Stag do with a difference

I was outside my hotel at 9am ready for the bus to pick me up for the start of the stag do (bachelor party). It arrived about 10 minutes late but it was empty which was a bit confusing but apparently the main group weren't ready. So we spent about half an hour driving around town picking up various people and then finally back to where I started, to collect the rest. The best man (and brother) approached the bus and said "I've got some bad news: James [the stag] is ill and can't make it". He'd got some bug or food poisoning and so we had a stag do without the stag (a 'do')!

We drove to the next hotel and waited in vain for one of the guys to appear but it turned out he'd been out drinking until 5am and was passed out. We drove for about an hour and a half to the very north of the island, stopped off briefly at a cave and then transferred to a long-tail boat. There were 10 of us even with the two missing members and I'd not met most of them but they were all really nice. It was clearly not a stag do and the party atmosphere was muted but we all got along well and had fun!

Just after 12.30pm we arrived at Khao Phing Kan, better known as James Bond Island since 1974 when it was featured in 'The Man with the Golden Gun' (see the extra photo for the iconic rock formation). It was teeming with tourists, making it hard to appreciate the obviously incredible surroundings.

Next we were taken to Talu Island where we explored the caves by canoe. Possibly due to the sheer numbers, you aren't able to take the canoe by yourself; instead you have to have a guide paddling for you. This is one of the guides, dressed as Captain Jack Sparrow (although he also looks like Khal Drogo from Game of Thrones). The caves are great and the mangroves are worth a look too. I just wish I could have seen it without hundreds of other tourists.

For lunch we stopped off at a Muslim fishing village called Koh Panyee (or Panyi) which has a row of almost identical restaurants, clearly there just to literally cater for all the James Bond Island tours. The food seemed like it had been sitting out for a while but at least it filled us up. Then we took a walk around the tiny floating village which even had its own football team.

We headed back to the van and then drove to Patong, arriving back at the hotels around 5.30pm for a brief rest and change of clothes. Sadly James was still really unwell, the poor guy, but at 7pm most of us met up at one of the hotels for a few drinks and then headed to dinner at a nice restaurant in town. The meal was relatively pricey but really tasty. We all went to Bangla Road to join the craziness of the main bars and clubs. After a few more people dropped out we stepped up the partying by going to one of the biggest clubs in town, Tiger Bar, which is impossible to miss due to the gigantic tiger statues all over the outside and inside of the building. It's exactly the type of place I usually avoid but I was intrigued and wanted a dance.

Inside we bumped in to the hen do who were all dressed as Disney princesses! By that time the hens significantly outnumbered the stags and as they say: if you can't beat them, join them! We went to a few more clubs together, paid the excessive drinks prices, danced around (me in a borrowed tiara, as you do) and finished at 1.30am.

It wasn't what we had planned but I had lots of fun and it was great getting to know everyone.