The Day I met Koh Samet

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First off, I'd like to appologize for not blogging in a couple of weeks, but in my defense I've been having such an action packed time that I haven't really gotten the opportunity. I'm going to write several blogs, each about a particular location I have been at, starting with Koh Samet.

The journey to Koh Samet started in the mini-bus from Bangkok. On the ride I met a girl from Ireland and a guy from Italy, who I would end up hanging out with for the majority of my time on Koh Samet. The girl had been travelling in Vietnam and Thailand, and while nice, was a bit of a downer. The guy from Italy however, was halarious and had some great travelling stories, as he had been on the road for the last 6 months travelling in Indonesia and Malaysia. Our bus made a quick stop off in Pattaya to drop off half the bus passengers, and within 45 minutes, we were at the Ban Phe pier being loaded onto a boat bound for Koh Samet.

The boat jourey itself had some classic moments. The front bench seat wasn't fastened to the floor, so I practically domino'd onto another row of passangers. The entire roof was covered in produce, and much of the passanger floor had leaking bags of fish. With these boats you need to wait until its full, and we were some of the first people to arrive, so this gave me time to really observe all the new passangers. Lets see...who else is bound for Koh Samet... Well, there's the Dutch family of 5, there's the 4 Farang(foreigner)/Thai Couples (Obviously Mis-Matched in age), there's the creepy American guy who looks and talks exactly like Owen Wilson who can't stop talking to you, there's a handful of backpackers, and of course there's a Thai couple yelling back and forth to each other from across the boat. So if that's the boat, what does Koh Samet have in store?

Well, upon arrival I was greeted with a quaint little harbour town, and some nice beaches. Things were looking good. The Italian, the Irish girl, and myself banded together, searched our guidebooks and tried to find some accomidation. The two places recommended were total dives, and were quite expensive. The Italian guy was obviously some suave salesman, and was actually scored us a fantastic deal at a resort of one of the nicest beaches. At 500 baht a night, which is not really in my budget, we were staying in a place that was probably worth double compared to the other rooms we had been looking at. My bungalow was a mere 50 feet from the ocean, with a private bathroom, a hot shower, and double sized bed, and a rotating fan (its all about the rotating fans). So, I dropped off my bags, temporarily parted ways with my backpacking posse, and made my way to the beach.

I'm not really sure what I was expecting when I decided to come to Koh Samet. I liked the idea that it was only 3 hours outside of Bangkok, and that it was a National Park, and the lonely planet seemed to give me the impression that it wasn't as developed as some of the other islands. Well, what I saw when I first hit the beach, definately wasn't what I was expected. On this hot sunny day, the beach was absolutely packed. Dotted with suntanning tourists, Thai/Farang couples, families, and wall-to-wall restorts. The roars of See-Doos out on the ocean were accompanied by the sight of boats on fishing tours, boats dropping off passangers, and the heads of swimmers bobbing in the waves. Even the air had tourists, as power boats dragged parasailers behind them. What had I gotten myself into?

The answer, which I found over the next few days, is an important one. Whatever experience/scene you want, is there to be found if you take the time to look. As well, I began to understand that places are touristy for a reason.

I took it relatively easy the first night. I chilled out with the Italian guy, and took an early sleep as I had not been sleeping well in Bangkok. I awoke after a comfortable sleep at around 6 a.m, unable to fall back asleep. I stumbled out to the beach in my flip-flops and dropped myself down into a lounge chair on the beach in front of my resort. I looked to my left, looked to my right. I was the only person on the entire beach. Serenity now. I dug my feet into the sand, and laid back, relaxing to the sight of the calm ocean and a Koh Samet sunrise.

Later that day, the wind picked up a little bit, and the See Doos and other boats seemed to dissapear, and maybe because it was a couple days past the weekend, but the crowd seemed to thin out as well. I spent the majority of my second day swimming, reading, and relaxing. The water was soo warm and refreshing, and the waves were great for jumping around in. After having a dinner on the beach, I went out to a nearby resort that served up cheap beer Changs. I chatted up a couple of Swedish guys who were extremely confident that Swedan was in for another Olympic Gold in hockey. We agreed to disagree on that point, but we went on to have a night.

The next day I slept in. Finally. Till almost 11:00. Planning to leave the next day, I decided to do some island exploration, and rented myself an automatic scooter (300 baht for 24 hours). What an awesome decision. Koh Samet is a beautiful island, and I loved the freedom is the bike to explore it. I went to several beaches, and checked out a few of the remote resorts. One on the west coast was so laid back, and had beautiful rooms for a reasonable price. At the southern tip of the island, I stopped for lunch and took some pictures from the lookout. On the way there, I struggled witha couple of hills, having to take a couple of runs at it. But, other than that, it was mostly a smooth ride. The east coast of the island was stunning. I took some pictures from a gazeebo perched on a cliff, and I took a stroll at one of the only resorts on the eastern side of the island. This place was immaculate. Perfectly manacured lawns, a nice private beach, massages right at the ocean, great views of the sunset, and of course, prices to match. As the sun began to fade, I made my way back to my resort, and dropped off my bike. Not before finding a few interesting areas, like a huge water resavoir, which roads that encircled it were pretty much a racing track, and as well I stumbled upon Koh Samets garbage dump, a sad sad sight. Nevertheless, a fantastic day was capped off by a couple of drinks on the beach with some other random backpackers, and a good nights sleep.

The next morning I awoke fairly early, slightly confused (as would become a trend on the days when I would leave a place), and went to return my bike before I left the island. Stress ensued as the guy who rented me my bike wasn't there, which in turn meant my deposit money for the bike wasn't there. However, all worked out, and soon enough I was back at the pier being herded back onto the wooden ship. We waited, and waited, and eventually (not too sure why), we were shuffled onto another boat. The Irish girl I had met a few days before had switched her flight to that day, as she wanted to go home and get sorted out before she went back to work. She was a mess, she was soo sick from food poisening, and definately was not enjoying the rocky ride. I however, was. As we pulled away from Koh Samet, and I looked back at the small island, I really realized that if I wanted a "backpacker" experience, or a "local" experience, or really any particular experience, if I took a little time and effort, it was there to be found. Back in Ban Phe boarded a mini bus back to Bangkok. After an uneventful ride, I found myself on Khao San road. Trying to recollect myself before making my journey North. I went to Burger King. What a choice, probably the best thing I had done all trip (okay, not really). But, I never realized they have Air Con AND Western Flush toilets, and are open all night. This may not be a big deal to some, but for me, yeah, important. So, after a fast food lunch, and a visit to the throne, I took a taxi to the Northern Bangkok Bus station and started my journey north, to Ayutthaya.

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Comments

[Monique]

Oh. My. God.
SOUNDS GORGEOUS!! Watching the sun rise with your toes in the sand?! Sign me up! And the scooter adventure sounds awesome too. Glad you're having fun! Don't miss me too much :P <3 MoMo

[Katelyn]

Wow
Brodie these photos are fantastic! You should go into photography! You catch the perfect moments! Glad you're having fun!!! miss you!