Day at Koh Samui ariport was predictably dull despite it being the most attractive airport ever! The departure gates look more like beach-side bars than anything else.
I'd planned on exploring Bangkok the next day but i was ill, food poisoning or something, most horrible but fairly inevitable i suppose. Luckily i managed to drag myself out of bed and not be sick long enough to send a desperate message to Valentina telling her the name of the hotel and she actually managed to find me - saviour!
So the next day, taking anti-vomiting pills and smelling tiger balm (magical stuff!) we caught a bus to Koh Chang - another beautiful island. Only on this one the weather was very kind to us, gorgeous the whole time. We weren't sure where to stay when we got there (only just made the last ferry) so we just stayed where the taxi man dropped us - a good choice as it goes, 800 Baht got us a lovely lil cabin nearly on the beach front with tele and hot water. We decided we didn't really need such luxuries so would look for somewhere else the next day. The dream place was a cabin with a hammock right on the sea front. And we pretty much got that, sans hammock (which Valentina bought later on). Anyway! So on the first night we found a restaurant in the resort next door, with cushions instead of chairs, and free salad - the vinegar was exactly what i wanted! V.nice and we went back there a few more times cos it was very good.
We woke the next morning and went for a dip in the sea, surrounded by 6 little islands, most picturesque! Went for a walk in the sea to try to find a new place to stay (which as i said we found for a mere 500 Baht). I got very excited about finding a place called Porn's Bungalows. Heeheeeheee. Appealed to my less sophisticated sense of humour. Didn't stay there but went for lunch, chilled in the hammocks (cept for when a gigantic wasp was stalking me) and played chinese checkers and pool. Met a random Russian bloke (accompanied by his Thai companion) who had been in Cambodia making some sort of arty film. Valentina inspired him to call it Silence in Cambodia (cos it's a silent film...). We ran into him a few more times, got a little irritating when he was smoking in the unventilated internet room but hey ho, an interesting character. Went for a Thai massage, my first time, it's very nice but looks like mighty hard work! Pulling limbs and flicking toes and all sorts. That evening we had our first gorgeous sunset (i've cut down on all the sunset photos, you'd get v.bored otherwise!), best place on the island to see them apparently.
Halloween night we went in search of a party on the main White Sands beach. Walked the whole thing in search of a place to eat free of posh people with their kids...eventually we found a more backpackery type place near the end of the beach with cushions. Lots of dogs and cats running in and out. Then we went to a Halloween 'party'. The fire twirlers were cool, unlike at the Full Moon Party, which was more of a free for all (but lots of fun), this one had a theme - a Polynesian theme which was a tad odd in Thailand but still - the girls were Hula-ing and the blokes were fighting, looked great though, very impressive fire antics! The party was a bit of a non-starter though, too many little kids and the band were covering songs atrociously, when you start murdering Westlife it's time to leave. So we went to a bar called Oodies which had a pretty cool band, the singer could actually sing! We sat next to some irritating Italians being stereotypical.
The next day was much of the relaxing same - morning swim, lunch, beach, sunset, evening foot massage (which was more like whole leg, an hour and a half long and inculded a back and shoulder bit, lovely!), and Valentina bought that hammock.
Much of the next morning was taken up by my flight changing issues - i'd decided to stay in Thailand with Valentina rather than go to Singapore - it involved many expensive phone calls to bad jazz on-hold music in a number of countries trying to get someone to help me pay for my changes. Their payment system wasn't working, and it wasn't my credit card that was the problem, i had to call them in the UK to check - a tip: if you want to speak to an actual British person rather than an Indian call centre with no half hour waits phone at 5am GMT!! Got straight through to a really helpful person, brilliant! Eventually I got a nice lady in Singapore who simply changed the payment currency to Singapore dollars instead of Baht and it worked! After all the shouting at incompetant people we needed to unwind, so Valentina hired a motorbike and off we went to a lovely waterfall. Got a student discount on entry which always pleases me. Had to do a bit of a hike to reach it but it was worth it. Refreshing cold water, lovely. I was trying to reach the actual waterfall bit (v.strong current repelling you of course) and i did just about but then got scared away by a scary big crab! It was guarding it. Then Valentina sort of looked a bit dodgy and told me to come out cos she had something to tell me - i didn't believe her and looked behind me and saw a huge water snake - aaaahhhhh!!! flew to the side and scrambled to get out (it was very slippery and difficult to get in and out). On closer scrunity (or at least less panicked) i suspect it may have been a bit stick cos it didn't wiggle. But it could've been in snakey disguise. Either way. After another lovely sunset we had a rather nerve-wracking motorbike ride to a hostel in Lonely Beach. The roads aren't exactly Roman, they're more free flowing than that, all steep ups and downs, windy bends and sheer drops, and that plus lightning made it an interesting ride, but Valentina did very well indeed and we didn't fall off or even come close. Had a very yummy chocolate shake, which mollified us since the staff were entirely disinterested - this was good actually cos we had been thinking of staying there and we were glad we hadn't. Sadly we didn't meet any people, very cliquey groups so we went back and i read my lovely book (Oryx and Crake, soo good).
On Saturday, Valentina's friend Tara arrived for the weekend, an Aussie working for an NGO in Bangkok. Another hectic day of swimming, lunching, hammocking and reading, swimming again...then it was time for a massage. I had a manicure and pedicure, never had one before, but it wasn't very good, done by a teenage girl so felt too guilty to say anything, but she didn't even buff! Had a delicious papaya salad, yum. Went to a random (apparently) gay bar where a man was singing and playing the guitar, quite entertaining. A German man called Sven (or 7-11 by the locals) got up and sang and played too, was rather good, nice arms. We couldn't quite convince Valentina to get up and sing, she sang at the table instead.
Sunday we kayaked to one of the little islands which looked spookily like the Lost set. I was expecting a big black mist to leap out at us at any moment. We did rather well to get there i think, very enterprising! It was getting more and more choppy and windy so we had to head back but half way there it was just too difficult so i got out and steered and pulled it manually, much easier (this isn't the big wide ocean, the water only came up to my knees)! So what with the rowing and walking and pulling it was a full body workout, good stuff. Tara had to head back to Bangkok that evening and there was a bit of getting to the ferry drama - the taxis didn't come along as promised and the later it got the less willing they were to take her! They couldn't be bothered basically, in the end i convinced a nice lady one to take her despite her assurances it was too late and they couldn't get there in time - in fact she had 5 minutes to spare. So there ya go.
Monday was our last day on Koh Chang, we caught the bus back to Bangkok, a tourist bus this time and Valentina got us seats in, as she puts it, the red rockstar lounge! There was a sofa and a tv right in front of us and they showed The Day After Tomorrow. Bad film but comfy seats. I'd booked us a hotel near the airport, so the bus dropped us off in the middle of the highway - literally!! - and we had to convince a taxi to take us there, one saying it was too far, the other too close, most bizarre. He had no idea where it was despite me showing him a clear map, but we got there eventually. We went into town for a truly scrummy dinner at a veggie restaurant and Tara joined us for drinks. I got to see Kao San Road - i was expecting it to be horrible but i liked it! Fun. We were on the Valentina - kissing mission, and although she didn't find anyone to kiss, she did strike up conversations with randoms, better than i can do so good on her! We're meeting up again when i get to Sydney, but one country away!
