We flew to Koh Samui, Thailand the next morning. Well, we flew to a town called Surat Thani on eastern mainland Thailand (in the south) and then took a ferry over to Koh Samui island. This island is located just below Ko Phangan island (where they have the famous full moon parties). We weren’t there at the right time for the full moon party, but I am not too upset. You hear crazy stories about those parties, including not so rare situations of dead people laying on the beach the morning after (!) Before I let go of Malaysia, we do plan to return again a few times—not just because we really liked it but also because KL is the airport hub for Air Asia so there are plenty of cheap flights to other parts of southeast asia that often have layovers in KL (ill take a layover in that city any day!). Back to Thailand: we chose Koh Samui because I bought a groupon for a resort on the island about a year ago for Tom & I—many many many months before we had any idea we were going to be doing this long trip—so it just happened to work out that we had to use it before 2013 so we did it before Australia!
My impressions of Thailand are not what I expected. The resort is really nice and we did get an awesome deal with the groupon. However, the resort is just not our kind of place. It is quite poshy and snobbish, everything costs way more than it should in Thailand, and we feel like everyone is always trying to jip you or sell you something in a sneaky way. This haggling and scamming situation happens all around the island too! However, it did improve over the week. They did help us with small favours and the groupon extras we got- thai massage and dinner –were great. We got what we wanted out of the groupon- R&R!!! But its not a place I would flock to again, just not my sort of scene –boring people and crazy prices. But we made the most of it and I will probably miss the little beach bungalow when we leave!
It’s our last night here and tomorrow we set off for the open ocean- literally! Tom really wanted us to do the open water diver certification while we were in Thailand. It is considered one of the best places in the world to scuba dive so we decided to finish our R&R early and do the course—textbook and study materials in hand!! It is weird to study while on vacation :P
We did the pool stuff today and I thought it was cool. However, I’m still nervous about the open ocean tomorrow……
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Initial Impressions of Thailand:
- The people you meet are 50/50: some will genuinely try to help you, the others will do everything in their power to scam you/sell you something/make money off of you. I blame this on the tourist culture here. Thailand has been very touristy for a long time and it shows. They have lost some of their identity and I am sure they have lost a lot of respect for the average tourist- young/drunk/environmentally unfriendly/doesn’t care. It is a beautiful, serene place, but easy to take advantage of…..and that is how I see it now….used up. There is still some incredible beauty but it is tainted with massive tourism that is really hurting as well as helping the country.
- No matter how mediocre the vibe is, the country has stunning tropical beauty. Its our first stop on the southeast asia itinerary, so I am interested to compare it to Indonesia, Vietnam, Phillipines, etc. in terms of beauty.
- The food is awesome. I cannot get enough of it—pad thai/coconut soup/spicy prawn soup/ fruits/etc.----another top 10 for sure- enough said.
