Barely Conscious in the Land of Smiles

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In blitzkrieg fashion, we got to know Koh Samed a few years back and fell in love. At that time, we had less than 24 hours to stay, and, after the first hour on the island, we promised each other a swift return for a longer stay…we made good on our promise.

We researched the island a bit more this time and learned about a small, secluded beach that was a bit of a pain to get to but offered peace, quiet and crystal clear waters as a reward. Ao Nuan (Nuan Beach) is about 70 meters long, has stone hills on both ends of the beach and a forest behind the beach, beautifully clear, warm waters, and no more than about 2 dozen people on the beach in peak season. Nuan Bungalows is the only option for lodging and has about 12 rustic bungalows, a tasty menu, and beautiful grounds for 800 baht ($25US) per night during peak season. The atmosphere is super laid back…all expenses (meals, drinks, room, etc) are written by the guests into a little book and tallied whenever the guest decides to check out…pay and leave, simple. The staff (I think it is a family) are incredibly nice, meticulously clean, and offer nothing shy of a natural paradise retreat.

We lounged half asleep in the shade, snorkeled, swam, ate fruits sold by passing fruit vendors and watched this really strange guy obsess over his own butt for 5 days straight. No joke, this guy jacked his speedos up in his crack, then proceeded to sun his butt, rub his butt, poke at his butt, and parade his disgusting butt around the beach the whole time we were there. I had a rather lengthy internal debate as to whether this should be included in the blog, however, Rozy and I couldn’t help but notice and remain updated on the condition of this guy’s butt as it was always at a vantage point easily viewed by all, therefore, I feel it was a significant enough event to include in the blog. Rozy and I talked and determined that we are not the weird ones here, and that it was perfectly normal for us to be so absorbed with the goings on regarding this guy’s butt given the nature of the situation. Before you judge, please understand that you weren’t there and can’t fully understand what we went through. This random guy’s butt aside, our time on the island was perfect.

To get around on the bumpy dirt roads of Koh Samed, we hired a motorbike. In the middle of the afternoon, when the midday sun became overwhelming, we explored the island by motorbike including some of the more populated beaches and gathering points. Rozy spent most of her time in the water discovering her new-found passion for snorkeling (which she prefers to call “scuba”) while I just bobbed in the water like wishing I had some aquatic skills (or even the ability to stick my head underwater). The water was beautiful, the fish were colourful, and the beach was tranquil…what more to say? This is a wonderful, relaxing place and we will be returning during our next visit to SE Asia.



STATISTICS

• Flights taken = 4
  
• Intercity trains rides taken = 7
  
• Intercity bus rides taken = 29
  
• Times lost = 8
  
• Total instances of diarrhea = 3
  
• Total number of requests for pictures with Daniel = 2
  
• Total megabytes of pictures taken = 12,120
  

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Photos

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Comments

[Y]

your own private paradise... must have been nice. how come your blog update for this came on Mar 10 but you wrote the blog feb 24?

[Harriet]

wow! so beautiful! I like the sunrise. Wish i were there. I'm heading back to Syd. A little sad this time. Coz all my family want me to stay in Beijing forever. I have had a tough time these days to choose whether stay or not. But i made the final decision to leave for Syd. Am i wrong? I don't know. Miss you guys!

[renee]

ponytail?
Dan-o, it looks like you have a ponytail in the "SandBlogger" pic - and it's making me giggle.