After four days in Bangkok it was definitely time to head to the islands. A quick 12-hour train trip, hour bus ride, and hour and a half ferry cruise took us down the coast and into the gulf to the island of Koh Samui. For 7 days we stayed on Lamai beach soaking up the lazy lifestyle. Days consisted of taking breakfast at the hotel–a cool 2 minutes from the beach and two minutes from the main road in town–laying on the beach, reading various books, a noontime beer, lunch, mixed fruit shake, afternoon nap, more reading, evening stroll on the beach, dinner, and then crashing hard after an exhausting day. Yes, play your tiny violin for me, my life is tough. But, don’t fret, I didn’t take a single day of relaxation for granted. I am about to embark on two years of intense school work so I soaked up enough laziness to last me a while.
Lamai was a great beach that was far from over-crowded, yet still full of great places to eat and enjoy views of the ocean. Women and men cruised down the beach offering hair braiding, ice cream bars, nail painting, clothing, jelly donuts (?!) and foot massages. Women would grab your foot, inform you you had two kilos of dead skin on your feet (not us–thank you fish!) and basically demand you get a foot scrub. While we never partook in these offerings, a sucker is born everyday and many people found themselves belly-down in a lounge chair while a Thai woman shook her head in alarm at their yellow toe nails and thick callouses.
Overall it was really lovely and a nice start to the island life.
We got up super early one morning to catch the sunrise. We were joined by one of the many stray dogs roaming the beach and a hand-full of fisherman getting a start on that day’s fresh catches.
Our major excursion for the week was to Ang Thong National Marine Park. This national treasure is a collection of 40 giant rocks jutting out of the ocean. It contains caves, lagoons, white beaches with sand like powdered sugar, and copious amounts of wildlife. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip.
Emerald Lagoon-- a trapped seawater lake.
While we were sitting in the water I plunged my hand down and came up with this rock. Seriously, I didn't even look for him, he found me. And I shall call him Toby.
Fooooood. I loved the food.
Oooooh Masaman Curry. After a strenuous four weeks of taste testing, I can finally declare that this is my favorite curry variety.
Nom nom. One of my favorite street-stall meals: Pad Thai, Curry, Samosas, and Singha Beer.
Even more island time to come…
A Broad At Home 