Day 3: Koh Samui

Looks like spontaneity paid off, leaving the big city of Bankok was the best thing we could have done. Koh Samui, a sizeable island in the south of Thailand, a place of sandy white beaches, turquoise waters and backpackers galore is beautiful beyond compare. The air is thick and the sky is clear and the common attitude around here is one of relaxation and no worries. Beach Boys music played upon our decent in a very small plane which we had to take a bus to from the airport terminal. We arrived at the Banana Fan resort, a jungley hotel filled with Westerners looking for a break from the daily grind and a nice spot by the beach. The beach by the way is white as paper, the sand as fine as silk and the water as warm as a bath tub, talk about heaven. Too bad Koh Samui isn't the undiscovered backpackers paradise it used to be. Now it's filled with old Australian couples and more then a few large German men wearing speedo thongs that are far too revealing.

At night we went around town, first just walking up and down Chaweng Road, the main road here, and then stopped for dinner on the beach. It would have been perfect, delicious duck curry under moonlight on the beach, however while I was enjoying this view Dad was turning purple. Apparently when he ordered the spicy curry he didn't realize it was SPICY curry. I got a kick out of it though as he tried to cool off with several glasses of ice water, grunting and squinting his eyes.

After dinner we sought out the well known Regge Pub, a massive emporium of all things Regge. Unfortunately it was pretty empty due to all of the people still back at the Full Moon Party on Koh Phan Ngan however the place was really awesome. It was about the size of my house three times over and filled with pool tables, concert stages and tons of pumping speakers blasting Marley and other Regge favorites. We decided to leave after a game of pool but promised ourselves to come back when the party was going on.

The way back was pretty bizzare, even by my standards. As we walked back to the hotel from the Regge Pub we went right throgh Koh Samui's red light district. Swarms of bored prostitutes virtually cut me off making fairly obscene gestures and wispering in my ear. I was flattered but kept trudging on, accidentally stepping on one of the prostitutes feet in the process.

Today we are taking a jeep around the island perhaps visiting the largest waterfall here on the island and maybe scouting out some other, more secluded beaches we can stay on. Renting a jeep is only 7 American dollars a day here so it should be really fun. I'll update in a few days. Hope all is well back home.