Ko Samet: Life is Rough

Vince was away for the week in New Zealand making use of his nice warm jacket so I was left to entertain myself on a long weekend. As luck would have it, I ended up with three other girls heading off to Ko Samet, a 3.5 hr bus ride south of Bangkok. It would be my first long distance bus ride...and not my last. There is a lot of trial an error here and learning from other people's experiences is always worth it. There are a large range of prices and ways to travel and we all have our own "must have's" to consider. The three-day weekends are great to take advantage of.

This was our ferry boat which took 30-40min.

I know there is a story behind this mammoth mermaid that greeted us on Ko Samet and I will certainly look it up. She was a little creepy from the side....

....and terrifying from the front. 

These were a little more friendly looking. Again, I need to check out the story.

We walked down the beach for a while until we were away from the busy spots and checked out the same place Kelli stayed when she was here which was pretty nice and looked really relaxing. It also had some great food. We had our sites set on a place just a bit further which is where we ended up. They were little 1 room shacks on a secluded beach.....peaceful. We had to share a bathroom which was an entirely separate building reminding me of camping but it was so quiet that we were almost the only people there anyway.

Nice, thatched roof hut.

Our home away from home.

The view from our front balcony.

The inside complete with mosquito net.

Check out the 30 min option.

Our beach for the weekend.

Storm coming in

One of the main beaches getting ready for night action.

More beach...quieter near our place.

My orchids never looked like this.

We hiked down the coast which involved some clambering over rocks and visits to other resorts on beautiful white beaches. This was the West side of the island famous for sunsets and rough water.

We hitched a ride back in the taxi with this group of 4 teachers from another school. We were actually in the back of a pick up truck with benches which is one of the many forms of taxis here. They were at the mercy of a driver since they were at the end of the island and wanted to head back to town to rent scooters. He gave them a price for the whole taxi and when we realized that we would be in the same predicament very shortly we jumped aboard and split the cost.  

The road is being paved (cemented really) and the left side is complete. It was quite something to be hurtling along on a slab of cement with a 6-8 inch drop off the side.

We went for a walk into town a few times because their really isn't anywhere else to go.  We did not even know what this was until a scooter drove up to it.

Gas station.

A view from the main drag. It's funny because you get very used to the dirtier more simplistic way of living. Most everything happens on the beach.

For the Perry-Gore's....

The 2 pm bus was full so we waited around until 4pm.....which means more eating.

On another note....this is "our" massage place.

I am not sure what I am looking at here.

So, I needed to buy eggs and went to the corner market. You buy them loose and they put them in a nice little bag with all of the old receipts. So cute!