Koh Samed, Thailand

  Koh Samed, Thailand
Thursday, July 10, 2008

We left Bangkok at 8am and we were supposed to reach Koh Samet at 12 but didn't arrive until 3. We spent at least an hour driving around Bangkok picking up other passengers then we got a puncture which took the best part of an hour to fix and then we had a very uncomfortable boat ride to the island. The sea was quite rough and we weren't feeling too good when we landed. We went to Ploy Scuba shop to see if they could do us a deal on some accomodation but they weren't very helpful so Karl walked up and down the beach looking for somewhere to stay. Everywhere was really expensive and most places had construction going on. It didn't help that we arrived on a Friday because a lot of people from Bangkok go to Koh Samet for the weekend so they put up their prices. Karl then rented a moped and went much further down the beach. He came back after half an hour and said he found somewhere that looked ok. He brought the bags to Jep Bungalows on the bike and struggled with them up loads of dodgy steps. Karl said he got the room for 1000 Baht (20 Euro) after a lot of haggling and telling them we would stay for at least 5 nights. The room was ok but nothing special and there were loads of mosquitos. We went down to the reception to check in and the man said we had to pay for the 5 nights straight away or he was going to charge us 1,500 Baht (30 Euro). We didn't have enough cash on us so Karl got a bit mad and told him where to shove his room, threw the key on the desk and stormed off. The man behind the desk picked up the key and threw it at Karl. I turned around and started shouting at your man because he was coming around from behind the desk and trying to go for Karl. I wouldn't mind but I was about a foot taller than him. I was going to smack him in the face if he didn't back off. We grabbed the key back so we could get our bags out of the room (I really wasn't sure why Karl threw the key on the desk when we still needed it!! Silly boy!!) We went back up to the room and grabbed our bags and went walking further down the beach but a dog followed us from Jep Bungalows and kept barking and growling at us. I picked up a couple of stones and threw them at it but he kept following us so i picked up a stick and ran at it. I was in no mood after nearly having a fight with the little Thai man in Jep Bungalows. The dog finally went back. I was ready to get back on the boat and go back to Bangkok. Eventually we found a place called Silver Sands Resort. We got a nice room for 800 Baht which was only 1 minute from the beach. Bit of a bad start to Koh Samet.

Scenery

Lydia

 
I was going to do my diving course with Ploy Diving but they weren't very helpful with the accomodation and we were a good bit down the beach from their office. There was another dive shop beside the resort which was run by a nice Thai man called Udi. I decided to do the dive course with him. The first day of the course was spent sitting in the office watching a video and studying. The next day we went out to the beach and did some skills. It felt a bit weird the first time i went under water to breathe with the regulator. I was afraid i wasn't going to like it but I got used to it and didn't have a problem taking off my mask and taking out the regulator under water. The next day I went out on a boat with Udi and we did 3 dives. The visibility wasn't great because it had been raining a bit at night. there was still a lot to see. I'm looking forward to getting to the south islands to go diving again, hopefully in clearer water.
I wasn't drinking while i was learning to dive, needed a break anyway, so Karl decided to try and find some people who would drink with him. He managed to find a group of Irish. I went to bed at around 12 because i had to get up early to dive the next morning and Karl crawled in the door at 4am. He got into bed for 2 minutes before running into the bathroom to get sick.

Fire Show

After Dinner

The next day Karl wasn't feeling too good so he didn't do much. We bumped into a woman called Paula who was on holiday with her son. She had been out with Karl the night before and wasn't feeling too good either. We had an early night because I had to dive the next day and Karl couldn't look at a drink.
The next day while I was diving Karl and Paula rented motorbikes and drove around the island but the roads were very bad and there aren't that many roads on the island so it wasn't great.
I finished my diving course that day so we had a couple of cocktails to celebrate. The next day we just sat on the beach. It was quite cloudy but still warm. We managed to get a bit sunburnt though. We decided to leave and go back to Bangkok because it started raining a lot.
We did enjoy Koh Samet after all the drama at the start. Heading to Chiang Mai next.