If you like Pina Coladas...

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All right! Hooray for stable WiFi!

Ok... so after a quick change of plans, I ditched out on the Bangkok idea and headed straight to Koh Samui yesterday. My flight was painfully at 6am, but that meant an entire extra day here on the island. Good call. My change of plans came as a package deal with a travel companion as an added bonus. It's been a pretty good setup having two of us as I've still been able to stick to my solo beach plans while she gets a feel for the social scene, and we meet in the middle once in awhile.

So, Koh Samui! I apparently decided to come to an island during its monsoon season. I didn't exactly have a choice in the matter of timing, but it does find me imagining what this place is like during its peak season. Woo. That said, while the weather is not what you'd call paradise-y tropical weather, for me who cannot stand the heat, it is absolutely divine. It's been mostly cloudy for the 2 days that I've been here, with alternating patches of rain and sun. But, the rain patches are great excuses to take shelter under the variety of bungalows along the coast and do things like get a 1-hr oil massage on the beach. So, I'm not complaining.

This morning, I got up before dawn and trekked down to the beach for sunrise. I'm glad I did. Still having 2 days to go here, I'm very pleased with my decision to set the tone that way with my first morning. See, I managed to get down there, find a spot, and THEN realize that I hadn't brought a book or anything to busy myself with. No problem. Instead, I spent 2 hours staring off at the horizon and childishly pondering why the water doesn't fall off the earth... not even sometimes... not even a drop! Then, when it was time to stretch the ol' legs, I got up and headed north to see how far up this beach goes. I walked about a mile up, and found some pretty drastic contrasts as far as beach scenes go. The beach closest to our guesthouse is pretty typical - kayak rentals, para-sailing and banana boating... all the touristy tents dotting the coast while music booms from various bars and restaurants in between. But about halfway up the beach, it suddenly falls absolutely silent. There's a coral ridge that cuts around one long patch and takes away any sign of waves, and while there are resorts and restaurants, none of them are playing music nor advertising their wares -- least ways, they weren't at 8:30am as the others were. Side note: My goal is to head back up there before I leave on Wednesday and take a paddleboard out to the islands surrounding that entire area. Stoked about that plan. Anyway, as I continued walking, the development eased back into a more local and natural fishing village at the very tip of the island. Here, there were exceptionally colorful fishing boats and hundreds of sharks' teeth. I grabbed a couple for my own souvenir collection, but made a mental note to avoid swimming on the northern tip of this island. Yikes!

After my little walkabout, I pulled the con of the decade and was rather proud of my sneakiness (#nerd)... See, I'm down here with no telephone service whatsoever, so WiFi is of utmost importance to me; not only to communicate with you all, but also to touch base with my travel companion/roommate about plans for things like key exchanges and bedtimes! So, I started a hunt for WiFi. Now, you must understand that - as this is monsoon season - there are significantly fewer people here than there is room for. So, as one walks around this island, one spies hundreds of empty lounge chairs, all of which are completely un-monitored, despite the signage saying "reserved for residents of Hoity-Toity resort." So, I plopped myself on one of these said lounge chairs. Behind me, however, was a gorgeous (and empty) resort... they were playing light music, serving breakfast to all one of their residents, the works. My eagle (and desperate?) eyes darted straight to the WiFi sign behind the bar. So, I charmingly walked up to the counter and said my charming hellos. I asked, charmingly, "Can I get a coffee to go?" The kind man asked, "do you have a room number?" I only stuttered slightly and replied, "Oh, yeah... I'm in 2-0-fliminalla." The kind man proceeded to nod respectfully, and had the kind lady serve me up a hot coffee and cream... for... free. No charge. No proof of room number, no signing the coffee to someone else's room. Nothing but a smile. So now, here I am with a coffee and a WiFi password... and the offer of a pool towel, chair and umbrella in case I want to take a dip in their enormous, immaculate pool complete with bridges and squirty fountains. I mean... why not? Live a little... So! I got WiFi...

My WiFi connection led me to understand that my travel companion was ready to meet up, so after that hour of conned paradise, it was due time to move on (but you'd better bah-LIEVE I'll be showing my face there again tomorrow! Oh yes I will!).

I trudged back to the south end of the beach where all of the activities were now in full swing. It was downright LOUD compared to the north end of the beach. Once there, I rented a paddleboard for an hour to try out my sea legs with the thing. Wake chop from passing boats certainly makes it an adventure, but I am a massive fan of coastal Stand Up Paddleboarding. By the end of the hour, I was successfully catching waves into shore - albeit on my knees for that bit, rather than standing up like surfing. But I had a blast standing up and paddling around and exploring much more of the ocean than I would've dared without the board 😊 Highly recommended activity. Massive workout. Very tired.

Anyway, so now I'm back in the room for a bit... quite literally chilling out following my day in the sun. It's about to rain, and I also - admittedly - had to trek back to tend to my battle wounds from the day; apparently Thailand has jellyfish. Really friendly jellyfish that like to hug knees, evidently. So, I got a pretty good lashing on my left knee that makes things a little less fun for the moment. And because I would've asked if I were you... yes... peeing on it does actually take the burn away and make the blisters go down a bit, despite Mayo Clinic saying that's an old wives' tale... But it may also have been the salt water and menthol rub which are known relievers of the venom symptoms. Fun to tell the world that I peed on myself, regardless. You're welcome for that information and visual.

With that, the downpour has begun, so I'm off to a rainy afternoon of napping and reading as soon as these lovely ladies finish cleaning my room. I wish you all a pleasant week!

As always, more pictures below and on Facebook. This week features some final goodbyes to the CELTA program and more awesome views of Koh Samui 😊

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