Sawasdee Ka from Koh Samui

Monday - 19 May 08

Hello from Koh Samui, we are finally here and it great to be here. Our day didn't start off the best as the bus that was meant to pick us up from the hotel and take us to the boat for our trip to Samui island didn't pick us up. So thay had to call a taxi to take us there and the guy couldn't have driven any slower if he tried and thats unusual for Thailand as there is only the one speed here and that is deathly fast. So of course we missed the boat along with about a hundred other people mainly young backpackers so we were loaded into a rust bucket bus and driven an hour to the next ferry stop. By the time we arrived and got on the boat it was farting room only. You know those stories you hear on the news about overloaded ferries sinking. Well the ferry we were on was way overloaded. The boat trip to Samui only took an hour and there were only 3 of us who got off, the rest of the people were heading to Ko Phangnan Island which most young people and backpackers go to party.

We decided after the last 2 days of shit that we have had that we were not taking anymore crap or bullshit from taxi, tuk tuk or hotel hawkers. I had surfed the net and wrote down a couple of accommodation places to look at in Lamai Beach here on Koh Samui and would decide once we had looked. We got off the ferry and had to walk a fair way down the pier to the taxi and tuk tuk rank to catch transport to Lamai Beach. A tuk tuk driver asked us where we wanted to go and we told him and his tuk tuk does that run, we asked how much and he said 60 baht each which was what it was last time we were in Samui. We said ok. There were two old Buddhist monks sitting on the tuk tuk waiting to go our way, so we chatted to them and had a cigarette with them while we were waiting to go. The tuk tuk driver was hanging around waiting to see if he could pick up extra fares as the more people they can get on the more money they make. I gave him 5 mins and then if he hadn't left by then we were getting off and getting a meter taxi. He tried to show us pamphlets of guesthouses that we should stay at that obviously he got kickbacks for. I was quite direct and a little abrupt and showed him my list of guesthouses and told him that is where we want to go and we are not interested in his. Within 5 mins we were on the road to Lamai Beach. He probably thought I was a rude bitch, but I don't care I am over their bullshit. The Thai people are lovely people but these few who have forked us around and ripped us off have made the last two days a nightmare and we are over them.

We arrived at Lamai Beach at the first hotel, we asked about a room and she told us 1100 baht - 1500 baht a night, I told her it was advertised on internet for 600baht which it was, she said no, Rick and I said goodbye and left. We are lucky all the hotels and bungalows are right next door to one another so we went to the next one and the next one and the next one until we found one that we liked, was value for money and had everything we need. We are staying at 'The Cottage@Samui' in a lovely bungalow with air con, cable tv, nice bathroom, comfortable bed and is nicely decorated and clean, it has a nice verandah overlooking the garden, is quiet and within spitting distance to the beach and shops. The lady asked for 600baht a night and Rick asked if we booked for 7 nights can we have a discount and so she gave it to us for 500 baht a night, so we booked 7 nights. Bargain!

After the last 2 days we are much happier and more relaxed, we can now sit back and chill for the next week. We have decided we now have enough time up our sleeves that we can probably spend another 7 days here, a total of 14 before we head to Chiang Mai, which if we can get cheap fares will be flying to. No more buses or trains for a while for us.

We have decided not to do a visa run into Myanmar unless we absolutely have to. We probably won't be allowed to anyway as it seems the military junta there has put restrictions on border crossings to stop journalists and aid workers from entering the country and filming the cyclone raveged areas and people. We can apply for a 30 day extension on our visas at the immigration department, it takes 2 days and 1900 baht each but thats probably the safest way to do it. We will need that time to finish our trip. We only have 6 more areas to visit now unless we get side tracked and with the visa extension will give us from now another 60 days to do it.

Our first day on Samui Island has been great. We have excellent accommodation run by nice people, its quiet, the beach is beautiful and we have found a great little outdoor restaurant 5 minutes down the road that serves great, cheap food. We are in heaven. We had a great time here when we came last November and it hasn't changed since then.

Our trip so far has been great, except for 2 crap days and a couple of crap people, but hey thats good odds considering we have been in Thailand now for 22 days and travelled to heaps of places. From here on it will only get better and better and what better place to start than in Samui.

So with that in mind I will bid La Kon until tomorrow!