Koh Samui

My first trip in Thailand was to the Thai island of Koh Samui. My 5 days were spent lounging at the beach, visiting temples, snorkeling at local islands and hiking up waterfalls. But the hassle it took to get there was something worth writing about.

To begin the Air Asia (the inexpensive airline) was having difficulties with their website. So my traveling buddy and I had to take a cab to the airport the night before the flight to purchase the ticket at the counter. Did you know you could do that? I guess you had to either go to the airport or make a phone call to purchase a ticket before the internet. As a strictly 21^st traveler this was a new experience for me. In order to avoid paying for a cab back to the apartment, then back to the airport we spent the night. Now I am 100% positive that airports design the airport benches in a way least conducive to sleeping. After a night on cold, metal benches I couldn’t wait to get to the beach.

Once our gate opened we waited to begin boarding the plane. 15 minutes before the plane was supposed to take off we boarded. Well. We got on a bus which took us to the plane. Never done that before. We sat down and not a minute later we were off into the air.

We touched down in Surat Thani, a city in Southern Thailand. From there we had to take a bus to the ferry. Now I didn’t realize how far exactly Surat Thani was from Koh Samui. After a 1.5 hour bus ride, 1.5 hour ferry and a 20 minute cab ride to our hostel, we had made it.

Koh Samui is a very “touristy” place. Most people speak English, the cab drivers (my disdain for them began on this island) try to rip you off and everyone wants to sell you something- a trinket, a sarong, a massage, some food, anything and everything. Apart from that the island was very beautiful and relaxing. We hiked up to the top of a waterfall where we swam in a small pool at the top. We visited the “Big Buddha” a temple that boasts of having the largest Buddha on the island. We ran into some Americans from North Carolina and spent our days at the beach with a German named Lara, who was traveling on her time off from her internship in India.

The journey back was must less surprising. I was even happy to be back in our district in Bangkok- Lat Phrao. We were greeted by ankle deep water and a homemade dinner by our landlord’s mother. Little did I know I had to prepare for my next journey in Thailand.

“For my part, I travel not to go anywhere, but to go. I travel for travel’s sake. The great affair is to move." Robert Louis Stevenson