Post 11: Ko Samui

SawadiKaaaaaa* (Hello in Thai with extra emphasis)!

Our ferry arrived in Ko Samui at 9:30 AM on Tuesday morning. A bit groggy from sleeping the entire time, we managed to find our bags and exit the boat. When we arrived at the port we were immediately surrounded by the usual suspects (the hollering taxi drivers), before we found a tuk-tuk sent by our hotel. We hopped onboard, and within 10 minutes had arrived at our last hotel in Thailand, Lanna Resort.

The hotel was beautiful! It kind of reminded me of a more modern Palm Springs hotel, with all of the rooms surrounding one enormous pool. We checked in with a man named Alex at reception and were show to our room; a little studio type space with all white evrerything (walls, linnens, floors, couch, TV, etc.). The room smelled like vanilla with a hint of lemongrass—so delicious. We put our stuff away, changed into bathing suits and headed to the pool cafe for one of the best hotel breakfast’s yet. Then we spent the rest of the morning/afternoon reading, researching, and swimming. I’d like to share that I finally finished the book I was reading, Skippy Dies, which left me with a sense of profound accomplishment as I’d actually managed to finish a book that made me want to light myself on fire for the majority of the time I was reading it (I can’t say I’d recommend it).

For the sunset we went to a bar called Sunset Bar (so cliche) and had surprisingly good mojitos. Then we took a taxi to Chaweng, the busier side of the island to get dinner. Chaweng had all the usual tourist stands and attractions, but here more than anywhere else I noticed that there were an abundance of well-dressed men (drip-sweating because who wears a suit in this humidity?) peddeling their tailoring services. We found an authentic looking Italian restaurant on Trip Advisor, called Duomo and decided to go there. The food was insanely delicious and surprisingly authentic, it was even managed by an Italian guy named Giuseppe (just kidding, I never got his name, but he looked like a Giuseppe if I’ve ever seen one). We ordered a cuatro stagioni pizza (eighty-six the ham) and a pesto linguini—we’d highly recommend both!

After dinner we found one of those doctor fish foot spas, the ones where the fish allegedly eat the dead skin off your feet, and I decided we had to do it before we left. So we negotiated with the owner of “The Foot Spa” to let us go together for half the price (I think he was so confused by our offer that he finally just agreed). I can honestly say that this was one of the weirdest experiences of my life. The feeling of multiple fish sucking on my feet was a combination of surprise, tickling, pain, and disgust (or that last one may have just been for me). Daniel and I asked the guy to record us, and well you can see our reactions in the video, but we pretty much giggled like school girls. After that we went back to the hotel, showered, and went to sleep.

Yesterday morning we slept in (probably the result of sleeping in a bed that depresses when you lie on it), went for breakfast, and then went to the pool. We spent the afternoon relaxing, swimming, and brainstorming. I’m finally back to feeling creative after months of being stuck, so now ideas are flowing out of me like the Nile—I couldn’t be happier.

Last night we went to the beach for our final Thailand sunset, found lounge chairs at a restaurant/bar called Secret Garden (wifi password happypeople12345), and ordered a few happy hour drinks. The sunset was yet again, absolutely stunning. As we were drinking, a man passed by on the beach holding a red, heart-shaped paper lantern (or “lucky balloon” as they call them here), and we decided to buy it. (Side note: I was so excited for the Full Moon party on Ko Phangan because all the photos show the sky full of lanterns—not red, heart-shaped ones—however, we never saw a single one there… I’m assuming it’s because they banned them.) When the sky got dark we lit our lucky balloon and watched it float up into the sky, along with a few others, until it disappeared. Satisfied, because I felt like I’d done all the random things one needs to do while in Thailand, we went up onto the restaurant deck for a lovely last dinner. After dinner we went back to the hotel and went to sleep.

This morning we woke up and went down for our last authentic Thai breakfast—a bagel, schemer, lox, onions (basil leaves and green olives?). Then we packed up the room and took a taxi to the Ko Samui airport. I spent the plane ride writing this post and now we’re in the Bangkok airport waiting to board our flight to Hong Kong. I’m not so sure what the Internet will be like there, with all the firewalls and what not, but we’ll find a way to keep the posts coming.

Thanks everyone for all of your support and for following along with our travels.

KapKunKaaaaaaaaaaa* (Thank You in Thai with extra emphasis, courtesy of the *Scott Jacks School of International Language)

LJ + DS