Koh Samui: Sun Soaking
Our boat arrived in Samui mid afternoon & after consultation we again chose the second busiest area, Lamai beach. After checking in to our new beach bungalow not quite on the beach, but an ocean view all the same... over a construction site!... we hit the beach before the sun set on another day.What was a problem however was finding a seemingly non-existent viewpoint!! After venturing the same road & attempting to ask random Thai people where the devil we were & where we were going we gave up on the viewpoint & went to a restaurant that claimed a good view. It didn't disappoint & the can of sprite (all we could afford) was a welcome refreshment. So, not such a loss on the viewpoint. But the waterfall was a whole new world of pain & anger for Nicky & I. We arrived at the car park & dropped off our bike in preparation for a short walk up a gentle hill to the top of the falls... OR, as it turned out to be, drop off our bike to go 20 minutes in the wrong direction, turn around & HIKE for over an hour up a ridiculously steep incline with no real path, in flip-flops, dripping with sweat, hungry & angry. It was NOT a pleasant experience & was made a damn sight worse when we reached the top to discover that the infamous falls were in fact... crap! Not cool. We drove back to the main road, found sanctuary at a local 7/11 & necked a slurpy before journeying to the next stop.The drive to Fisherman's village was dreamy. The wind in our hair, sun shining brightly & stomachs full on slurpy goodness we effortlessly eased down the beautiful coastal highway, gazing out at the sea & the lowly hung sun. Obviously I didn't gaze too much, I was watching the road, but Nicky told me it was lovely.
A long stretch of sand with a headland to our left & endless rolling rocks to our right, it was yet another luscious beach for us to spend our days on. I know I keep saying how much we lazed about on the beach doing very little, but in our defence we rarely sat still for more than an hour before getting antsy, getting up & doing something!... usually venturing somewhere or throwing around our Maryland Terps football (of the American variety).
After our introductory afternoon the day before, we did what we know best & rented a motorbike with the intention of driving the ring road that circumnavigated the large-ish Koh Samui. It had been a while since the troubles of Krabi & Burma so we were due another bad day. There certainly haven't been many bad days on our travels, even with long bus rides there's always the excitement of reaching a new destination & settling into a new abode. But when we have bad days we don't mess around, we really go for it & have a nightmare! & so the day unfolded..
Our first stop was a viewpoint 15 minutes from Lamai, high up above the south-east of the island. Though the ride up was steep it was nothing in comparison to Koh Tao, & with my newly discovered expertise in trail bike riding on cheap mopeds it was no problem at all for us!
Fisherman's village was a nice place too with a nice beach & amiably pleasant streets of restaurants & bars. You could forgive us for thinking at that point our troubled morning was far behind us & it was plain sailing ahead. WRONG. We couldn't afford any food in Fisherman's village so we took to the road again & headed to the backpacker hangout for some grub in our price range. We were both getting a little 'food-angry' & were very much ready to eat anything & everything. Unlucky for us there was a police checkpoint ahead & we were asked us to pull over. Nicky & I always wore our helmets but on this occasion the shop we rented from had not provided any. 'Not to worry' they said. But worry I did when we were ushered to the local police station to pay a fine!! I was angry enough at this point & we both sat fuming in the station & cursing our luck. Thai people don't really tell you what's going on, it's a highly irritating trait but in fairness it usually works out with or without our knowledge of how. Another even more annoying trait is their inability to queue in an orderly fashion!!... If I had not been in a police station I'm pretty sure I would have attacked the woman who pushed in front of us! But eventually we paid the fine & went on our not-so-merry way home after long overdue meal for the day.
The next day was better. I returned the bike & was reimbursed the fine by the owner for their lack of decorum, then we checked out of our hotel & caught the morning boat to the party-crazy Koh Phangan.