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Published: January 25th 2007
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Thailand
September 17 - 27
During our return trip to Thailand we divided our time between Ko Samet and Bangkok. After flying into Bangkok around midnight and staying at Wendy House (www.wendyguesthouse.com) again, we caught the bus to Ko Samet and the speed boat to Villa Samed.
We are sad to report that our time in Ko Samet was not as enjoyable as during our first visit. We think most of it lies with when we visited. It was the low/rainy season. We don’t mind a little rain every day but the rain eroded the sand near our hotel and also collected garbage which ran off into the water. Whereas during our visit in April, the water was crystal clear and blue, this time it was green and cloudy. Last time we couldn’t spend enough time in the water but during this visit we did not venture in too often. One of the days we were there was very nice because the sun was out and it had not rained the day before so the water was clear. The weather also meant that there were more ants, flies and mosquitoes. There also appeared to be more stray dogs but
we can’t figure out how that could be attributed to the rainy season.
Even though we didn’t spend as much time in the water, we still spent time reading at the beach. We also spent a lot of time in our comfortable room reading as well as watching tv and movies. It was very relaxing. Just like our first visit we ate breakfast at the resort every morning (during the off-season the cost is actually included in the room rate) and had lunch and dinner next door at Silver Sand. There was even a new fire god performing while we were there. While he was very good, he smiled and appeared friendly and approachable, which are not things you look for in a fire god (we prefer our fire gods to be surly and aloof).
We generally like traveling in the low season because there are fewer people and this was no exception. There were definitely a lot fewer people staying at our resort than the last time we visited. We have noticed a trend during our travels though where the staff is not as friendly or attentive during the off-season. We understand it because we were that
way when we were working. You can accomplish a lot more when you have a lot to do. After Amy quit working, a chore list that only listed “buy groceries” and “pick up drycleaning” could inspire a stress level that she would have laughed at while working at her law firm.
While we didn’t enjoy Ko Samet as much as our first visit, we realized we have appreciated Bangkok more and more with each visit. Coming back six months later had also loosened our purse strings and so we managed to indulge quite a bit. Amy had probably the best pedicure, haircut and hair color of her life in Bangkok and she also managed to greatly enjoy a manicure, massage and facial. All of these services were either obtained at the super fancy shopping mall, the Paragon, or at the market-like mall, MBK. Even Roger got in the spirit and had a Thai massage, though he spent the time Amy used for beauty treatments lounging and eating at Dunkin’ Donuts.
Besides indulging in long overdue beauty treatments, we spent the rest of our time in a variety of activities. We ate almost exclusively at our favorite food courts
although we did find the time to try out an “oldies” theme diner at Siam Square where although the music was 1950s American the food was Thai. We went back to the lovely movie theatre in Bangkok although we picked a stinker when we saw Nacho Libre. Finally, we shopped until we dropped. We snuck in and out of Khao San Road (which still hasn’t grown on us) to try to sell our books and buy the latest movie releases. We were so eager to get in and out quickly that we took a tuk tuk there and back through Bangkok traffic. We went to Chatuchak market (which you may recall we didn’t care for during our last visit) and loved it. We went crazy buying lots of Christmas presents for our family. We saved MBK which is like a market in a shopping mall for our last day which was probably a good thing for our wallet. We limited ourselves to purchases needed in order to be let in to all of the fancy places we would be visiting in Dubai (that said the new rolling suitcase we picked up in Hong Kong was now bulging a the seams
A Fine Thai Soldier, A Pudgy American Tourist
We know we ran this photo before but the soldier in the photo really enjoys seeing himself on the Internet, so here it is again. with purchases).
Although the military coup throwing out Thaksin took place while we were in Ko Samet, there was little evidence of it on our return. There were some groups of troops near the mall but they appeared busy mostly with taking pictures with Thais and tourists (including Roger). It remains startling to us how completely unaffected Bangkok seemed to be by the coup. This is probably a testament to both the Thai peoples respect for their King, who blessed the event, and their oh-so-laid-back attitude about just about everything (even military rule).
We made one of the best decisions of our trip when we decided to keep our hotel room and check out at midnight for our 2:30 am flight to Dubai. Although it meant that we paid for a hotel room that we didn’t sleep in, it was nice to be able to rest and shower before getting on the flight.
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