Wait, let me rewind.
At 4:30 AM, I woke up and wandered down stairs, tired but excited and ready to go. We had gotten the suggestion from a roommate to go to Koh Samet if we were wanting to go to a beach in our time frame. Koh Samet, while not world renown for being the most beautiful beach in all of Thailand, is still a super pretty beach that is within easy distance of Bangkok, making it a popular spot for city people who want to escape but can only do it for the day, or weekend.
Our van picked us up at 5 am, and soon me, Sara, and Victoria were all in and on our way. The night before, Sara and Victoria had prepared iced coffee and purchased donuts from Mr. Donut for our trip, so we had those with us as well. I fell asleep for a while, despite the coffee, but woke up in time to watch to sun rise, which was pretty beautiful. It was the first of many moments that day where I sat and thought about where I was, and what I was doing. When I actually allowed myself to think about it all, it was rather surreal.
I'm also pretty sure that by the time we got there, our driver was convinced he had caught my funk and was going to die of whatever disease I've got, cause I was coughing for at least an hour of that trip, and who am I to say he won't. He may. I don't know what I got. Cough hack throat clear.
The trip took less time than we expected, probably due to the hour of morning, and we arrived within two and a half hours. We had predicted at least three, maybe more, so it was nice. Ah, just a heads up, for parts of this I'm going to give a lot of information, should anyone reading decide it be something that they wish to do, because parts were confusing for us since we had none of this information. Sooo, yes. Moving on.
We get there, and a woman asks if we speak Thai. I answer that we do not, we speak English, and we were immediately dismissed. It was both funny and slightly rude, because it became very apparent that since we didn't speak Thai, we weren't a priority or a bother. I decided I wasn't going to let it bother me, and went across the lot to use the restroom. The restroom cost 3 baht, and had both squatters and a Western style toilet One fun fact about Thailand that I will include in a post all to itself: always carry tissues with you for the bathroom. Most places do not provide them.
We purchased the ticket from a man over on the right side of the lot, which cost 100 baht each, 50 for the trip there, 50 for the trip back. They give you different color tickets, which I believe are for distinguishing which ferry to take back. Our ticket there was yellow, and the return slip was pink. The ferry would leave every hour on the hour, starting at 8 and ending at 6. We only had a few minutes to wait before we started the trip.
Our taxi was this baby pink and purple boat, and we shared it only with the crew of two and this one couple. It was kind of cool to me, because the men set up this ramp that was very obviously hand built, one holding it from the top and one steadying it from the bottom. I was enjoying myself already.
We crossed the bridge and went downstairs, and sat right up front. It was a nice, slow and gentle ride out and over to Koh Samet. The weather was perfect, and our day had finally begun.
When we arrived it was another moment of slight confusion. The other volunteer hadn't said anything about this, so we walked down the pier and out to this center area. In the middle of the small lot there is a group of statues where tourist were taking photos, a 7/11 on both your left and your right, and a line of green trucks with locals sitting around in them. The green trucks are actually the island's taxi system, and i'm not certain of the price, but for the three of us it turned out to be 100 baht total every time we took one, but I don't know if thats just the flat rate any time or if it was factored using the number of people. Either way, there you have it.
If you don't mind walking, know where you're going, and are in proper shoes because some areas are questionable as to what you may be walking in, you can go through the area between the 7/11s and this little tour guide shop and follow the dirt road down past shops and out to the beach areas. We however did not know where we were going, so we hopped in the back of a taxi and asked them to take us to Diamond Beach, which our roommate had suggested saying it was the most beautiful and that they had had a great time there when they went.
Along the way, we stopped at an entrance where a guard came up and charged us 200 baht per person for entry to the beaches, and unexpected charge for us, so there you have it. Supposedly there is a side road you can take to avoid this charge, but I can't confirm that.
We arrive at Diamond Beach, pay the driver, and hop out of the taxi. We then wandered down this side road, just sort of turning and following our senses until we came to the beach. You'll have to wander past various huts and houses that are rented out, but if you keep turning right you'll work your way down to the beach.
So, Diamond Beach is apparently the most popular beach on the island, and only about a mile long. It is also dotted with hotels, restaurants, and tour groups. There will be people walking up and down the beach selling sarongs, fruit, and also trying to get you to come stay at the hotels. Frankly, I was extremely disappointed. It was just like Daytona Beach as far as I was concerned, and no where near the picturesque Thai beaches I had been imagining.
We pulled up the island on one of our phones and quickly headed over to another section. We section we ended up on was Ao Hin Khok, the beach just next to Diamond Beach (Hat Sai Kaew) but separated by rocks, and apparently thats enough.
"Ao Hin Khok is separated from Hat Sai Kaew by a small rocky sea point where a mermaid statue is located. The beach, which is half the size of Hat Sai Kaew, is famous for its strangely shaped rocks. There are inexpensive bungalows/huts located along the beach, and also value-for-money restaurants providing fresh, quality seafood dishes."
The beach here was perfect. It was free of tourist when we were there, the sand was crystal white, the water beautiful torquoise, and we quickly claimed three chairs (which cost 30 baht each, btw) beneath the shade of some trees before wandering over for a 'photo shoot' on the rocks.
They also have a statue of a flute player and mermaid over there, which I later discovered was the goddess protector of the island. Supposedly if you play the flute or something, she would come up out of the water and protect the island.
There was a larger, apparently brand new statue off the new pier when we arrived that I wish I had wandered down to to take a photo.
 |
| Island goddess answering the call. |
I had a difficult time hearing the woman as she told me, as we were on the boat back at that point.
After that, we finally jumped in the water. We left our bags on the beach in view, sitting in our chairs, and though I watched them all day didn't have any issues with people snooping or being suspicious. The water was beautiful, and we were able to go relatively far out without having issues about where to put our feet, and actually ended up spending several hours out there, just bobbing, laughing, and talking about things.
We joked, talked about our little crushes, made Little Mermaid connections (there was a dog like Max out there! And our little Mermaid photo shoot on the rocks, among several other wonderful coincidences that just made it all the better.) There was also a boxing rink within easy view of the water up on the hill, with lanterns and lights strung up over it, and I could just imagine two boxers duking it out up there. It'd be a sight to see, and I imagine its especially cool at night.
There was also a funny moment where Boobs McGee showed back up (we had first spotted her on Diamond Beach.) Now, I personally couldn't care less about people sunbathing in the nude, the human body doesn't bother me one bit. However, all through Thailand, I had noticed signs about respecting the local customs, with pictures of women in bikinis and men in speedos as incorrect, and women in sarongs and men in shorts as the proper way to travel. I've also read in multiple books that while no one is likely to address you, nude sunbathing is generally frowned upon unless you're somewhere thats designated for it specifically.
That being said, I do not believe this was one of the locations. Boobs McGee did not seem to be concerned, and showed up with her colors hoisted and there for the world to see, like it or not. It was kind of funny because the minute she showed up, all the men in the water around us slowly started floating towards the beach, as if caught on some unseen lure that had snagged them and was reeling them into shore. I started laughing and making jokes about it, referring to them as moths to a flame, or ships in a storm seeking out the light house. On some small level I was worried for them, with McGee and her siren boobs, calling her victims into shore to surely be pummeled by her weight lifter boyfriend. Mostly, however, I was just amused.
Being out there with the two of them, it was another surreal moment. These were two people that I had just met two weeks prior, but I had already experienced things with them that I would never experience with anyone else, and it seemed so very odd to me that in less than 24 hours we would all be flying off to different locations around the world. Who knows when we'll see each other again. It made me sad to think about, but then one of them would inevitably just start giggling out of no where and exclaim, " We're on a freakin' beach in Thailand!"
Eventually we headed in and sat in our chairs, ordered some fabulous Pad Thai and drinks, and at 1 o'clock, rung in the end of the world with a toast to amazing moments, memories, and surviving yet another apocalypse This is what, my 8th one right? Wheres my movie deal?
There are worse places to be at the end of the world.
Oh, helpful hint, if you see these guys selling fruit, freakin' buy some. I had the most amazing sapbparot and coconut while there, and apparently the mango is to die for as well. Its all iced, so its nice and cold and juicy when you get it. Incredibly refreshing.
Also, fun fact, the Pineapple in Thailand is so much better than the pineapple I've had in America. Its much less acidic, and maybe part of it was just the mentality of being in the location, but it was amazing and I highly recommend it.
The day was amazing, and was completely worth the nice red glow I got to spend it out there with them. We ended the day with some amazing pineapple fritters, ordered from the same little spot we got our Pad Thai and drinks from, all of which were brought out to our seats by the people from the restaurant.
The perfect end to the perfect day, the perfect trip, and the perfect experience.
No comments:
Post a Comment