the story continues

The word of the day is “time.” I woke up early to catch the 7:30am bus to Ko Samet which I had reserved through the place I was staying. At 8:30a they showed up, and by 9am all the other tourists had boarded the bus. What my guide book had said would be a three and half hour trip turned into a six hour cricked-neck nap.

We did stop for lunch at a little outpost in the middle of nowhere. Choices were slim-”spaghetti” or “fried rice.” I chose the “spaghetti,” which was actually rice noodles in a sweet sauce with vegetables and chicken. I really wish I knew what it was called, because I have to say it’s in the top two best dishes I’ve eaten on this trip. In the midst of our break, the sky turned dark and within two minutes we had ourselves a downpour. I’d love to be able to say that ten minutes later, when it stopped, the air outside had cooled, but that was not the case.

Two hours, a ride in the back of a converted pick-up truck, and a sluggish ferry later I arrived on Ko Samet, a small island south-east of Bangkok. The tour books I had warned me of staying too close to the pier, so I started walking down the beach. Thirty minutes later I had arrived at the beautiful postcard perfect beach I had been hoping for. An hour later, I had managed to find the cheapest accomodation on the island - $8 for a bungalow to myself. No, it wasn’t on the beach, and yes, the shower was unreliable, but a bungalow! two minutes from white sand perfection!

Let me tell you about “my beach.” It has fine white sand. There are only eight to ten people on it at a given time. The water is the perfect temperature-warm enough to jump right in and cool enough to soothe your baking flesh. There is a little snorkeling, but not enough to warrent renting gear. There are Thai women giving massages on the beach under the shade of a palm tree for a mere $9 an hour. There are men and women who bring fresh fruit and make hand pounded fruit drinks where you’re sitting. (My favorite was the dragonfruit.)

My beach and the next beach over are separated by a rocky outcropping. Atop the stones are two statues, one of a king and one of a mermaid. While swimming near the coral on the other beach, I met a nice Thai man who told me the story of these statues. It involves a jealous wife and a mermaid lover. The older name for the island apparently reflects this story, but I can’t begin to pronounce it. The nice Thai man, named Tour (pronounced Tua), was a teacher at a school in the northeast of Thailand and had come to this island with all of the teachers in his school as a sort of teacher retreat. Some of the other teachers came over and we played frisbee, they took pictures with the farang (foreigner) and they invited me to have dinner with them later.

I showed up at a beach spread with Thai tatami and cushions, lit by candles, and being serviced by young people carrying all sorts of delicious food. I found my new friends, who introduced me to wonderful Thai food, beer, and hospitality. If I didn’t have a return ticket to Japan, I would have taken them up on their offer to go back to their school with them. I mostly hung out with four people: Tour, the Principal, the English teacher, and the Math teacher. I don’t know their names, because they were so long I could not pronounce them. They all like to dance. So we went to a bar with a live band just up the beach and drank and danced until th early morning hours. I had a great time hanging out with them and I hope I hear from them again.

The next day was what a perfect vacation should be. Leisurely awake, light breakfast, and then on to the quiet, perfect beach. I was so excited to get to the beach that I was a little slap-happy with the sunscreen. And, being that I was by myself, I did not have anyone to help me apply any to my back. This would make for a bad situation later on. Anyway, I spent the day laying on the beach, swimming, laying on the beach, getting a massage, drinking fruit shakes, and laying on the beach. It was lovely.

As evening set, I wandered along the beach and came across a little Thai boy playing frisbee with himself. He was very good at it, but I thought he might like a partner. So I did the universal, “throw me the disc” sign, and he did. What proceeded was my second favorite part of my trip so far - tossing the disc on a beach at sunset barefoot in the sand and splashing in the water. The little boy wasn’t as good at throwing to another person as he was at throwing to himself, and I have to say I ended up being quite wet, but in weather like that you dry soon enough. After about forty-five minutes we said our khap kun kaa (Thank you) and went our seperate ways. He was smiling.

For dinner, I went to a different restaurant by myself. I had spicy Thai tuna salad and sweet rice with fresh mango. It was amazing. I finished writing postcards at my table under the palm tree and covertly licked the stamps. (It is impolite and disrespectful to lick the stamps because they have the picture of the king on them.) After a starlit walk along the beach, I returned to my bungalow for a good night’s sleep.