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!