Every full moon, Hat Rin throws a full moon party, where a town with accommodations for a few thousand holds an all night rave for closer to ten thousand young revelers. The night I was there was not only a full moon, but also a total lunar eclipse. Of course, I found that more interesting than most, since few people looked up. Truth to tell, if you've been to a large enough rave, you've seen it all before. It's worth checking out, and if you're a people watcher, you've struck the mother load. But I soon got bored with dancing to techno music and spent the evening trading sarcastic comments with two Aussies I had met while scuba diving.

While the Paradise Bungalow fancies itself the host of the Full Moon Party, the best place the spend the evening is the Australian run Outback bar, about halfway down the dirt road between the Sunrise and Sunset sides. There, as I walked back west along the dark road, I was stopped in my tracks by the mystic allure of two dancers, swings balls of fire through the air, choreographed to Shine on You Crazy Diamond. A small crowd had gathered at the doorsteps of the Outback, calmly absorbing this rare moment of perfect harmony.