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Published: August 20th 2006
Our last day in a Bangkok was spent taking advantage of everything globalisation has to offer four Twenty-something males: we watched the Charity Shield, had a Full English Fry Up and bedded down in anticipation of our early start the next day.
Feeling slightly rushed we took a trip to Bangkok tourist information and enquired about visas for Loas, Vietnam and Cambodia. These were not cheap which irked me somewhat and the darker right-wing element of my mind was inclined to think if this were the other way round we'd probably be given a council house and jobs instead of paying for entry. I banished this thought to the back of my mind, coughed up the 100odd quid and left the shop however.
Our visas for 'nam were going to take a few days so we decided to leave Bangkok for some island paradise and return for collection later that week. We agreed on an island 300km south of the city called Ko Samet.
A relatively comfortable 3hr coach journey later followed by a decidedly dodgy and uncomfortable boat trip dropped us on the coast of a 7km long island. A storm was heading in quite fast so we
hopped in the back of a taxi cum pickup truck and were taken to the Naga Guest house. Now Naga means snake in Thai and as we were stumbling across the site to our beach hut i experienced what can only really be described as snake-hullucinations: everything i looked at appeared to want to sink its fangs into my youthful flesh, a hose trailing along the floor: snake, a low hanging branch: snake, the cord around my recently purchased (and extremly cliched) fishermans trousers: snake etc etc. This continued until my first confrontation with a real life one which was actually quite chilled out and content to watch me hurridly scramble from squatting over a hole in the groud, wipe my bottom with my bare hand (always the left one btw) and run away. First fear conquered, well sort of.
Ko Samet is a truely beautiful place and as the vicious strom from our first night died down we spent a very chilled out couple of days on the idyllic beaches bodysurfing and having general beach fun.
Frollicing in the amazingly warm sea was only really interrupted by food, beers and ping-pong (the game, not the kind they try
and get you to watch in Bangkok) and i started to think I could really get used to this way of life.
We had a couple of lovely huts and Danny and i even hat a pet in the form of a stray (and quite possibly rabid) cat we named Chairman Meow, who would always be asleep on the floor of our hut every morning.
For Thailand the nights out on the island are quite expensive so we chilled out for most and then decided to have a 'go hard or go home' night on the next beach. A couple of Chang beers and a bucket (yes bucket) of gin and tonic later we found ourselves in a pub full of hammered Thais dancing to 90's Music barefoot on the concrete floor. My memory is hazy at best but i do recall borrowing a Thai chap's red baseball hat and pretending to be Fred Durst...a lot. Suprisingly this night didn't end in any fisticuffs which got me thinking about how nice and friendly most of the people here are.
In the most part they seem very softly spoken, polite and accommodating to tourists. The cynic in me feels that this is just to get us to part with are not-so-hard-earned Baht, but generally they seem just very happy with what they have. They all seem to know where they belong in the world and seem content. Its like everything over here is just a big mess but somehow it all just works.
A few days later we left early in the morning for Bangkok, rejuvinated and feeling alive, the kind of alive that can only be crushed by a combination of 3hr Coach journey, a draining day in Bangkok and a 16hr night train to Chang Mai; Where we have just arrived. It seems to have a lot to offer us in terms of activities so the next blog should be fun...
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Gael
non-member comment
Hey Hey Boycie
Loving your bloggs, trouble is I keep getting interupted, bloody inconsiderate patients!! Everyone asking how your doing so I have printed off your bloggs and distribruted them in order of who used to perv the most over you whilst wearing your bike gear and being all hot and sweaty - even Tim:) Can't wait for the next installment, take care mate!! Ps Really don't think Nok was posh enough 4u!