Koh Samui, Thailand

Today I got up at 06:30, got ready, and was outside the hotel by 07:20, waiting for the transportation I had arranged the day prior to take me to Koh Samui (it was supposed to arrive some time between 07:30 and 08:00). The minivan finally came at 08:40, I squeezed in, and we were off. Then we picked up two more passengers along the way, making the van even more cramped. We drove across the bridge to the main land, then up north, heading to the port at Surat Thani. After about two hours, we stopped for a short break, before proceeding onward for about an hour and a half’s drive. We then stopped at another location for over an hour, where we would switch buses. I’m convinced the only purpose for this stop was to get us to try and buy some of the food they were selling, as well as bus tickets (which were a rip off) once we were at Koh Samui to take us to our final destinations; meanwhile, the bus we would take was parked on the street almost the whole time and there is no reason we could not have left sooner to make it to the pier. Finally, we loaded on to the bus and were taken to the pier. The drive was over an hour long and when we got there, I was awakened by a German passenger. After exiting the bus, it was about another thirty minutes before we could load on to the ferry which was going to take us to Koh Samui. At first I sat on the top deck room, but it turned out to be a VIP room (costing 30 baht), so I walked down, past the middle deck, and settled in the bottom deck, which was almost empty and much cooler than the other decks (in other words, vastly better than the “VIP room”). The journey lasted about an hour and a half and we were treated to a screening of ‘I, Robot’, which is kind of a stupid movie (it’s hard to make an intelligent science fiction film, but this one didn’t even try). After docking on the island of Koh Samui, I took a tuk-tuk to my destination: Chaweng. We drove for about an hour and the driver had to stop for twenty minutes to ask directions and smoke a cigarette.

Finally, I reached my hostel; Backpacker Hostel. Immediately upon entering, I was greeted by the Americans who manage the place and was treated like a friend, returning after being away for a long time. Everyone was very friendly and with every question I asked, they immediately started looking up the answers. I was then invited to join a group of six people staying at the hostel to go to the food market for dinner. I went along and had Pad Thai with chicken while listening to the live music and drinking a beer bought at the local convenience store. After dinner, we walked to the beach and watched the waves hitting the shore at night, as well as sky lanterns being lit and drifting up to the heavens. At the beach, I had a Singapore Sling and spent quite a lot of time chatting with a Spanish man and a German woman (from Bavaria); then the Spanish man and the Irish man (who guided us to this beach bar, which sells magic mushroom shakes – I did not indulge) left to go back to the hostel and the German woman and I joined the rest of our group (a German man, a Dutch man, and a stunningly beautiful English woman). We talked for some time as the German woman and I were playing on the swing set located next to the bar, and as the Dutch and German men were inhaling laughing gas. Then we left the bar and walked to the street where all the clubs are at. We all bought beer at the convenience store and took them in to a club which allows outside drinks. We danced, partied, and laughed there for a while before the German woman had to leave, and before moving on to the next club (after buying more beer at a convenience store from a lady boy now working a cash register instead of cabaret shows). We also met up with a group of three Dutch men and one woman from our hostel. At the next club, we all entered without a problem, but tried to sneak the German man’s beer inside; a security guard for the club grabbed it and poured it out; I told him “to go fuck himself” and flipped him off; I don’t exactly remember why I wasn’t kicked out of the club, but the English woman intervened and cooled the situation and then we just walked off to the dance floor. We then danced for a long time and I was becoming sweatier with each passing song. I walked around the club with the German guy for some time and we had some more beers while inside. When the club finally closed for the night, all the party-goers had quickly cleared the floor and the German guy and I walked back to the hostel. Along the way, we talked to some young French women, trying to get them to come back with us, but they us they were only seventeen, so we dropped it and continued on. We also met a number of prostitutes trying to lure us in to their world and the German guy called one a lady boy; she then got off her motorbike and walked in to the nearby alley (for some cover) and started moving her shorts and panties to one side to prove her womanhood; I just laughed and told the German we should continue walking. We then came across a street that felt right (as in: it may lead us back to our hostel), and turned down it. The German stopped at a convenience store to buy some drinks and I stopped to use the nearby wall. I then met up with the rest of our group who also turned down that street, walking back to the hostel. Then the German came back out of the store and we continued our walk back to the hostel. By the grace of God, we made it safely back to our hostel with all of our possessions and I went to sleep at around 05:00. It was a very fun night.