Bittersweet Ko Samui

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This is part two of my Thailand vacation blog. Please read "Having Fun in Ko Pha-Ngan" first. This still takes place in Ko Pha-Ngan for the first part...

Before going to the party at 11 we returned our bikes. I got into a big argument with the owner when he said he was going to charge me $400 to replace the entire left side of the machine because it was all scratched. There were maybe a couple scratches but nothing a little sanding and paint couldn't deal with. He took me to a junkyard where he showed me all the nearly-new pieces he'd ripped off of other bikes. It seemed he'd been doing a lot of ripping off. I was fuming and said I couldn't deal with it tonight. I left the bike (and the passport I'd given him) overnight to deal with it the next day. I wasn't able to negotiate with him because he apparently didn't like foreigners (why be in the tourism industry then?) The next day I tried a smile and kinder words since I was in the "Land of Smiles" but he wasn't having any of it. I ended up learning a $400 lesson of crashing where people can't see you.
For dinner that night I ate Pad Thai. I was disappointed because it was bland and mushy, not as I'd expected. The noodles are very wide and there aren't any of the fresh greens or other veggies I've had in it when in the US. Oh well. It was raining when we took our covered pickup truck style taxi to the party. Streets were flooded when we arrived 45 minutes later. As we trudged through the winding streets I could hear a pulsing in the distance.

When we arrived on the beach I could tell the party was going to be epic. There were thousands of people on the 1km expanse of sand, dance venues, bars and food/liquor stands. One the near and far sides of the beach there were castle-like outcropped bars built on the rocks of the beach. Fire was a predominant theme of the party. Fire jump roping, fire twirling, fire water slide and fire eating. Mostly it was the locals though I did see a few people crash and burn trying to do the fire jump rope.

Tonya found her friends which amazed me considering the total lack of communication and huge mass of people. We split up and came together multiple times while experiencing everything. There were all kinds of dance spaces with different vibes and environments. The main drink was some sort of plastic bucket (maybe a quart or more) with various juices, soft drinks and liquors mixed in it. I did not partake in one of my own but I sampled...it was alright.

The night went on and on. I trekked back and forth on the beach seeing things I never thought I ever would. The whole experience was surreal. I would advise just going there because I can't really do it justice. The best I can do is give a metaphor. The beach was divided kind of like the ocean, there was the deep part which was close to the water. This is where you saw mostly couples sitting together doing what couples do. Farthest away you had the stands and dance areas. This is where you'd come up for air every once in a while. In the middle was the heaviest traffic and the most things to see. There were all kinds of fish in this ocean, it's like they had all migrated for some special frenzy of excitement. I think pretty much the whole globe was represented.

As dawn neared, more fireworks shot up in the air. People got bolder, and into the party more. I'm sure many of them were operating on one or more substances which I won't talk about. Let's just say though that on the way back someone told me they saw a person flopping in the water who thought they were a fish. Insanity prevailed. The sunrise was beautiful, it signified that we had made it. We'd all survived this incredible experience. As light shone over the crowds, people seemed different than they were at night. Their neon paint and glowsticks weren't so bright. Some women...weren't. It's like these people were most comfortable in the night and seemed out of place in the daylight.

I went back to the resort at about 7, I wasn't tired at all. I was still reeling from what I'd just seen and experienced. I ate some more delicious breakfast buffet and dealt with the bike rental guy as I mentioned. Tonya got back some time after me. I finally fell asleep at about 4 in the afternoon, having been awake for about 36 hours.

The next day Tonya departed. I didn't do much on the final day, mostly just lazy lounging. I did try another Thai food Andrew recommended me called -green curry. It was the best Thailand has to offer as far as I'm concerned. The flavor was so diverse and the vegetables were outlandish but savory. It was a bit sweet, rich, mildly spicy and finished clean. Completely satisfying to eat with some rice.

The next day I didn't realize checkout time had crept up so fast and so I scrambled to pack everything quickly to avoid any extra charges. The desk girl booked me a taxi/boat package to take me to Koh Samui. My flight back to Korea wasn't for another day and a half so I had some time to kill on the bigger island. When taking a cab on the bigger island I asked some other tourists where to find a cheap motel. I got a good tip on a travel agent who simply just said "over there is good" and pointed across the street. The place I stayed was $12 a night but had no air conditioning. I think I took four showers that day. There was a fan but it didn't do a lot of good.

In Ko Samui I mainly stuck to one major street. There were lots of shops, bars and restaurants there. It was a lot louder and more touristy compared to the sleepy jungle roads of Koh Pha-Ngan. I got a tattoo in the afternoon. It was pretty cheap and done by a man named Ton. He was quite skinny for having that name. Some other guy came in and said Ton was a master. He had been in the business for 25 years so I trusted him. He did a good job but I didn't have it finished there because I was unsure of the writing I wanted in the center. I got it figured out with the translation help of some of my students and will finish it here in Korea sometime this week.

I had green curry again for dinner that night, it was different than the first time but still good. I must've walked five or six miles that day just circulating the street, shopping and adventuring. At night there were quite a few bars I checked out. A nice scene but I wasn't feeling particularly bold being alone. I think I'd prefer to travel with a small group next time. Walking in between bars I would listen to my iPod. This was partly to drown out the sound of fifty different Thai women hanging around outside their respective establishments yelling "MASSAGE!!?!?" at me. The last place I went I just got some ice cream. I took out my iPod to order and never saw or heard from it again after that. I guess I left it on the seat and somebody took it because the owners said they never saw it the next day. I got a massage the next day (JUST A MASSAGE!) from some older lady that worked on the first level of my hotel. It was a back and neck one since that's where I feel most tense usually. It was painful, but in the back of my head I was thinking this will feel great later! It didn't.

Mentally distressed from the loss of my dear friend iPod I departed the island at 8 p.m. Sunday night and arrived back at home in Gunsan at around 5 p.m. local time on Monday. A lot of things on the trip were a bust and it ended up being way more expensive than I'd planned. I think the Full Moon Party saved it for me though, that was truly epic. I learned to plan a slush fund for travelling in strange foreign countries. I also learned that I don't LOVE travelling. I may have had more fun with that money staying home. Like I said though, there are moments when you realize you can't experience anything even remotely similar to this at home, and that was the Full Moon Party for me.

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