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Published: January 4th 2007
Beach View
Here's a view from our beach. Vendors would walk up and down the beach selling fresh mango, coconuts, corn on the cob, necklaces and throw blankets.Christmas on Samui
This past Christmas will definitely be one to remember. Although I wasn't back home for the holidays where it should have been snowing, I'm pretty sure Thailand was the next best thing! There's so much to tell that I don't know where to start... I'll try my best to describe everything in the order in which it occurred. Also, I apologize for incorrect grammar and what not…I have lots to write so I’m just going to write.
December 23, 2006
In total there were 8 teachers from my school heading to Thailand (1 of which wasn't heading south to the islands). We all had the same early morning flight - 9:50. This meant we had to be at the airport for about 7am, which required us to leave our apartment no later than 6am. Not fun, especially when you don't sleep very well the night before. Oh well, I soon got over the lack of sleep. Our flight to Bangkok went without any problems. We flew Thai Air and the food was probably some of the best airplane food I've had! Once in Bangkok we had to catch a connecting flight to Ko Samui. This
Waiting
Kelly, Ania and Angele waiting for our flight to leave Seoul. flight was delayed by almost an hour. We were all getting a little anxious, but as long as we made it to the beach that night we would all by happy.
Landing in Ko Samui was a relief. It was also pretty funny when we got off the plane because the first thing we saw was the customs booth onto the island. I don't think I've ever seen such a relaxed airport. Knives, lighters, water bottles?? Don't worry a Baht it! (For those that don't know, the "Baht" is the Thai currency. Kovats and I were saying this pretty much the whole trip!) We cleared customs, gathered our bags and then started to search for a taxi to get us to our resort. The place we booked online was about 30 mins. away from the airport. On the drive we were passing a bunch of resorts - some looked like 5+ stars, while others looked like a rating of 2 would be generous. It was at this point I started doubting the place that we booked. I hadn't looked on the website since we booked the place, and that was done way back at the beginning of December. Finally we
Samui Customs
Kovats standing in the Samui customs line. Big difference compared to back home. pulled into our resort driveway. Success!! The palm tree's were lined with Christmas lights and the main entrance looked decent - good enough for us. We checked in, dropped off our bags in the room, threw on some shorts and headed out to find a place to eat. Our first official Thai meal was dinner at a small little restaurant. It was recommended to us by one of the many suit tailors on Lamai’s main strip of road. The appearance of the restaurant wasn’t the greatest, but the food was amazing and so cheap!! It’s going to be tough coming home and paying for a meal that probably won’t taste nearly as good, and be 50 times the price.
After food we were off to the beach bar at the back of the resort. It was time for a much needed cocktail (or two or three…). The two bartenders working there were very friendly and came out with us throughout the week. This was really helpful because they would let us know which places to visit were good and which were not worth seeing. In fact, they told us that that night just down the road there was going to
be “lady boxing”. No doubt, about 200m down the road was a boxing arena surrounded by tiny little bars. Muay Thai is the name of the style of boxing found in Thailand. Unlike Western boxing where you only use your 2 hands, in Muay Thai you use your hands, shins, elbows and knees. Talk about a rough sport. At the arena you didn’t have to pay for a ticket to sit down; all you needed to do was by the occasional drink. This wasn’t a problem for us - especially with $2.50 Heinekens. Watching the live boxing was pretty neat. I didn’t use to be into watching fighting, but living in Korea for 4 months has changed that a little. When matches are televised every night that would normally be pay-per-view back home, you find yourself watching them more often. Anyways, the fights were cool…I caught a few on video. Better yet, right after the match some random guy put a monkey on Kovats shoulder, than mine. This created nothing but smiles.
December 24, 2006
Christmas Eve day - we survived our first night in Thailand. We woke up just in time to make it to our “complimentary”
Cheap Dinner #1
Sweet and sour chicken (roughly $2.50) and some sort of seafood dish (same price), 2 Singh beers ($1 each). breakfast. Then it was time to hit the beach. It was a little cloudy, but it was still nice and warm out. We spent the day relaxing by the beach/beach bar. From 4-6:30pm the beach bar had Happy Hour with cheap cocktails and beer. Again, just what we needed. We continued Happy Hour a little later into the night, grabbed some food, and then headed over to Chaweng beach with our new Thai friends. Chaweng beach was the largest on the island, followed by Lamai. We went to a club called Reggae Bar (which apparently was opened by Bob Marley) which surprisingly played very little reggae. Later we went to a place called Solo Bar. It was a large open area with pool tables under a tent, and a bar in the middle. It was here that we met for the first time (out of about 7) some big Australian that happened to be in all the same night spots as us. He was a funny guy, just “living the life” as he said. All in all, it was a fun night out.
December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas! Where’s all the snow?? Hopefully far, far away from us
Feeling tired?
Drink a few of these Red Bull and you'll be awake all night! because all I packed was beach attire. The previous night was a late one so we ended up missing breakfast. Oh well - you snooze you lose. We grabbed a quick bite and then headed into town to check out a gun range. We had read that you could shoot a machine gun, so Kovats was pretty keen on doing that. We got to fire an AK-47 with bullets that we believe to be really low caliber. It wasn’t what we were expecting in turns of kick back or size, but fun nonetheless. After that we went in Samui’s only shopping mall. It wasn’t anything special, but I guess if you lived on the island it would have most things that you would need. We got a picture of Thai Santa…not too convincing, yet amusing. The rest of Christmas day was spent relaxing on the beach again. Happy Hour was given a rain cheque; we figured water would be the wiser choice.
When it was time to finally eat we decided to check out a restaurant recommended to us by a Canadian couple who were also teaching in Korea. I couldn’t believe the size of all the seafood laid out
Boxing Ring
In this picture we are just walking to the boxing ring. It was PACKED! in front of the restaurant. The lobsters, crabs, prawns and squid were all HUGE!! I ended up ordering a Thai seafood noodle dish (wish was delicious). Kovats went for the lobster, and what a lobster it was!! The thing took up the whole table.
After dinner we headed back to our room to get ready for another night out in Samui. I flopped down onto the bed and turned on the T.V. around 9:30pm. The next thing I knew, it was 1:30am. We were exhausted. Definitely not your ordinary Christmas day.
December 26, 2006
When I think of Boxing Day I imagine crowded malls, full parking lots, and a bunch of “sales” which unless you know your prices, aren’t the greatest deals in town. This year wasn’t anything like that. This year on December 26th I rode an ATV (all-terrain vehicle) on a manmade course, and then an elephant. The elephant ride was lots of fun, aside from feeling like I had to hang on for dear life otherwise I’d fall off. The seats were angled forward, so it was tough to stay in one place. However, the overall experience was well worth it!
December 27, 2006
Lady Boxer
Here's a lady boxer praying in each corner before the beginning of the fight. Today was spent on the beach once again. It was our last full day on Samui so I wanted to lay on the beach as much as possible. At this point we had become friends with the Canadian couple, as well as someone from South Africa. We had made plans to all rent Sea-Doo’s in the afternoon. This was definitely a highlight because the machines we rented were pretty powerful. We all had a good time, some getting wetter than others.
That night we had also planned on all going out together. We grabbed dinner than hopped in the back of a pick-up truck (Samui style taxis) and headed to Chaweng beach one more time. This time we went to a club called Green Mango. It was a huge club with several different bars, a stage, a waterfall surrounding the washrooms and two large dance floors. It was a fun night and a good way to end the trip on Samui.
Next we were off to Bangkok for two days before heading to Seoul for New Years. Sorry for all the reading…I’m sure it’s a huge strain on the eyes.
Charles
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