Waking Up
Today was check out, so I packed my bags, showered, and head down for breakfast. My flight was at 6pm, next up was the island of Ko Samui. Ko Samui is much further south and a place I've been curious about visiting since I heard it mentioned in Meet the Parents...round and round we go. The hotel folks were great and allowed a 2pm checkout. The plan was to hit a world class weekend market, come back and cleanup, than head to the airport.
Chatuchak Weekend Market
I'd take the metro to the Chatuchak market (also called the JJ) since it was a few kilometers away. The Chatuchak market is considered to be the worlds largest open air weekend market, and it did meet my expectations. Lonely Planet has a list of the world's largest markets. Without making the effort I've been to all but a few (Chang Mai, Syria and China). Chang Mai is my next destination, so there will only be two left to see :)
The market had both indoor and outdoor sections and was broken up into a grid like structure. The sections of the market were clearly labeled and organized, making it fairly easy to navigate through. The indoor sections were stuffy and would drive any claustrophobic crazy. The outdoor sections were much easier to navigate through and offered easy entry into the indoor sections. Out of all the markets I've been to, this one was the easiest to navigate through and was best organized.
The market had everything for sale, even pets. I spent an hour or so looking around. I found a really nifty transparent iPhone case for $3 and Apple looking headphones for $7. The headphones looked real, but the sound quality was subpar to the authentic Apple brand. The case was $3 because the merchant insisted it was an authentic hoco case. She offered a fake one for $1. I stuck with the one I picked up because it looked better. It was a pretty nice case, unlike anything I've seen in the states.
One could spend an entire day walking around and taking in the market. I'd only have an hour. In short time I'd make it back to the hotel, cleanup, and hit the airport.
Flight to Ko Samui
Departing from and arriving to an airport often yields a much different experience. Usually when I'm departing from an airport I see more of the shops and architecture of the airport. Since I had a couple of hours to kill I stopped by the food court. The food court had many western fast food style restaurants, including Krispy Kreme donuts (odd) and a McDonalds. The McDonalds offered fried chicken. Out of pure curiosity I tried the McDonalds chicken. It wasn't bad, overly breaded, and nothing special. The fries tasted exactly the same. McDonalds french fries and Starbucks have figured out how to consistently deliver a product overseas better than any other company.
I wasn't sure how my baggage allotment would work. I was allowed 10kg of luggage with my ticket, additional luggage would be subject to a surcharge. There was no mention about bag count. From what I read online, all they really cared about was weight - but I wasn't certain. Best case I had 2 bags (one personal and one small suitcase). Worst case I had 3 (I have a small handbag that could fit in my backpack). In any case, the baggage wouldn't be an issue. Bangkok airways was my carrier and they were pretty solid. Even offering me an exit row when I checked in at no extra cost. The only downside to the exit row was the exit row seats did not recline. It was a short flight (1 hr, 45 minutes of cruise flight time) so it really didn't matter. They did serve light snacks on the short flight, which surprised me.
Krispy Kreme in Thailand
Friend chicken at McDonalds
Very cool looking terminals at BKK airport
Arriving in Ko Samui
Ko Samui airport has got to be the most quaint airport I've ever visited. The airport is exactly what comes to mind when I think "island airport" The entire airport consists of several huts and is open air. Since this was a domestic airport immigration was not necessary. I made my way to the transit area expecting to find a bus that I read went into town. I was very open to taking a cab since I wasn't exactly sure where my hotel was located. 500bht ($15 USD) got me to my hotel.
I found the hotel using TripAdvisor. It was rated extremely well, looked nice, and was a pricey $50/night. Other hotels with similar ratings were averaged around $150, so it seemed like a good option.
The arrival experience at the hotel was a nightmare. TripAdvisor suggested the property was on the beach, it wasn't (it was very close though). The manager was away and the woman working at the front desk did not speak English. There was no record of my reservation. Funny, because on my email from hotels.com it states "Don't worry about calling the hotel, your reservation is confirmed"....ha. The woman fought with me a bit about keeping my passport. I insisted she could copy it if she wanted, but she insisted on keeping it. I refused. We went back and forth for 10 minutes about the passport. I told her she could not have it and handed her a copy I had made. I realized when we were arguing that the nicer I was to her, the nicer she was to me...and vice versa. So as we would argue, I would end with a smile. Without offering any negative emotion or frustration (which was hard) I simply insisted on keeping my passport. Eventually she gave in saying it was okay.
You may be asking, why did I put up such a fight? Well, when I started doing these sorts of adventures I always made sure I could leave wherever I was. I always have hidden several hundred dollars and my passport to ensure I could get myself out of a situation. Further, if you offer your passport as collateral you may find yourself capitulating moreso than you normally would since you need it to exit the country. The only time I've given up my passport for more than a few minutes was leaving Jordan for Israel - customs takes it for several hours and hands it back on the bus. I read though that this was the norm in advance.
Each room is a separate bungalow, mine is dead center
Rooms were small and dated, but adequate
The hotel was located about 100m up a direct road that connected to the main road. The woman couldn't fetch me a taxi so I figured I'd walk into town. Once on the main road I found a taxi and asked him to take me into town. He suggested he take me to the Full Moon Party. The Full Moon Party is held on the neighboring island of Koh Phangan. A couple of good friends went to Thailand last year and said it was a must do. The party literally goes all night until sunrise. I was pretty disappointed when I realized I would miss the full moon by one day. Here I am on the island, after almost deciding to go elsewhere, being sold on the trip by a taxi driver. What a coincidence.
Flashback. Attending a full moon party was on my hit list. The full moon was technically the night before though, so I thought I missed it. In fact, I gave up on the idea of attending it and almost ended up in Phucket or another city. I was dubious, but it was a Saturday night and figured I had little to loose.
The man took me to a ferry. For 1200 bht ($36) I was sold a round trip ticket that included transportation back to the hotel after the party ended. I'm pretty certain the cab driver was offered a kickback because he insisted on walking me to the man selling tickets. Frankly, I didn't care if I was overpaying for the ticket or if the driver got a commission. If I was going to the full moon party it was chump change for the experience.
Full moon party here I come!
Full Moon Party
Upon arriving on the island of Koh Phangan, I was hit up for another 100bht (around $3) to get onto the island. They gave me a pretty cool colorful plastic bracelet so I thought it was a fair trade. It was around 11pm when I got on the island and it was packed.
The first thing I noticed was that large buckets were being sold with a bottle of liquor and a mixer. This was considered a single serving. Around midnight the beach was nearly filled with people. I figured it reached its peak, but that happened around 2am when it got more packed. The beach was filled with tens of thousands of people (various bars lined up the beach, it kinda reminded me of a couple of bars in Panama City spring break...but even more people). There were thousands further in town. Some locals were within the crowd, but it was mostly westerners. I met people of all backgrounds, but mostly European and Russians dominated. One German group of college aged guys wanted to pay me to take their photo and than email it to them. I said sure, but I wasn't taking their money. They were more than grateful. I mentioned I'd email it when I got back to the mainland - they suggested since I was American they had no doubts I'd keep my word. They were very complimentary to America. They took many digs at the French though. The more I travel the more I think the French are the punching bag of much of western Europe.
I walked along the beach from one end to the other. At one end was a long bridge like walkway that lead to a hotel build into the mountainside. The walkway was crazy - the wood planks felt like they could break. Further, a rope to hold only exited on the seaside, and traffic came from both directions. Falling off the opposite side meant a fall into large rocks. Given the copious amounts of liquor guests must have, I'm sure many have gotten hurt going back to the hotel. Maybe it's the hotels way of keeping out drunks. If so, it's genius and effective. This thing was the walking equivalent of Maui's Road to Hana.
The path eventually lead to a hotel that offered a large deck with bean bangs along the coast. I sat there and enjoyed the view for a while, it was relaxing.
Single serve buckets
Limbo by fire
Easily tens of thousands of people on the beach
Awful idea to walk when drunk
Getting Back
Around 2-3am I decided I should get back before the masses turn in. I read horror stories about people waiting hours for the ferry. While in line a man came up and after seeing my lanyard said to me I was VIP. He fished out other people and said when we had 30 or so we'd immediately leave. I thought he was trying to sell me something because he kept telling me how smart I was to purchase VIP. Other people would wait hours, like I read. It was like he was trying to sell me the VIP experience, except I already bought it. The dock had several different companies operating out of it and most had HUGE lines.
True to his word, we were on a boat within 30 minutes. 20 minutes later I'd be on land after a very rough ride. The ride must have been awful for people who were intoxicated. I only had a few drinks and was very cautious, having read horror stories about what can happen on the island. In the end I think the experience is safe. But given the number of people, drinking, and god only knows what else goes on there, bad things can easily happen. All in all, this was certainly a life experience.
Upon arriving on share we boarded into vans. My stop would be the first, maybe because I was sitting shotgun. Another couple got out of the van, which was strange because my hotel was incredibly tiny. I guess it's not that surprising given there were tens of thousand at the party. I opened the locked gate to the hotel and the couple followed. They left their key with the front desk because they read to bring nothing you care to loose to the party. The same advice was offered from my friends that went. Throughout my time at the party I and a death grip on my iPhone. They left the key with the person at the front desk - but the desk shuts down at 10pm. They used the phone at the desk and finally reached someone - but that person was in Bangkok! I felt bad and tried to help.
When traveling, I take on a mindset that when in trouble others will help me. In turn, I have have to offer the same to others. So these people's problem...was now my own. Sleeping by the pool wasn't an option because of mosquitoes (although bugs really weren't that bad). I only had a couple of pillows and the room was tiny, but maybe it would work if we all crashed in my unit. I wondered though, the window. Maybe I could open it with a hangar? I went to my room, got a metal hangar, and got their window open. I was their hero :)
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