03.18.06
Relaxing on a Tropical Beach
3/18/06, Koh Samui
The morning was spent going to the airport and waiting for my flight. At the airport I realized that the web site that told me to buy my tickets to Surat Thani airport was not entirely accurate. Suart Thani is the inland airport from which you can ferry to Samui, what I wanted was to go direcly to the island. The blunder saved me about 2,000 baht but cost me about five extra hours of travel time in the form of a bus from the airport to the ferry terminal and then a boat to the island.
On the island the transportation guide took me to a couple of places. I ended up at a joint called the Chaweng Pearl Cabana which is a bit run down but my cabana has a partial ocean view and there is a pretty decently restaurant and bar right on the beach. I am in North Chaweng, literally less than a five minute walk from central Chaweng and all the restaurants and stores. After checking in I went for a walk into town where I did a quick email check then sat down at the Qarterdeck restaurant for food, a beer and a whole lot of people watching. Power kept failing only to come back a few second later. It was actually pretty amusing to see all the lit up signs and neon come to life.
I walked down the strip and was surprised with how far it kept going. I also checked into a few dive shops to get prices. Anyone using the Lonely Planet travel guide will know by now that the prices have changed since it was printed. This is truer in Samui than elsewhere in Thailand. Both accommodations and diving start at about twice the price listed in the book.
After getting to the end of the strip I went off strip to find the Thai Boxing Stadium. There are posters everyone advertising the bouts this weekend as well as trucks that drive up and down the strip calling out the fighters and starting times. Think ‘One night only, the Blues Brothers’ for an idea of what it looked like. It took a bit of walking off the beaten path and finally found the stadium only to turn around when I realized the tickets start at 800 Baht and go up from there.
I ended the evening with a long walk along the moonlit beach (literarily, there was a gorgeous moon hanging just over the off shore islands). And then reading my book while sipping a beer at the Cabana beach restaurant. There was a nice evening breeze and the sound of the waves on the beach lulled me to sleep.