor lounging space, and a downstairs living space, as if the main, upstairs living space wasn't enough. In total, we had 9,000 square feet of indoor space, let alone the outdoor space which included 2 outdoor showers, 2 pools, the dining pavilion, significant reclining space around the pool, and massive day-bed like pieces of furniture for outdoor resting and reclining. There were 2 floors, 4 marble bath tubs, 3 bedrooms, 2 living rooms, 1 dining room and many gorgeous bathrooms (I did not count). The pool was perched on the edge of our estate grounds, overlooking the water from a few thousand meters above sea level; the pool was also connected to the dining pavilion to facilitate extreme laziness, and there were two stone gargoyle fountains at the edge that were amusing, though their Gothic-like presence did seem a bit out of place. We also had a private butler, Chai, who was on-call 24-hours a day. He was such a nice man, who could anticipate any possible need or desire you can fathom.

The main living area

One of the three baths

One of the outdoor lounging areas

View of the main building, the pool and the food pavilion

The food pavilion and the fountains

One of the smaller residence villas

Residing in such luxury (there must be an even more powerful word for this...maybe they've invented one in Dubai) also comes with incredible food and service. All weekend, we had food brought to us by the pool at our beck and call, and we could order just about anything. The alcohol, top shelf of course, was also freely flowing and available on demand. For lunch after our arrival, we had caprese salad, sandwiches, and hummus and pita by the pool. For dinner, we ate at the hotel's beach-side restaurant, which on Saturday nights was a buffet-style barbecue complete with fire-dancers for entertainment; we had a lovely meal.

Kate and me hanging out by the pool

Kate, me and Gill at our beach-side dinner

Before arriving at the Four Seasons, Kate and I assumed that we were invited by my friend's friend, paid for either by her or her family. It turns out all of this was provided by, not my friend's friend and her family, but two of her friends (my friend's friend's friends) who were both investment bankers in Hong Kong. They were the nicest guys, and welcomed me and Kate as a part of their Samui weekend. For most of the time, we all ate, drank, swam in the pool and relaxed. The other girls and the two guys got a number of spa treatments and also went on a private elephant trek, which we heard was amazing. It was extreme relaxation and indulgence.

Drinks by the pool

We decided that we would all go to the Full Moon Party together and the guys had arranged a private boat transfer ahead of time to take us to the party and back. After dinner, we were taken in a mini-van to the pier, where we were surprised yet again. We weren't in just any old boat, but a new yacht. It took us very quickly across the sea to Phangnan for the Party; it was only a 20 minute ride.

Gill and Kate caught in the wind on our speedy yacht

We got to the island and I can honestly say that I'd never seen anything like this in my life--the beach was jam-packed, a sea of people dancing the night away to all sorts of music. There were 20-25,000 people on the beach for the party; the August party is usually the largest because it is peak season. People had bright lights like at a rave; others were painted with neon paint (at the end I got a Danish flag on my cheek); others were half-naked. I saw men urinating in the water; trash strewn about everywhere; girls mooning and flashing people; people dancing on top of unsturdy wooden structures (I won't even justify them with the word "table"); people grabbed my butt, breasts and stomach--it was a huge free-for-all. But it was funny, because on one part of the beach, you might be dancing to hip-hop music and that section of the beach would be its own micro-party where you couldn't hear any other music, but then, 100 meters down, people might be dancing to trance or classic rock, but the sounds would never mix or overlap, they were totally contained units! Kate and I got a standard-size sangsom (whiskey) bucket, but there were super-sized buckets too, like the size of buckets painters use! I felt as though I didn't really have the typical "full moon experience" since I wasn't with backpackers, I arrived and left on a private yacht, and we left at about 2:30 and not 5 or 6 AM since that's as long as the boat could wait for us--I'm not complaining at all, I prefer the luxury and brief encounter any day, I'm just saying that my perception and experience may be different from others'. However, I can't deny that it was a crazy party.

Me, Kate and our sangsom bucket

A sea of Full Moon Party-goers

Our full-moon group: Me, Kate, Gino, Sarah, Gill and Wai

A beach-side bar snapshot and lights galore

Face paint

On the boat back, we hopped the line to our boat and heard people asking, "what color is their sticker?!" It was a pretty sick exit, if I do say so. When we arrived back at our estate, we had late-night food and champagne waiting--we had pad thai (some of the best I've had), margarita pizza, french fries, hummus and pita and a cheeseburger (for the guys)--all warm and ready to be eaten in the food pavilion. We went to bed full and satisfied.

In the morning, Chai woke us all up with breakfast ready--fresh mango, pineapple and other fruits; bagels, smoked salmon, capers and freshly sliced tomatoes and onions; scrambled eggs with mushrooms and other items were featured at the meal. The rest of the day was pretty much the same as the day before until we had to leave in the early afternoon to catch our flight (yes! flying, an appropriate mode of transportation after a luxury stay) home. We took the ferry, then the bus and then song-taew to the airport; then a short flight and a taxi ride and I was back at home, back in reality, though this is certainly a weekend I won't forget.