It just keeps getting better

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Koh Samui seems a million miles away from the hustle and bustle of Bangkok and Chiang Mai, and with the amount of traveling it has taken to get here it feels a million miles as well.
I left Chiang Mai on the overnight bus for Bangkok. Tom and I arrived at 6.30am and found ourselves a hotel to check into. Only trouble was we couldn’t have the room until 9am. There is only so much you can do first thing in the morning especially after 12 hours on a bus.
The hotel was much cheaper than my first hotel in Bangkok but it was even nicer. I planned to stay just one day in Bangkok so as soon as possible I booked yet another bus to get me to the island of Samui.
I have also now booked a flight from Samui airport to get me to Singapore.
So the very next day after spending 12 hours on a bus I am about to spend another 14 hours. I finally reached the ferry port early the following morning and had a mere 2 hour wait before the ferry was ready. The ferry took a further 3 hours. While waiting for the ferry there were several people trying to sell their accommodation to us. With nothing booked for when we arrived we decided to pick one of them and go for it. (It turned out a wise move as we could have spent hours searching in the heat for somewhere) If it was no good then we would only have to stay one night and at less than 3 quid a night it wasn’t going to break the bank.
Finally on the island it took a further 40 minutes by bus to arrive at the hotel.

Now I am here I’m not leaving!! The beach huts really were directly on the beach. The huts are basic but fine and my front door opens onto a gorgeous white sandy beach with the waves lapping the shore about 5 meters away. All this for less than 3 quid a night! Shade is provided by giant palm trees running the full length of the beach.
One thing I did find out is that the place we are staying at is the very same place Katherine Horton (the girl from the UK) got murdered. In fact the hut she was staying in is about 20 yards from ours. Not that that should give anyone any concern. I’m more worried about being hit by falling coconuts. Get one of those on your head and you won’t be waking up for a very long time. Sometimes they rain down with no Warning as well!

I have spent the whole week here doing some sight seeing of the island and spending the rest of the time doing very little. It gets so hot during the middle of the day but it’s nice just to sit on the huts balcony and read. Yes I have just about remembered how to read and I’ve read my way through the Da Vinci Code and Digital Fortress.

We also hired a bike from the place we were staying in. Despite it only costing 1 pound a day it is brand new. More of a scooter than a bike I’m sure its top speed is faster than that of all other vehicles on the road, well at least we seem to be passing more than pass us.

As well as having no logical highway code there is also a total absence of law enforcement (probably as there are very few laws to enforce.)
The roads also looked like they had been built many many years ago and the maintenance workers work about as hard as the traffic police!
A pot hole can be anything up to three feet wide and at least a couple of feet deep. The same is true of the pavements. With most of the sewers and underground cables following the path of the pavement there are numerous holes where the pavement has caved in. If you don’t watch where you are walking it’s a broken leg for sure.

Unlike the rest of the modern world there are no health and safety precautions here. If you are stupid enough to fall in one of the holes in the pavement or road then you deserve to get injured.

In the evening it’s a 10 minute walk or a 10 second bike ride to the town centre. It’s full of bars and people trying to sell you trash. After a few hours in the town it is far better to come back to the beach.

Last night I was sat on the beach at 1am with a lovely cold beer. The white crests of the waves could be seen all the way out to see while the distant warm ocean blended with the cool night sky full of thousands of bright twinkling stars.

Every morning you wake up to the sound of the crashing waves. I hope I find another beach soon as I think I wont want to be away from it for to long.

I now have a couple more days here than I will be flying to Singapore.

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Comments

[Andi]

Glad to hear all is well. Beach and cold beer sounds great, very cold here so enjoy it. Take care and love from all here. Andi xxx et al

[FDPCUHOA]

Hello
Sound great.....hope you're putting on that sun cream regularly and drinking lots of water aswell as beer and wearing your hat. Dawn, X

[anonymous]

The best of times
I got back from Thailand 2 weeks ago were i spent the majority of my time on Koh Samui, Lami area. Now i'm back in alaska looking at the pictures i took while i was thier. If you happen to go down to the south end of Lami and find an Irish themed bar called Molly Mollones, tell them Zack says "hi". Its a place always on my mind.

[Lucy]

Purely amazing...
where you're staying sounds wonderful Phil. You must try and get some pictures up here, the view from your hut...make everyone jealous...

[Elliot]

Where did you stay on Lamai Beach
Hi there. I am travelling out to Ko Samui in two weeks. I was wondering if you could tell me what the beach huts were called? It sounds perfect!! Perhaps you could send me a message to [e-mail]. I Hope you continue to enjoy your travels.