Some much needed island TLC

After 5 weeks (almost 6 for me with a visit to Portugal with family on the way back!) our bar trip came to an end. After chiang Mai, we spent our last week in Asia on the thai islands. They are a real journey to reach, involving taxis, flights, minibuses, ferries, more ferries, and pick up trucks. We headed first to Koh Phangan. KP has beautiful beaches, but the real draw was the infamous Full Moon Party, generally described as one of the best and biggest parties in the world. Leading up to our arrival on Koh Phangan, whenever we mentioned to other travelers of 25 or older that we were going to the Full moon Party, the response was something like, "Heh, good luck!!" (I guess we don't look like wild partiers??) We were committed though, and the night of the party we hopped a truck down to Haad Rin beach. The party turned out awesome! Despite all the hype we'd heard, things were much more under control than we expected. Warnings to travelers against drinks and drugs have led to all drink sales being of unopened, sealed containers. There was a sectioned-off "sleeping area" for anyone feeling the effects of too much fun, and all in all everyone was just out to dance and have a (fairly responsibly) good time. The party spans an entire beach and there is music coming from everywhere. We totally embraced the FMP look: neon tank tops and neon body paint. We may have looked ridiculous, but we had a blast!

After a visit to a Thai clinic to finally get Noah some medicine for what turned out to be an infection (it worked! Yay!), we headed to our final destination: Koh Tao. Our last big adventure was a 4-day scuba diving class on the island. For our last few nights, we treated ourselves to a beautiful villa with an ocean-view balcony at the dive resort. The scuba class was intensive and moved fast! We really enjoyed our crazy British instructor and the other couple taking the class with us. I didn't make it to the end of the course, but Noah was a natural and got scuba-certified! I'm so proud of him! 

We spent our evenings in Koh Tao watching the sun set from restaurants right on the beach, and had a great night celebrating Noah's birthday! (although Thai birthday cake doesn't have anything on the Simmons family special). I was sad to leave, but Noah got to spend a few more days on the island doing some awesome, advanced dives. Meanwhile I headed to Lisbon to meet up with my family for a week. It's been a beautiful city and a VERY different experience than Asia travel! (safe fresh vegetables? hot water?? THAT MEAL WAS TWENTY EUROS?!?) 

We are so grateful to have had the chance to take such a long trip, and definitely could not have done it without the help from our parents. THANK YOU! We've really enjoyed updating this blog with our reflections on this trip, and can't wait to tell everyone more in person when we get home! (FYI: we took over 1000 pictures. Consider yourself warned).