Advertisement
Published: July 25th 2009
Well here I am, only two days into the trip and already some good stories to tell.
Here's what my first hour in Thailand was like:
As I left the airport in Koh Samui, there was a friendly face greeting me with a sign for "Jungle Club". I got in the car with him, chit-chat was minimal due to my lack of knowledge or understanding of the Thai language beyond "Kaw Pun Kai" and "Sawadee Ka". We did manage to clear up the misunderstanding that we'd been having over email about how Jason and I were arriving on separate flights, what a big relief (although not at all relevant to this story).
We drove about ten minutes, and then made a turn towards the hills. I was told to get out of the car and into a very corroded 4-wheeler. In I went and that driver started up the steep, dirt road towards the Jungle Club. It was quite a ride and I wasn't sure which part of the car was more likely to give-out first: the body or the engine.
We finally arrived and I jumped out of the car, checking to see if my rubber flip-flops had melted from rested on the metal floor (they did not), and I walked over to reception. The room wasn't ready yet, so I sat there looking kind of like rainman. The guy behind the counter said, "Would you like a beer?" I said, "Yes." He brought me a Chang (local favorite). Then he said, "The pool is that way." And I said, "Yes". Somehow, this total stranger seemed to know exactly what I wanted.
I changed into my bathing suit and seconds later, was swimming in the lovely pool, looking over the edge onto the amazing view of beaches below, feeling wonderful and happy. My Chang (which is 6.5% ABV) was doing it's magic and I was thinking: 24 hours of travel to get here: worth every minute. After the swim, I dried off in the sun, then glanced to my left and noticed the deck where they did massage. Must be time for a massage.
Massaged and quickly getting into my "Thai-state-of-mind", my room was finally ready and a lovely room it was, with French doors overlooking the hillside and ocean below. I tried to stay awake until Jason's arrival (11pm) but I couldn't do it...jetlag is hard even for the Business Class apparently...I decided on the green curry for dinner, and as I headed back to the room, the reception guy said, "You fall asleep before you friend comes?" And I said, "Tell him I tried." And seconds later, I was in bed, fast-asleep.
I awoke the next morning at sunrise and did some stretches, had some coffee and read my book in the hammock. After breakfast, we took another ride in the corroded 4wheel to the ferry and headed over to Koh Tao.
It's not quite what I was expecting, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. We had decided not to book anything in advance so we could get the lay of the land and figure out where we wanted to be. This ended up being a bit of a hassle and we spent the better part of both yesterday and today scouring the island looking for that perfect place. Turns out, Thailand has gotten expensive and it doesn't have that same warm-fuzzy-friendly-locals vibe that I remember from the last time I was here. Yesterday, we attempted to browse property on foot, and walked the better part of the Southern half of the island on foot with our backpacks. It was about eightzillion degrees out and I don't think I've ever sweat so much.
We finally gave up and settled for a simple little concrete hut that was right on the beach. I lovingly referred to the room as our "little Thai prison" but it really wasn't quite that bad. Just a lot of concrete and not a lot of windows. After the ordeal, we wanted nothing more than to cool off in the ocean, so we put our suits on and walked over to the beach, stuck our toe-sies in and what-the-what...the water was hot. Not warm, hot. Like a bath. Apparently, that part of the bay is a sand bar and for about a hundred yards out, it was knee high bathwater.
And with that, we decided we couldn't stay there, so this morning, we set off again (this time with a rented scooter) in search of greener pastures, or cooler waters, or at least a pool. The scooter was a much better way to get around and we were able to make an adventure out of it, getting to see a lot of the island and attempting some precarious roads that made me fear for my life. Six hours later, we landed at Bow Thong, on the Northern end of Sairee Beach, and are quite happy.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.125s; Tpl: 0.009s; cc: 6; qc: 45; dbt: 0.0752s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Jim Blanchard
non-member comment
Samui
Move over to the "Samui Sense" hotel at Lamai Beach. A good reastraunt there is "Will Wait" .... odd name but very good.. Just a block from the hotel.