Koh Samui

For about thirteen dollars, including fuel, I rented a scooter and drove around the entire island of Koh Samui today. From my hotel in Chaweng Beach I went in a clock-wise direction veering off occasionally from the ring road to check out and swim at the various beaches. The island is a lot flatter and more developed than Koh Phangan. 

I stopped at one of the Wats, a Buddhist temple, and saw the remains of a mummified monk. An old caretaker with wide eyes and a handful of teeth blessed me with holy water. He then tied a colourful string bracelet around my wrist. I'll take all the blessings I can get. I said thank-you in Thai, which after almost a month I still cannot pronounce properly, and left a small donation.

I had a Thai-fusion lunch in Bo Phut, a former Chinese fishing village on the north end of the island, which is now full of trendy restaurants and shops. It was a minced chicken curry baked pie topped with basil and balls of mango served with a warm curry sauce. Very tasty indeed.

Today was my last beach day on this holiday. It was cloudy and windy when I went to the beach after my day of riding. I was pleasantly surprised to see lots of waves! With red flags on the beach I eagerly jumped in and body-surfed like a happy seal. It's the first time I had seen real waves in Thailand. They were a bit too sloppy and closed out to surf in but they had just enough power to body surf in. What a treat!

I then walked to my favourite reggae bar and had a couple of happy hour Margaritas and watched the weather slowly change to dusk. They played, "I shot the Sheriff" for the third time in twenty-four hours. I never seem to tire of Bob Marley.

I finished the evening off by going to an outdoor food court close to my hotel and had a tasty and cheap meal of stir-fried basil and chicken with rice and a dragon fruit shake. And a beer, all for about six bucks. Plus I bought some Thai curry spices from one of the night market vendors on the food court's walking street. A mix of ground and unground spices.

I was very grateful to finish off Koh Samui on a high note as the main road of Chaweng Beach represents everything terrible about tourism. It is littered with generic T-shirt shops that all sell the same ten T-shirts, has a KFC, McDonald's, Burger King, and Starbucks as well as an air-conditioned shopping mall full of the same crap you can get anywhere. The locals and tourist all look bored and miserable. It's like some over stimulating and hellish south east asian Vegas purgatory. If I wanted to see such downbeat people I'd hang out in a casino.

But, if you venture one street behind it you'll find yourself in a different world. Joyful locals playing basketball on a concrete court, slapped together bars, a kick boxing stadium, and Thai families buzzing about their business on scooters. 

I'm flying up north tomorrow to Chaing Mai where a local told me it's cold. Cold in Thailand means that in the morning and the evening you might have to wear a hoody. It would be the first time for me on this trip!

Twenty-four Hour Party People

I'm at my last stop on Koh Phangan at the party beach known as Haad Rin. Last night they had a half moon party out in the jungle. I'm staying at a lively guesthouse called Same-Same run by two Scandinavian girls. They ran a half moon warm up party starting at nine pm including free glow in the dark body paint and beer pong the drinking game. I thought it would be a good place to meet some people but all the twenty somethings kept tightly to their groups as I sipped on a well crafted Margarita. The taxis to the party were scheduled to start running at midnight. Amazing. In Vancouver I think the skytrain stops running about an hour later? I couldn't decide whether to go or not, being by myself and feeling a bit self conscious about it, so I went to the beach and chilled out on a mat at one of Sunrise Beach's beach bars with a Mojito bucket. They did a good job. After finishing off my five ounce drink I had the courage to go. And I'm super glad I went. It was a fun adventure and an impressive and well organized venue with two DJ's, numerous bars and food stalls. I was expecting a very basic thrown together setup out in the bush but was pleasantly surprised with a well designed party arena. I don't normally like dance music but the whole setup was just so damn cool. The entrance fee include two drink tickets. Plus I had a couple of beers with my food earlier in the day. I felt fine when I went to bed last night but felt poisoned when I woke up. I wonder why?

Sunrise Beach is, you guessed it, another crescent shaped beach. I really like it because it is a lot smaller than the other beaches I've been to. It is easy to explore the area. 

I tried Indian food twice yesterday, one of which the guide book recommended, and they were both disappointing. I'm quite surprised with the food in Southern Thailand. I've gone out of my way to try the recommended Thai places and they've ranged from very good to average but strangely I have yet to have an excellent meal. The best Thai food I've ever had was in Kuwait of all places. Even though the quality is average it's a wonderful and healthy food to eat every day. I'm sure I'll miss being able to get a Thai stir fry or curry for three or four bucks when I get home.

The boat ride over to this side of the island was scenic and reminded me a bit of one of the boat tours I was often on in Huatulco, Mexico. Same same but different as they say. 

I've already been thinking about my next holiday, whenever that might be. I'd like to go back to Cabo San Lucas and Huatulco with my two brothers. That would be a gas to share that together. There's a fantastic bar in Cabo called Mi Casa that is filled with truck loads of Day of the Dead figurines and looks like a place Tim Burton would design. Baja California in Mexico is very scenic, has some charming towns, has excellent food and drinks, dramatic beaches, and it has good surfing. Plus it's a lot more affordable from Canada than South East Asia is.

I only have three more beach days left on this holiday. Poor Deano. I'm off to Koh Samui tomorrow for two days. I want to rent a scooter and spend a day driving around the islands 100km ring road stopping at whim for a swim, photo opps, and some tasty meals. Don't worry Mom, I'll ride carefully and booze it up later.

Thong Nai Pan Yai

I'm staying in a cozy garden bungalow in a resort called Longtail at the end of Thong Nai Pan Yai beach in north eastern Koh Phangan. It's another idyllic crescent shaped bay which is connected to another, Thong Nai Pan Noi, on the northern side. If it wasn't for the screaming babies (I counted five this morning) crying during my beautiful beach breakfast it would be perfect. Not to mention the couple last night who let their infant run around behind the bar and play with the keg hoses. How cute. I'm going to puke. The Thais are so polite. The never have a care in the world and did not mind at all. The whole point of being in a bar is to get away from the little monsters in strollers. Another kid was grabbing billiard balls off the pool table as people were playing. Adorable! Man, I needed a drink. The Flip Flop Pharmacy is where I had my sun downer. An excellent whisky sour was my prescription and cure.

For dinner I decided to walk to the northern beach village. It didn't look to far on the map. After doing the Grouse Grind to get their I was good and ready for another cocktail and something different, some tasty Mexican food. I arrived at the open air La Hacienda bar and ordered a Margarita from Yanni the Finish owner. He kept a gun behind the bar (see photo) which was oddly comforting to me. He informed me that unfortunately there was no food that night because he could not find a baby sitter. His Thai wife had to take care of the little one. He recommended a good Thai place next door where I had a very nice Masaman curry. Cheap too.

A wonderful thing that I tried here two days in a row is stand up paddle. It's where you stand on a surfboard and, well, paddle. It was really fun and pleasant. It was harder than I expected but I never fell once. It's a bit like surfing, kayaking, and skiing all rolled into one. Like skiing and surfing you look far ahead and keep your upper body stable and let your lower body find it's own balance. It was cheap too. Only about four dollars an hour. The water here is so clear, blue-green and warm. Excellent for swimming. Afterwards I sat in the shade of a palm tree and sipped on my reward, a fresh chilled coconut.

My salt and pepper caveman beard is getting out of control. I'm starting to look like Papa Smurf. I tried to shave it off but my electric shaver won't work here. Razor blades won't shave through the stuff. I guess I'm stuck with it until I get back.

Tomorrow I take a taxi boat to Haad Rin, my last stop on this island. It's heart of the legendary full moon parties they have every month where 30,000 party people covered in day-glo paint dance, drink, smoke, vomit, and probably fornicate on Sunrise Beach until the sun comes up without a stroller in sight. For better or worse I will miss it as I am flying home that night. But, I might be there for one of their half moon parties. Any excuse for a good time here. God bless Thailand!

Haad Mae Haad

I'm in a resort called Island View Cabanas in Haad Mae Haad in northern Koh Phangan. It's on a bay that's connected by a sand bar to a tiny island called Koh Ma. Nice snorkelling. 

It's weird. The restaurants along the beaches in southern Thailand all seem to have the same menu. It's half western food and half Thai with all the same dishes and prices. It doesn't really matter where you eat, just pick the one with the best view.

I was booking a few things online and my credit card stopped working. I got an email from Mastercard saying to call them. Great. I tried to get my cel phone working and it wouldn't. I tried to make a call from the front desk and they weren't able to help me. Stay calm. Breathe. I walked over to the local village and after about five places I finally found a place that would let me make the call. Damn credit card companies. I notified them before I left and I still ended up having problems. After clearing that up I had a much earned beer in the open air lobby of my sunny resort and booked the rest of my trip. Done!

Seeing as there is no surfing in this country, I have to admit I'm getting a bit bored of beach bumming and I've decided to change things up a bit. I have two more two day stops on Koh Phangan and then I head to Koh Samui for another two days. From there I fly far north to Chaing Mai. I've met several people that rave about it and they all say the food is fantastic. Good enough for me! It's one of the cultural highlights of Thailand. I will spend four nights there and then make a short flight to Bangkok where I will have about two days before I fly home. The plan in Bangkok is to check out a roof top bar, sample some street food, and take an afternoon cooking class where they take you to a local market to buy the goods for the recipes that you prepare.

If you are travelling by yourself I don't recommend coming to Thailand in high season like me as it's expensive. You won't get many deals on rooms and the local transportation is surprisingly expensive when you travel solo, even when you haggle. I have decided to forget and move on from the sticker shock of the local taxis here and get on with the more important matters like admiring the young Russian mothers rocking it in their bikinis on the beach.

Spicy Salad

As we speak it is dusk and I am typing these words in my hammock at my waterside bungalow in the aptly named spicy salad bar and bungalows of Hat Salad. If you look at the photos my bungalow is the white one in the middle.

Finally I got a shack on the water facing a Thai sunset. It wasn't easy. I spotted this place the day I came and had to show up every morning for three days to snag a room. Totally worth it. This was the one thing I wanted to experience the most … Wow. I have to stop typing for a moment. The dusk sky is a dull smokey orange and I just saw the first star pop out.

Mornings, dusks and evenings are far more interesting than afternoons. Maybe I should just sleep all afternoon and stay up all night? No. That wouldn't work for my tan.

There aren't that many bungalows here and they are only 600 Baht per night (about $20 a night). If you're interested they have a Facebook page where you can book. I highly recommend it if you want to go to Koh Phangan. These kinds of places are quickly disappearing. I can throw a rock at the five star resort that is next door with their gentrified AC bungalows and swimming pool. Swimming pool. Who needs a swimming pool out here?

I ordered a pineapple and banana shake, which they delivered to my bungalow for less than two bucks and filled it with several ounces of Sam Som, the local Thai rum which is quite good and had a do-it-yourself sort of Pina Coloda sundowner in my hammock as I snapped some pictures.

When I get hungry I'll try out some red chicken curry and a beer a few steps away. Not bad for seven bucks.