Ko Samui, Thailand - This is the Life!

---

Day 20-March 25th: We got up and had breakfast with Fritz and Jonas and said our goodbyes as they were off to Ko Tao for diving and Jessie and I were off to Ko Samui, the island south of Ko Phangan.

We took the 11:40 AM ferry and then a taxi to Hat Chaweng, the center of activity on the island. We found lodging thanks to a kind travel agent. We paid more than we wanted but knew that Ko Samui would be more expensive. We were delighted to find ourselves in a hotel room with air conditioning, a TV, a fridge, a nice bathroom, and a balcony. This is the life! We walked around the main drag, had Subway for lunch (a treat for us!) and then headed for the beach for the day.

The best part about the beach was that there were waves! I swam in the waves, I love the waves! I had a moment of panic when I was caught in the push/pull of the waves, but swam out of it and back to shore. I always keep my eyes on the others around me and if they move or get too far, I turn back to shore, and when the people around me appeared a little further than I was comfortable with, I headed back to dry land. Nothing like sitting on the beach listening to the waves crash and catching some rays! Like I said, this is the life!

We went back to the hotel and showered and fell in love with our luxurious room again. It was spacious and in the center of town (a block from the beach) and the A/C was wonderful! We ate dinner at the Mexican restaurant on our street called Gringos - go figure! We walked around, found a travel agent and bought a ticket to Krabi for the next day - boat + bus). We discovered that internet here was only 1 baht/minute, as opposed to the 3 baht/minute we paid on Ko Phangan. Ugh! Jessie and I were wishing we had waited to use the internet on Ko Samui instead, but we obviously didn't know. Oh well!

We wandered the streets and ended up going to Green Mango, the uber-pub/club complex that draws a big crowd every night. We played pool and then danced the night away! We met some Irish guys, had a few drinks and danced with them til Green Mango closed around 2 AM. They went to an after-hours party at a club down the street, but Jessie and I went to Burger King for french fries and then to our hotel for bed!

Day 21-March 26th: Despite going to bed at about 4 AM, I got up early because I wanted to see the Big Buddha on the island, one of the landmarks. Since we were leaving in the afternoon, I needed to maximize my time on Ko Samui. I took a motorcycle taxi. I'm all about the motorcyles these days! The Big Buddha was really cool. It was a beautiful day and the Buddha overlooks the harbor/pier where we had come in from Ko Phangan. Very cool!

I went to the supermarket in town for snacks, then back to the hotel to get Jessie and head to our ferry. We got picked up at the hotel in a van and proceeded to take a bus to the ferry to a bus to Surat Thani on the mainland. We waited at a travel agent office there and then took a taxi to our final transport - the bus to Krabi. We met an ex-Navy guy named Mike from Montana and chatted with him along the way. We got to a bungalow that some other travel agent in Krabi found for us. We came in late, around 9 PM, so our choices were limited. The three of us walked to the night market on the riverfront and had a later dinner. We slept under a mosquito net in our bungalow - a very good idea! It was a transportation day and time for a good night's sleep!

---

Comments

[Brad]

Beth - sounds like an unbelievable experience that you are having and hope all is going well for you overseas.