Sunsets and Ko Samui

Waking Up

I was out late the night before, so I slept until about 10am and rolled out to the bar/restaurant on the water. I took in breakfast at the bar and worked on my blog. I ate like a king, espresso, french toast, eggs, fruit, and a lemon shake (slushy) all for under $10. The restaurant was on the pricey side, too. 

After breakfast I walked up and down the beach. There are several hotels along the beach. There were a few enormous rocks a few hotels down so I went in that direction to take some photos. As I was taking pictures, this strange english speaking man in a speedo decided to enter them. He proceeded to use a large branch I was photographing as part of his work out. It's a public beach, so what can I say? I find other things to take interest in and after about 10 minutes me asks me what time it is and than leaves. 

Cruising Around

Driving around the island in a scooter is one of my favorite things to do on the island, so I decided to spend my last day following the southern coast from the west to the east end. Most of the beaches were empty and undergoing development. It was clear the island was undergoing growth. Locals have mentioned to me numerous times how much this island has changed in the last 10 years due to commercialization. I wonder if the commercialization is mostly in town, like Chaweng Beach or Lamai. Both those areas have hundreds of bars and shops, outside of those areas is mostly rural…and the part I like the best. I’ve been told Ko Tao is similar to what Ko Samui was ten years ago. I’m disappointed I didn’t make it out there (it’s a 2 hour ferry boat ride) especially since it’s one of the dive capitals of the world (as in SCUBA dive, not dive bar). Since I skidded out I’m forced to keep my leg dry, so diving is out. The ferry ride is 2 hours, so a day trip was possible…but I’d rather spend those four hours exploring Samui. I can see myself coming back and when I do I’ll prioritize spending time on Ko Tao. My time on Ko Samui was mostly relaxing. I did explore the entire island, but after six nights in three hotels scattered around the east side of the island I took my time and enjoyed the journey. 

Today's exploration

Empty Land

New Temple

Sunset Spotting

About an hour prior to sunset I started to search for places to take in the sunset. Along the way, and literally in the middle of nowhere off a dirt road, I saw a woman selling coconut water and coconut oil. A friend asked me to pickup some coconut oil for them, so I got a bottle and continued on. Of all the places this woman could have setup shop, I have no idea why she choose where she did. A dirt road well off the main road behind an incomplete boutique hotel. 

Sunset

Sunset

Dinner

Right after official sunset (6:30) I started the trek back to the hotel. Along the way I stopped at one of the small restaurants on the beach that served fresh seafood. Most of the restaurants along the road are open air, with an overhead ceiling only, allowing patrons to take in the view of the open ocean. When it came time to order I was torn between tiger prawns  and mahi-mahi. Since I had the prawns before I opted for the mahi-mahi. Since it took a while to cook I crawled off the deck, over the railing, and onto the beach to grab some post sunset shots. There were a few private bungalows along the beach and a small hotel next door. An englishman was sitting on the balcony of one of the bungalows and tried telling me I couldn’t cross his property. Several hotel owners told me over and over again there are no private beaches on the island, so I knew I was in the right and just gave him an evil look. If he was a local I would have respected his wishes, since he was an English chump I stood my ground. I learned a long time ago never to capitulate with the British.  

Mahi Mahi? Yes please

Leaving my comfort zone

After about 5-10 minutes I returned to my table at the restaurant. My lemon shake (slushy is a better descriptor) was waiting for me. I started to look at arrangements for my next destination, Chiang Mai. I booked lodging and dinner arrived. The fish was fantastic - literally cooked to perfection. I wasn’t crazy about the sauce but it wasn’t bad. 

Night Market

I spent some time walking around Lamai’s night market. There were dozens of vendors with tables setup selling everything from electronics to clothing. One particular electronics booth off the main road was run by a Burmese woman who spoke very good English. I chatted with her a bit and looked at her wares. She’s been in Thailand for about seven years and plans to go home in the next year, as Burma’s (Myanmar) political climate has cooled down. She expects to keep the booth open, her brother will run it, because it makes her quite a bit of money. She sold mostly knock off products, apple earphones, Beats headphones, and a variety of bluetooth speakers. Her stuff sounded pretty good. Given the price ($30 for a speaker that costs $200 on Amazon) is was clear they were fakes. But they were fairly indistinguishable from the real thing. Usually the plastic feels different, but these units actually felt real. There was another merchant further in the market selling similar goods, including a fake iPhone - which was a first for me to see. The casing looked identical to the 5s, and the shell even looked like iOS with similar looking icons and a swipe left/right feel - but it was android underneath. The pre-haggle price was around $200. I don't haggle unless it's something I'm going to buy, so I don't know what his bottom dollar was. I did try haggling on a Beats Pill bluetooth speaker replica and even reached a deal - or so I thought. Ends up the speaker he handed me was different than displayed. I noticed the beats logo wasn't anywhere on the one he handed me, and when I simply took the one off the shelf the guy freaked out and raised the price. I suspect the guy is pulling the old bait and switch on people.

Electronics! 

Fake iPhone ($200) - Steve J would be furious

Night Market

Ending the Night

I had planned on just returning to the hotel, but decided to go into town for one last massage in Ko Samui. I remember reading some advice from travel guru Rick Steves about splurging when things are cheap and conserving when they are not. If you’re traveling on a budget like I often am it’s probably some of the best advice to consider. I walked around and got some ice cream, than a massage. The massage was fantastic. Massage places are all over the town area, so I can’t remember if I had been to this one prior. The people were overly friendly and acted as if they recognized me, so it’s possible I was there the night before. The woman worked my back, shoulders, and neck. She knew exactly where my pressure points were and worked them out. At times it hurt…but I figured the pain was just weakness leaving the body.

I returned to the hotel, cleaned up my wound, and went to the beach. I did some reading on my next destination on one of the chairs by the ocean. The wind was blowing pretty hard and the waves were crashing. I was the only one out there for a while, than two Russians walked up the beach and sat on a chair near me. They probably thought I’d enjoy their cigarette smoke, because I got quite a bit of it. To this day I still do not understand how smoking around non-smokers and children is considered acceptable.

Night at the hotel beach