Ko Samui

  Ko Samui, Thailand
Sunday, May 14, 2006

Finally left Ko Phangan after 2 weeks of lazing around,drinking on the beach and watching films-gutted!but had to move on.
Got the ferry over to Ko Samui,140baht about 1hour crossing,got talking to a group from Stevenage on the ferry and ended up sharing a taxi with them as they told me to go to Lamai and not Chaweng as it was quiter,cheaper and only 10minutes away anyway.
Stayed in the Sea Breeze bungalows on Lamai beach and got the price of the room down to 300baht after saying i knew one of their mates who had just spent 2months staying there!??!?
Lamai just one long strip of stalls,girls going "hello massage????" everywhere you go,and sellers flogging fake cds,clothes,blokes trying to fit you up for suits.But the place was full of girly bars at night,where a whole block was lit up pink,and everytime i walked down the road had 5 girls from each bar screaming at me and shouting David Beckham!!and grabbing your arm dragging you in for a beer.
Hired a bike to tour the island,drove to a Wat where a monk who had died 40years ago was mummified and put on show for all the other monks to learn lessons from and realise their way was just?Had sunglasses on to hide his missing eyes,looked like Michael Jackson!

Mummified Monk At Wat Khunaram

Went for a run along the beach and then snorkelled to grandfather rock,which was a group of rocks where one looked like a blokes thingy (grandfather) and the same for grandmother-you have to see the pics really!

Lamai Beach,Ko Samui

Torrential thunderstorm at night as I was walking down the road with some postcards,the heaviest rain ive ever seen!started running (or trying)back to the bungalow in flip flops and the road just turned into a river,and before long frogs and lizards were flowing down past my feet!Storm lasted on and off for about 2days.Took the bike to Chewang the next day to have a look around,and on way back realised why you never see Thais driving at night.At every street light on the way,MASSIVE moths,or flying bugs were swarming round the light,covering the whole road,and everytime i drove through felt like i was getting hit by bullets,managed to keep my mouth closed!
Decided to move to Chaweng the next morning fed up of the girly bars in Lamai,checked into Charlys Hut,literally small bamboo shed huts right on the beach for 200baht a night.First night out in the Irish bar bumped into the Manc lads from Ko Phangan again and spent the next few nights going out hitting the bars in Chaweng with them.
One night walking from one bar to another with Rick,bumped into Thai girl on the corner(so i thought)and walking 20yards down the road realised shed lifted my wallet.GREAT!
Asked Rick if hed seen who it was,and heard some girls/ladyboys laughing on the corner so stormed over to them asking if theyd seen whod pinched my walet.Demanded to see in their handbags,which they took as a massive insult and after looking in each one and seeing all empty,got a slap round the face off one of them!Would have hit them back if only id have known if they were men or women!?
Depressed and angry went into the nearest bar with Rich and got talking to an expat called "Steve-O" who stood all night singing Ian Brown songs!Gave me 1000baht to see myself right,told him id meet him the next night and pay him back but wouldnt have any of it,and id only met him 20minutes earlier,what a star!Walking his daughter home managed to trip over and take most of the nail and top part of my middle finger off on the road!just to top the night off!
Waited around while Mum and Dad saved me by sending money through Western Union and said id meet the lads later,went to get my Tattoo done as had already made appointment.
Had seen a design i liked in a few places which meant "protection" or a shield from harm,something the buddhas and monks would tattoo each other with or the old thai warriors and heard a story where a farang had been shot 3 times,but had this tattoo and found no bullet wounds.
Had gone to see a tattooist in Ko Phangan and learned about Bamboo tattoo,the traditional way in thailand instead of the usual gun,where a stick of tattoo has a needle attached to the end of it,and a bloke literally stands there and stabs you with it loads of times instead of a machine gun.Had decided not to get it done in Phangan though as the tattoo artist got out a massive block of weed and started smoking it in the shop,saying he needed to smoke a joint as it would steady his hand!So sat in the chair,and let Po stab me with a bamboo needle for 3 hours,but the owner brought me a pizza after realising i hadnt eaten,and a share of his chang beers-didnt get that treatment at Mandy Barbers!

Protection Tattoo

Met up with the lads at night in the Green Mango and had too many beers again!Matt and Gav went off to bed but me and Rick decided to go to Escape as heard about the party,went to massive resort next to the lake at Samui which was just an open air rave on a stage playing trance.Met Rene' and Lea from Australia and spent the night and morning watching the old men dragging gayboys and young thai women behind them around the place!
Decided we'd all had about enough of Samui with its streets of pushers,tailors and hagglers.much preferred Ko Phangan with its laid back beach lifestyle.Marky George was landing to meet me in Phuket on the 27th May and so decided to leave Samui the next morning and make way over to Phuket few days early to find somewhere decent for when he got there for us.Rick and the other lads heading to Ko Phi Phi the next day so would probably bump into them again at some point!Booked ferry/bus for 500baht over to Phuket left at 7 the next morning.