Day 12: Leaving the islands, back to Bangkok

Our morning in Ko Samui was a tranquil one. We had a great breakfast (interrupted briefly by a giant wasp which flew under our table and stuffed a large caterpillar into its nest). Nicole took a dip in the water, which now appeared to be jellyfish-free. We soaked in some sun and decided it was time to move on.

We hailed a taxi back to the pier and tried to get combined ferry/bus tickets at the main counter. The price was expensive and did not include a bus combo, so we headed back to the pierside town and asked around at some travel agencies. We found one that offered the combo trip for about half the price we'd found elsewhere, so we sprang for it. In the meantime, we grabbed some drinks at a coffee shop while we waited. It was some of the best coffee I've ever had, Nicole had a delicious coconut shake. There was also a crazy bulbous-headed fish in a tank.

We boarded the ferry and, since Samui is the closest island to the mainland, it was not very long before we were on our bus back to the airport. We ate a late lunch while waiting for our flight, since we had a few hours to kill in the Surat Thani airport. We watched some tv showing footage of the protests in Bangkok, which had turned violent only a couple days earlier. We were glad we did not see any of it, and hoped on our return we wouldn't catch any violence. Interesting to see similar discontent as we had witnessed in Cambodia about a week prior. I wondered if Southeast Asia might see an arab-spring type of moment in which discontent manifested throughout the region in protests against their regimes. Our last hotel of the trip was closer to the shopping malls and Sukhumvit. It was a five star hotel called The Sukosol and was booked through my credit card rewards. It was one of the fanciest hotels I've been in. The staff were hand over foot friendly and we had a sweet room with a view of the Bangkok high-rises. It was just what we needed to rest up for the next day and our long flight ahead. Since it was getting late, we ordered room-service for a decent price and talked about our plans to squeeze every last drop out of our trip. The goal was to visit the Grand Palace first thing in the morning before checking out of the hotel!

- C

Day 11: Ko Samui

We woke early enough to grab a bite to eat on our last morning in Ko Tao. This little island was really something we both would look back on fondly. A friendly man from the hotel called a cab for us and soon, we were at the pier and on a boat to Ko Samui. We took the Lomprayah high speed catamaran. I definitely think this is the way to go, it was much faster than our boat from Ko Pha Ngan to Ko Tao.

We arrived at Samui and caught a cab to our next bungalow, the Weekender Villa. It is about a half hour from the pier and just south of Chaweng, one of the main beaches. Here's our bungalow.

Skeptical of the island, we went to check out the beach view. I have to say, though it lacked a nice strip of sand at high tide, it was quite beautiful. With its 180° panorama, Nicole said it looked like you were standing at the edge of the world.

We venture into the water, but I quickly spotted a couple of jellyfish, so we jumped out and walked along the shore instead.

Not too impressed with the guest house's food options (or friendliness), we searched for a place to eat. We walked a good distance through Lamai beach when we finally decided to settle on an Indian place that we happened upon called Live India. To our surprise, the food was excellent! We had hoped for mediocre and ended up with excellent. Nicole had Aloo Gobi and I had a shrimp masala with a side of garlic naan and a Singha beer.

Afterwards, we walked around Lamai beach and check out some of the shops before heading back to the bungalow. Perhaps it was the overall vibe of Samui, but we never quite bonded with the island, at least the spot we were staying, as we had in Ko Tao. But in the early evening, the weather was beautiful and before the paper lanterns were lit along the shoreline, we had an opportunity to scrawl this blog's name in the sand

- C

Day 8: Island arrival, Ko Phangan

Our morning flight was from Don Meuang airport down to Surat Thani province. This quirky little airport had been our gateway to Phnom Penh. It has a golf course right off the tarmac - odd! It was a quick jump down to Surat Thani city, which is mostly a transportation hub town. We found a bus/ferry combo at the Raja Ferry kiosk and were quickly whisked onto the bus. You have to travel to Donsak pier first to get to any of the islands.

The whole process, while utilizing three separate transport means (air, bus, boat) was actually very easy and enjoyable. And, aside from the gross-out sounds of a woman puking her guts out from seasickness on the ferry, it was a seamless process and we were at our next hotel by early afternoon.

Ko Phangan is the so-called "middle child" island, between Ko Samu and Koh Tao, and also between them in size. With white-sand beaches and waterfalls, it also hosts occasional parties on Haad Rin beach like the famous full-moon party. We had reserved a beach-side bungalow at V-View on the southwest side. It was a dreamy, relaxed atmosphere and really the highlight of the whole island for us. The staff was friendly and the travelers were in full chill mode.

We relaxed in the hammocks and swam in the ocean for a couple hours. Then, perhaps to Nicole's dismay, my restless desire for more activity-based fun soon took hold and I asked to rent a motorbike from the guest-house. Soon, a woman and her two children showed up with two motorbikes. We told her we only wanted one, she charged 200 baht for 24 hours, and made me sign a paper and hand over my passport in exchange. Her little one was cute running around with a helmet.

We were soon on our way to explore the island after putting a couple of liters in the tank. Many little shops by the roadsides in Thailand sell recycled bottles full of gas. But, while getting the feel of the bike and its turning style, I misjudged a turn and went into some sandy, bumpy road. We slid onto the bikes side, scraping the side up and popping a mirror off. My right arm was road-rashed along with my right knee and Nicole's hand. Shaken, we got back on and continued. We tried to make it up through the middle of the island but Nicole didn't like the elevation and curves of the road (she had a point) so we decided to turn back, filling the tank on the way.

note my stubborn determined look

We grabbed some Mexican food and margeritas for dinner at a place called Ando Loco which was excellent and a nice break from Thai food. Relaxing on the beach at night was awesome and we could watch movies playing out on the beach at the place next door to us. We went to bed and, after laughing at some lines from "Tropic Thunder" drifting their way into the bungalow, fell asleep.

- C

Day 7: Taking it easy in the Thai capitol

My stomach was better in the morning, but not back to normal. Nicole and I decided to take it slow and make use of the laundry option to wash our clothes at the hotel. We agreed that we were glad we had already hit some of the main sights in the city on our first day there. We talked about trying to see a floating market but realized that even early afternoon would have been too late in the day for them. Most are located outside the city anyhow.

We transfered hotels, but had some difficulty finding a taxi that wanted to take us near that part of the city due to the protesters who want to shut down the government. They believe that the current prime minister is just part of a corrupt cycle of family connections and not a representation of true democracy, so they want to install their own people. They are in the minority for supporting this change, however, as there is much support still throughout Northern Thailand. Walking through the streets where the protesters were, we were able to see and buy patriotic items from street vendors while watching a speaker talk on a big screen. We just hoped nothing turned violent while we were there.

Our next hotel, The Viengtai, was just one street over from popular Khao San Rd. - a moderately sized hotel with a basic, but charming feel. We decided to grab lunch across the street (an appropriately bland one for myself) and head over to Wat Arun, located to the southwest of the Grand Palace.

You have to take a ferry across Mae Nam Chao Phraya river, which costs 10 baht, or about 3 cents and it takes just a few minutes. Wat Arun is a spectacular temple, Khmer style, with incredibly steep stairs leading up to the second and third tiers - even steeper than those we encountered at Bayon and Angkor Thom. Visitors gripped tightly to the railing on the way to view the sunset and the surface of the temple, glittering with broken ceramic, colored tiles, and gold. Truly a breathtaking panorama of Bangkok from here, and even prettier when the sun went down and orange colored lights turned on to wash the whole temple in a golden hue.

We made our way back and tried searching for a place called Ranee's, which was supposed to be a good restaurant. Walking down the backroad, we were approached by a European-looking dude, who softly said, "Hello guys... are you looking for... anything?" We said we were not. We joked later about saying, "We're not looking, we've already found Jesus. Have you found Him?" and launching into a tirade that would have caused his smirk to fade pretty quickly. We found the restaurant, ordered an Italian noodle fusion dish, a fish burger and a large Chang beer. It was a tranquil end to what was a somewhat mellow day. But we could feel our anticipation rising for the next morning when we would fly south to the gulf side islands!

- C