KO SAMUI

Mac and I departed for Ko Samui last Friday, we left Phuket after a week of relaxing and one to many late nights. Our friend Matt, who also took the teaching course with us, put us in touch with his friend Pete, a buddy of his from college who now lives part time in Bangkok and part time on Ko Samui. Pete was down to show us around the island. We caught an early morning bus to Surat Thani and then transfered to a ferry for the hour and a half long ride to Ko Samui. Pete met us when we arrived. Pete is Thai, but went to college in Australia where he met our friend Matt, so he speaks fluent English with an Australian accent. He was heading back up to Bangkok on Sunday but said we could stay with him until then, perfect!

Pete's cousin was in town with some friends, so our first night on Ko Samui we joined up with them for some night fishing! Pete's cousin just graduated from university, so he and his friends were on a trip to Ko Samui to celebrate. There were probably thirty of us on the fishing boat, and we puttered out to sea just after dark. We actually had horrible luck, or maybe the guys on the boat just took us to all the wrong places, but I think we only caught like three or four fish between all of us! I sure didn't catch anything... Oh well, I still enjoyed hanging out on the boat with a cold beer and a warm breeze. It was a good night.

The next day we went on a little drive around the island. Ko Samui is pretty big, it's not quite as developed as Phuket, but it's getting there. This guy that works for Pete's dad took us around in his truck. Our first stop was at this mountain top sculpture garden, I don't even remember what it was called, but it was way off the beaten path. The sculpture garden surrounded a little stream that stair stepped through the jungle, the statues and shrines interacted with and blended into the surroundings, it was neat. The two photos on the top left are from the sculpture garden.

After that we found this little hillside restaurant with a view of the island. We stopped there for a beer and enjoyed the scenery. The picture on the bottom was taken from the restaurant. It was pretty cloudy and overcast that day, and along parts of the horizon it was hard to distinguish exactly where the sea ended and sky began. The island in the picture is very faint, but it almost looks as though it could be floating in the sky, cool.

After that we went to a waterfall where we splashed about and cooled off. There was a big boulder that you could jump off of, it was a lot of fun. Next we drove back towards the beach. Pete lives close to Chewang Beach, Ko Samui's most popular tourist destination. We sat at a table in the sand, ordered some large beers and a few appetizers, and enjoyed the rest of the evening. The next day Pete would head back up to Bangkok and Mac and I would catch the ferry to Ko Pha Ngan...