Day 57, 58, 59, 60 & 61 (Koh Samui)

There's one word to describe Koh Samui – PARADISE!

We started the trip planning on going overland the whole way from home. Our journey from Dublin to London was by ferry followed by three trains. The plan was then to take the bus from London to Kolkata, then Bangkok to Bali and finally Darwin to Sydney. A third flight was added (Tehran – Karachi) to the trip so I knew there was no way I could say it was an overland journey anymore. At that point I weighed up the options and rather than endure the 12hours on a bus we decided to fly down for the sum of €71 each – a bargain. We flew a day earlier than the bus so missed a day in Bangkok, but because of the drive time it meant we had 2 days more than the people on the bus in Koh Samui.

Wrecked tired, slightly hungover and excited to get to the beach we boarded our plane in Bangkok around 8.30am. We landed in Koh Samui before 10am (after a 35 minute flight) and were on the beach before 11am – nice!! The resort we were staying at was beautiful – our hut was about 20 metres from the beach which was pebbly rather than sandy. Not Curracloe standard beach, but still it was wonderful. The water was warmer than any I've felt before and the salt content had me bobbing around in the deep water without any real need to tread water. We had a nanna nap to catch up on some sleep after having a dip to test out the water. Later in the day we headed into Chaweng Beach to see the main shopping/party area where we ate in a pub called the Islander. The food was excellent, so much so I went back the next day to sample their baked potatoes...Mmmmm!

The next morning Michelle & Alet arrived early having elected to fly down ahead of the bus rather than sit on it for 12 hours. We had a dip, lay in the sun for a while and just chilled out. It was so good to be stationary for 2 days at that point and know that we had 3 more days of relaxation to look forward before we were on the move again. Mel and I headed back into Chaweng Beach in search of beachwear and lilos, but rather than being there for an hour or two we ended up staying there for most of the day wandering the shops and stalls and ending up back in the Islander for food and pitchers of beer. By the time we got back to the resort the rest of the bus gang had arrived and most of them were already in bed, wrecked from the long day. We got changed and decided to take a dip in the sea under the stars and go to the bar up the beach for a nightcap. It really is the life – I could have stayed there a whole lot longer.

On the third day there I hoped to go Koh Pao for the day but by the time we got in gear to go it was gonna be too late to get a ferry back that day. So that idea was shot, at that stage it was also a bit late in the day to do any of the tours of the island, and I'd be paying full day rate for a car that I'd only get for half the day if I rented one so I just kicked back at the resort and caught up with my journal and photos. It was a relaxing day but I couldn't help but feel like I should be doing something or making more of my time there. I decided to get up early the next morning and make the most of the day.

Early start on the fourth day, but in typical Murphy's Law fashion I was raining. Not a bucketing rain, a kind of misty drizzle. I had no intention of going driving in so I headed off down the beach for a walk. I stopped for a moment to take in the scene and got bitten by some kind of ant – I obviously attract every biting thing on the planet – mosquitos, bugs, spiders, Unas...you name it, they bite me! I strolled back to see what everyone was up to and to see if there was any more information on the Black Moon Party that was on Kho Phangan that night. We had heard that the ferry was at 5.30pm and the first one back was at 7am so I was pretty confident I'd be skipping it in favour of my lovely hut. While I'd been walking they'd found out that we could get a taxi collection at the resort at 10pm with transfer to Chaweng Beach, speedboat to the party, speedboat back at 5am and taxi transfer back to the resort. Since the time I was potentially going to be sitting alone on the beach while everyone was hooking up with other partygoers was lessened, and I figured I'd never really have the chance to go again, and because I was tempted by the glo paint I decided to go. Una was more sensible and elected to enjoy having the hut to herself for the night.

Nine of us headed off to the party. The speedboat was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life, but one of the funniest too. When we got on (after wading out into the water and climbing up onto the back of it) the guy directed us to the front section of the boat. He took off and at first it was bumpy but controlled so quite funny. Then the lights disappeared around us and it got a bit more scary. The waves were higher, we were going faster and it felt like we were launching into the air off pretty much every wave. This is of course when I was told to to the Titanic standing at the front with arms in the air, and of course I obliged. But rather than stand I was half kneeling on the seat to try maintain my balance..all nice and ladylike until the boat launched off a big wave and I was thrown into the air coming back down kneecap first into the bench which cracked and shattered under me so I ended up having to perch on the remaining bit of seat (about 1cm wide) while holding onto the bar behind me for dear life for the rest of the journey. It was the cause of much hilarity to everyone, me included, but the worry was what would they say when we got off the boat and they discovered the broken seat?! I tried to patch it up but given the pitch blackness, the bumpiness and the fact that the wood had shattered and splintered and was not likely to be repairable it was a waste of time. I ended up with a bruise along my thigh from the 1cm wide section of seat I was balancing on...fun times!

The party was brilliant and I was so glad I went. We got in there and got painted up, I naturally elected to have a dotted gecko painted on my back..I see them everywhere I go so it seemed appropriate. I got flowers on my arm and a shamrock too. Then we tried to get a pot of paint for free to pour on ourselves, it wasn't happening so we gave the guy 100 bhat (about €2) and off we went to flick, splash and finger paint in on...so, so much fun :) We went back for more on a couple of occasions so that explains the many coloured splashes of paint all over us in the pictures. The buckets at the party were actual sandcastle buckets, different to what we'd seen in Bangkok – so much cooler.

Our taxi was set to meet us outside the party at 5am. We tried to round up the troops but were missing 4 people. We reckoned 3 of them were ok but were unsure about one girl, she'd been beside us a couple of minutes before and then disappeared. After several laps of the beach we couldn't locate her so went to see if she was waiting at the taxi, she wasn't. He waited for as long as possible but when there was no sign of her by 6am he insisted we had to get to the harbour or the boat would leave without us. Reluctantly we left, hoping that she'd be at the harbour waiting for us – she wasn't :( The other 3 missing folk were located there. A speedboat had already left so it was possible that she had been on that. The guy said the boat was leaving so either get on or make our own way back to Koh Samui. Again, reluctantly we got on the boat (a different one to the one we'd gone out on – no broken seat!) and did the crazy ride back in sunlight. What a sight we must have looked, soaking, covered in sand and glo paint!

We got back to the resort shortly after 7am. I went for a few hours sleep and hoped that when I got up the missing girl would be back. She wasn't :( I was super worried as was everyone. The police wouldn't do anything until she was missing for 24 hours, there was nobody matching her description in the hospital in Kho Phangan, so it was a waiting game. Eventually she turned up, she had had quite the ordeal. Realising the time she got to the harbour about 5 minutes after we'd left. She had the sense to get to the ferry that was leaving at 7am and managed to get onto it, but fell asleep and so missed the stop in Kho Samui and ended up back on the mainland! Doh! She had to wait there for the ferry to sail back again so was on the boat for about 12 hours altogether. Thank god she was ok and nothing bad had happened!

Again the day ran away from me and it was too late to do any sightseeing, so in addition to Bangkok I need to return to Thailand to see Koh Samui properly!

For photos from Koh Samui click here.