KO SAMUI - BEACH BEACH BEACH

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01.12.08

Km travelled 19811

Luciano and Pamela are already sitting at the table when we arrive. I'm still very sick but I eat my breakfast because we don't know when we'll be able to get some food today. We learn that our travelling mates are Argentinian but live in Barcelona. As many Argentinians they have Italian passports as their families come originally from Italy.
When we're ready to leave it's time to thank Erich for everything, and particularly for his advice.
We all have bulky backpacks and it's hard to fit all into the car. I sit in the front sit together with my backpack and we finally leave.
The journey to Poipet takes exactly three hours, with one stop for toilet and one for gasoline. It's a dirt road all the way and we understood that with the bus it would have been a nightmare. The trip is fine, even with my bits of motion sickness, and we talk a lot. On the way we make a short stop to let a group of lovely brown ducks cross the road.
At Poipet we pay our driver and join the queue to get our passport stamped before leaving Cambodia.
There's a lot of people trying to convince us to take a bus to Bangkok but we all prefer to take the train, which is also a lot cheaper.
We cross the piece of land that has no rules where hotels and casinos line up on both sides of the road, and we get to the Thai border. Here we fill in the arrival card and pose again for a picture but none of us need a visa to stay in Thailand. There's no customs check, only a sign that reminds us that drugs' use or deal, in Thailand is punishable with life sentence or execution.
At this point I'm feeling pretty bad, plus the oppressive heat doesn't help, but we have to find a way to get to the train station. A tuk tuk for two people wants 80 baht which is ridiculous, and taxis only go to Bangkok. Fortunately one of the drivers advise us that we can take the bus for 15 baht each and we are told where to wait.
On the bus a French rugby coach now retired, wants to entertain us with his tales about rugby but I can't pay any attention to him.
The train station is nothing more than a platform with a small building and benches outside. We can only buy tickets after 12.30, so we sit down and wait. Michael goes out to find some food and comes back with two boxes of spring rolls. I don't feel like eating, so he has both. When the train finally arrives we buy the tickets and get on. It's only third class but we find a carriage with reclining seats and a fan. It's good enough. It's a long journey of six hours and I'm feeling quite bad, but at least I can sleep a bit. We meet a German couple with a lovely small boy of one called Luca, that are also going to Bangkok. They live in Bangladesh and both work for an NGO. Luca has almost learned to walk and likes to go around on the train.
We all talk about past and future travels, and our places, and exchanges tips on places around the world.
The journey is long. Every now and again the click click of the punchers tell us that the controllers are passing. I'm surprised to see that there's also armed police on the train.
The fan keeps on spinning, Mike reads but I'm too weak to do anything.
We arrive at Bangkok station at 8.00pm. We say goodbye and good luck to everyone and get on our way. Our hopes to find a train ticket for tonight soon vanishes as everything is full, including the bus. There are only four beds still available on the train leaving at 5.00pm the next day. It's our only chance, so we buy the tickets for the train and also the ones for the bus and ferry to get to Koh Samui.
Now we only have to find where to sleep. A guy from the tourist information office tells us that there's a cheap hotel just outside the station. It's all we need. We walk there and get a room for the night. I'm completely drained and have no sugar left in my body. I can hardly stand. We reach for a 7Eleven outside and I can drink some juice immediately. We grab something to eat and go back to our room. It's been a long enough day.

02.12.08

I'm still feeling bad and today is going to be never ending. We obviously take it easy and stay into our room until the time to check out comes. We have to wait until 5.00pm for our train. The heat is unbearable and I'm terribly weak. We leave all our stuff at the hotel and walk along the canal to find a place where to eat. Along the way we realize we lost the tickets for the bus and ferry, we can't find them anywhere. We think it's better to go to the station and buy new ones, and once there we sit down and have some food.
We spend the rest of our time between expensive internet and a walk around, then we collect our bags and sit in the station. I'm surprised to see that the police here supervise everything, including the floor cleaning!
We wait in the quiet hall with loads of other people. It will be the king's birthday in a few days, and that seems to be the only attraction for everyone. Images of the king are spread around with decorations all around. Inside the station they even put grass and flowers to adorn it. Me and Mike will sleep in different compartments at opposite ends of the carriage. I share mine with two Thai ladies and a German man, that fortunately soon swaps place with a Swedish man that looks a lot nicer. For a few hours me, Mike and the Swedish man, Friederich, sit on the upper beds engaged in a wide conversation, the men sharing drinks of rum and coke. Friederich seems to be a very interesting person.
We go to sleep early because at 4.00am we'll have to get off the train at Surat Thani. Everyone else is already sleeping behind the curtain.

03.12.08

Km travelled 20354

At 4.30 the train stops in Surat Thani. I had set my alarm the night before and woke up Michael. Along the platform men were waiting for the passengers. They lead us to different shops along the road, depending on our destination. The bus for us to Koh Samui was said to arrive in half an hour. We sat there waiting with other people. We were all still half asleep and eager to finish this long journey. A first bus took us to a place where many people were already waiting. There we bought a passage to our hotel. We waited for another half an hour and then a second bus took us to the pier. Next to my seat there was a big hole in the bus, and soon all the exhaustion fumes started coming through in a black thick cloud! It was revolting. I had to try and fill the hole with my bag so that the smoke couldn't get through.
The speed boat to the island wasn't any better, plus I had a bad motion sickness on top of my stomach one.
When we got to the hotel I couldn't believe it, all we needed was there.

08.12.08

Our week in Koh Samui is coming to its end. We probably would have appreciated a bit more sun but it was otherwise, all we needed. The Weekender Resort & Spa where we stayed, was really beautiful. We had a lovely time here. All we did was laying on the deckchairs by the beach, regularly jumping in the pool, or occasionally in the sea, for a swim, relax, eat out. One day we rented a motorbike and spent the day around the island. We saw two mummified monks, the big Buddha, and went for a very short, and for me not so exciting elephant ride followed by a visit to the waterfall. When we went to Chanweng beach we both thought that at least we've been lucky enough not to end up there.
Our time here was very good and we finally had the chance of a rest. But on the other end we already miss the excitement of our travels.
Last minute we decided to head to Penang, in Malaysia, which seems to be the only affordable place on the west coast, so tomorrow we'll make our journey to another land.

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