Second First Impressions

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Flight #4 left Bangkok bright and early at 8AM and 45 minutes later the coastline of Samui came into view. They have built a new airport terminal at the other end of the runway from the old one and although it now has numerous different arrival buildings each with its own actual real luggage carousel I still prefer the old one with its bamboo and palm tree pillars, grass roof, and make shift baggage carousel consisting of 4 straight conveyor belts and blocked in corners so that the bags wouldn’t fall off when they hit the end. Although the mass confusion of 100 people jammed into a hut built for 25 is now gone so is the backward Island charm that went with it.

It’s funny to drive down the road and notice the slightest thing that is new as well as the many things that were supposed to happen while we were gone but didn’t. The roads are still a mess and the heavy rains and flooding in November have only made the problems worse. I swear there are holes in the road that could swallow the jeep in its entirety. When we drove up to the rental house we were shocked to discover that directly across the road is a construction site that no one thought to mention to us when we paid for “peace, privacy, and tranquility”. Thank you Zen Properties for your lack of integrity and honesty. We now find ourselves in the midst of construction chaos on the top road in Bophut Hills, the view is only half of what we were lead to believe - the other half is made up of a half completed building, carport, and construction shed, and the road is partially paved - the other part is half mud bog half war trench. Thank God that the Jeeps here come with a Jesus handle for the passenger! They say the construction should be done in January, given what we have seen from last year I think they mean January 2009.

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Photos

Beach Hut
A little too rustic for my liking