froginmythroat (FIMT)

(4/1/3) I took the overnight train to Surat Thani. A 2nd class sleeper with a nice little bed. Slept well too. When I arrived the touts herded us into a bus and then ferry which took me to my destination – Koh Samui.

I’m not sure if Koh Samui is really Thailand. I mean 50% of the people there have to be foreigners. It’s good for the taxi drivers, they’ll try and make you pay extra and throw stuff at you if you don’t. Walking down the main strip at Chaweng Beach at night, the scene of drunken rivalry was reminiscent of Queen St, Auckland or George St, Sydney or any Western strip of bitumen and surrounds frequented by crowds on a Friday or Saturday night.

If you go to Samui and you’re like me you’ll be faced with many questions. Which beach should I stay at? Which bungalow place do I stay at? (there are just so many) What is there to do? Where do I eat? Where are all the Thai people? Let me help you out. Koh Samui seems generally expensive, but somehow I managed to find a sweet as cheap bungalow on the beach. This beach (Mae Nam) was absolutely beautiful. Think palm trees, sand, sun, blue water, and not too many people. If you want a place to stay with some night life, but not so expensive either, then Lamai (the 2nd most popular beach) is a very good bet. For that special meal, Big Rock Restaurant outside of Lamai has an awesome view. Around the island some good spots for sightseeing are Fisherman’s Village Bo Phut (quaint sea village) and Hin Yin and Hin Yai (phallic rocks with some decent wave action, the other beaches are like Mission Bay ie: no waves). The snake farm is OK if you haven’t seen snakes and people put scorpions in their mouth, with some pretty tame cock fighting as the entree. The Big Buddha (a temple with a large golden coloured Buddha) will allow your to accrue Buddhist merit by doing the following:

• purchasing rice and tipping it into alm bowls that are on a rotating conveyor belt
• purchasing incense sticks and placing them before a shrine
• purchasing gold foil which you can place on glue covered statues
• donating money to a monk who will bless you with water and tell you your future (i think, it was all in Thai)

Finally the million dollar question -where are all the Thai people? Look for the back streets behind the main Chaweng strip, where you’ll find shacks and fried rice priced at the national average of 20 baht.

If you get a map of Samui you’ll notice that there are roads marked that go into the interior of the island. Don’t let this fool you into thinking they are actually usable roads, or you’ll end up trying to climb very steep grades more suitable for rock climbing than motorbiking. If you’re stubborn you’ll keep trying, all the while thinking “I’ve come this far already, I can’t turn back now”, before coming off your bike twice and finally realising it’s just not meant to be. Can you guess who?

As an aside, have you ever wondered whether monks have to pay for things like transport? I found out today. Not only did this robbed one not pay, but he was given money before he hopped out of the car. Nice.

(8/1/3) Time to island hop to Samui’s next door neighbour, Koh Pha Ngan. First impressions, there’s more foreigners here than Thai people! Samui was 50/50 but this looks like 80/20, or at least my docking point Haadrin Beach does. So lets find a place to stay. OK, travel rule #1 – if they are playing re-runs of The Simpsons when you walk past, that’s where you stay. I met Sam here, the first person I have seen in 2 months that I know from pre-travel life.

My first experience of a beach bar was one of complete awe. The bar is literally on the beach, the dance floor is the sand. With the waves and the beauty around you, bars in the concrete jungle just don’t compare.

Koh Pha Ngan is less developed than Samui and the area around Haadrin very hilly, so this means instead of a nice smooth sealed road you get concrete poured over a dirt road with all the bumps and things encased in concrete. And there’s no levelling, the gradients are the steepest I have ever seen. This means you don’t try and ride a 100cc scooter with two people and a backpack up these roads, or the bike will flip and you could end up with a stubbed toe and a cuckoo bike. That’s what happened to Sam and I – island roads strike again. It was my idea I must admit but considering the statistics we were doomed from the start. Somehow the Thai’s seem to be able to accomplish this feat (minus the backpack) without coming off their bikes like us.

I had a look at the waterfall and beach Thaan/Had Sadet, which was so-so. The road is bad but doable on a 100cc bike. The beach has rough waves and is a little messy. I also visted the very beautiful (in a resort/picture-perfect type way) and popular beach Had Yow – worth going too.

On the way home from one of my day bike excursions I stopped into a restaurant for dinner. By the end of the meal I had been offered a shower and a place to stay. I took the shower and saved the place to stay for a rainy day but I was quite astounded at the generousity, I didn’t quite know what to expect – money? were they going to nick my stuff? I had too accept it was neither. This wasn’t the last offer I would receive on my travels, some not so genuine.

(25/4/03) Bars worth visting on Koh Pha Ngan: