Ko Samui

Day 14 – Sunday 1st of March – The Wave – Ko Samui, Thailand

I have the knack of being able to fall asleep anywhere, and I had done just that on the VIP bus, only to be woken up at 12:05am by the lights being switched on, and the engine off. We were at a rest stop, so we disembarked the bus and wondered around for a quick look. There was no communication from the drivers, not even what time to be back by. After what seemed like forever, we all got back on the bus and were on our way. I fell asleep again.

I was woken by an Irish couple I had been speaking to earlier at around 4:30am. We were stopped, and our bags were being heaved off the bus and onto the dirt road, once again, with no communication. No one really knew what the hell was going on, so we followed the light, to a large quite brightly lit waiting area. This was the ferry terminal. We slept there, leaning on tables until about 7am, when we were herded onto the boat, to then spend two and a half hours going the scenic way around, first Ko Tao, a diving island and the smallest of the three main islands, then Koh Pangan, famous for the full moon parties, the Ko Samui, the largest Island, and my destination. There were free shuttle busses or vans to various parts of the island. I was off to Chaweng, the party town of Samui, and the backpacker centre. I had been recommended a place by Alex and Caitlin, called The Wave, and with the assistance of a gay couple from Sydney in my van, we found it.

By the time I got there, I had been in transit for over 16 hours. And to get there and find that the only room they have available is an 850 Baht, three bed air con room, was very very disappointing. I nevertheless took the room, because the idea of lugging my back along Chaweng Beach road, in the heat of the day, did not appeal to me at all. It was a massive room, with a dingy ensuite, and two beds. The air con was powerful and quite nice in the end. I dumped my stuff and headed out for some food. The Australians in my mini-van had recommended a place called Ninja Crepes, which was just across the road from The Wave. It is one of the oldest restaurants in Chaweng, and it famous for good, cheap food, and friendly service. It really stood up to its reputation.

There is not much to do in Samui in terms of cultural sights, apart from the Big Buddha, which compared to the Reclining Buddha, is not that big. I headed to the beach for a swim, which was amazing. The water is so warm, and its only when you leave the water that you feel some chill from the wind. I am very much used to Surf Coast kind of water temperatures, where you need a long sleave, long legged wetsuit to survive. I headed back from the beach and decided to spend some time on the net. I went to Ninja Crepes to have dinner and then back to the Hotel. On the way though, I found this in the local Pharmacy, see pic below!

I was planning to have a bit of a nap and then head out to check out the Samui nightlife, but I fell asleep and did not wake up to my alarm.

Day 15 – Monday 2nd of March – The Wave – Ko Samui, Thailand

I have been using a number of social networks during my trip overseas, as I am interested in seeing how they can impact and benefit travel, especially traveling solo. One particular social networking tool I use is a site called Brightkite. The idea of brightkite is that you ‘check in’ to a location, be it a restaurant, suburb or city, and can see if any of your friends or other people are around you, or have been there before. You then post notes or photos to that location, that other users can then view, when they arrive at or near that location. It is a strange concept to a non user, but if you visit this link www.brightkite.com/people/geordieb it gives you access to a list of basic and succinct information about where I have been and what I have done.

I had checked into Ko Samui the day before and was only the second person to ever do so, the first had been a mere 7 hours before me. I thought that this was an opportunity too good to miss. So in the name of social networking and web 2.0 I messaged the user, saying that we should meet up for the first ever Brightkite Meet Up. He agreed and was just as amused as I that we claimed the first two check in’s. We had decided to do lunch the next day. So at midday, I found myself walking along Chaweng beach to meet www.brightkite.com/people/dbruzzone

It was quite funny, to intentionally meet a complete stranger, but Davide was a computer programmer and as such, we got along like a house on fire. We whinged about PC users and how we are gradually converting the entire world to Mac. We talked about social media and the opportunities in the future, and all of a sudden, it was 4:30pm. David had mentioned that he wanted to go to the Boxing, and I had decided it would be an experience, so he said he would email me if he could make it later on tonight, otherwise it would be tomorrow.

The rest of my afternoon was taken up by the internet, reading my book and dreaming of great food for dinner. I could really get used to this. I had dinner at Ninja Crepes as usual, and then headed back to the Wave for a quiet beer. I met two English girls who were studying Lonely Planet guides. They were, as most young English people seem to be, heading to Australia, and as such, I gave advice.

Tomorrow I will be off to the Boxing with Davide. It should be a pretty interesting experience. I am not looking forward to the violence, but I think it should be okay.

Signing off… Geordie

Day 16 – Tuesday 3rd of March – The Wave – Ko Samui, Thailand

I woke up nice and early with the intention of exploring the island for the day. I booked another night, and headed to Lamai Beach, the next beach around the island from Chaweng. Ko Samui isn’t really big enough to warrant full size busses or a train, and as such, to meet the demand of tourists and locals alike, they have a fleet of what are called Songthaews. They are essentially a ute (Toyota Hilux style) with a large canopy on the back, and seats along the sides. You hitch them from anywhere along their routes and negotiate a fare before climbing in the back. The fares are pretty set, so no real bargaining can occur. It cost me 10 baht to get from Chaweng to Lamai.

Since I got to Samui, I have been overrun with Germans. Every single person who sits next to me on a table at a restaurant, or at a bar, is German. There are a few Italians and some English, but a majority of people are German. As such, further along the road a middle aged German couple climbed in the back, and started chatting to me in broken English. About half way along, a German family also joined us. I was then excluded from the conversation, as they were speaking… German.

I got to Lamai Beach, and it was much like Samui, except a little wider. I decided to settle in for an afternoon of relaxing, so I sat on a banana lounge, ordered a banana shake, and watched the world go by. I dipped my feet in the water, but I hadn’t brought my towel, so there was to be no swimming. After what seemed like no time at all, I had to head back to get ready for the Boxing. So I hailed another songthaew, and enjoyed the view on the way.

I met up with Davide at Ninja Crepes and we had Pad Thai for dinner. We had been told that the stadium where the boxing was held is notorious for being around the girlie bars, where you might get hassled, not by beefy guys wanting to mug you, but by scantly clad girls wanting you to buy them a drink. We caught a cab, and got a little ripped off, as it was a lot closer than we thought. We brought our very expensive tickets and headed into Chaweng Stadium.

It was not so much a stadium as a large shed with a boxing ring in it. The boxing was surprisingly good, but hallarious! They had this opening sequence that was quite simply the funniest thing I have ever seen. It was a mix of The Real Slim Shady by Eminem, The Rocky Theme, and some Tu Pac song. I will put it up on YouTube as soon as I can! There were 7 rounds, and as such, I drank a few beers, Davide drank Red Bull, which is quite a funny little substance in Thailand. The last round were the big boys, who had moved here from around the world and trained here. They were pretty shit, because one kicked the other so hard in the ribs, I am sure I heard them crack. That was the end of the fight.

We headed out of the stadium and immediately started getting hassled by Girls from the bars, including one who slapped us in the croutch when we refused to drink with her. We ended up having a drink in one that was less seedy and then walking through the precinct and deciding it was time to wrap up the evening with a good hangover prevention. McDonalds in Thailand is alright, pretty much edible, much like home.

We actually ended up at one more bar, which was in the more intense party side of town. It apparently didn’t pick up until 2am which was pretty amusing. After about 10 minutes of drinking our very strong drinks, we headed home.

Day 17 – Wednesday 4th of March – Ko Samui, Thailand to Patong Beach, Thailand

Today it was time to leave Ko Samui. I was a little sad about that, it has not been one of my favorite places, but it has grown on me and I can understand why people come here to just chill out. My flight was at 2:00pm, so there wasn’t much I could do with my morning, so I visited Ninja Crepes (I live there) and then returned to my Hotel to catch up on blogness and facebook.

I actually met a few more English who were on a Gap Year and here for a few days before the Full Moon Party in Ko Pangan. They were pretty friendly and we chatted until I needed to leave to the airport. The Samui Airport was amazing. It was all open air and landscaped and featured a whole street of shops with a little railway car that ferried people along it if they didn’t want to walk. When I got to the terminal there was free food on offer and.. free wifi! Woo! So I chilled out for two hours on the net, eating awesome food.

The flight was good, the plane was a newer propeller plane, the first I have been on so far. It was also pretty empty, so I had a double seat to myself. I got to Phuket airport and it was nothing special, except it was quite large. I collected my bags and headed for the Airport Express Bus, to go to Phuket Town before catching a local bus to Patong Beach. I waited for a good 30 minutes and then payed my 15 Baht fee. About 45 minutes we arrived in Phuket Town and I was pointed in the direction of the local bus terminal. After wondering around for 5 minutes a local, who was sitting out the front of her shop informed me that the last busses leave at 6… It was now 6:10. I was extremely pissed off.

She called me a private taxi, and by the time I got to Patong, I had paid about 25 baht less than just catching a taxi straight from the airport. Patong Beach is the nightlife centre of Phuket and where most of the Backpackers head. I had pre-booked at a place called Dive Den. The driver had no idea, so instead we spent 20 minutes driving around before I decided to get out and walk, then ask for directions. Eventually I got pointed in the right direction, and then offered a lift on a motorbike by a young local guy. I explained that I couldn’t pay him anything, but he insisted anyway.

It was an interesting experience, trying to stay on a bike whilst 20 kilos is strapped to you back, and 9 kilos is strapped to your front, but eventually we got there safe. I checked into the Dive Den which was very clean and pretty good. My room was on the roof and was a dorm, my first for Asia (excluding Singapore). I locked my stuff up, then headed to a local restaurant for some dinner. It seemed like I had three room mates, but I hadn’t seen any of them, and retired to bed. I didn’t wake up when they got home, at some silly hour of the morning. I can sleep through anything.

Phuket seems more manageable then Samui. It also has some stuff to do. Things are looking up. I hit a bit of a low in Samui, so hopefully I will feeel better about this soon.

Till next time! Geordie!