Koh Samet is the closest island to Bangkok. Located just three hours away by bus and a short ferry, its very easy to get to for a quick weekend at the beach. A few of us decided that last weekend would be the perfect weekend to visit the island we've heard so much about.
Many resources describe Koh Samet as an absolutely beautiful place but they also give a word of warning. Apparently, its close proximity to Bangkok causes it to be extremely crowded on the weekends, with both foreigners and local Thais. Because we all had to teach on Friday, I was worried that we might not be able to get a room for the weekend. Despite these fears, we headed to the island to see what would happen. I'm thrilled that we did.
My coworker Becca and I departed immediately from school on Friday and met two friends of ours at the train station in the center of Bangkok. It was surprisingly easy, and cheap, to get a bus down to Bang Phe (where we would catch a ferry to Koh Samet). The bus actually turned out to be really nice. They gave us bottled water and snacks during the ride. We arrived in Bang Phe knowing that we were too late to catch the last ferry to Koh Samet, so we met more of our friends at a hotel right next to the pier with plans to catch the first ferry to the island Saturday morning. The hotel was run by an Australian and, although it was far from the nicest place I have ever stayed, I liked it because I had the opportunity to eat the most delicious cheeseburger I've had since I've been in Thailand. This is not really a great accomplishment, I guess, because it only beat out one other cheeseburger for that award. Nonetheless, I enjoyed having a meal without rice for a change.
We woke up around 7:00 am Saturday morning and headed over to the pier to catch a ferry. Again, this was unbelievably easy. I've found that many of the people on the islands speak far better English than people around where I teach. This makes traveling a bit less hectic. The ferry got us to the island around 8:00 am and we headed off in search of a hotel. Two friends I was traveling with had been to Koh Samet a few weeks before this and they said there was a hotel that they had seen and would like to try. The rest of us were all rookies on the island so we followed their lead. They made a great choice. We got a little cottage with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. It was a total of 1,400 baht (45 dollars) between six people. We were surrounded by other travelers our age and we were only a five minute walk from the beach. It really turned out to be a great place to stay.
We spent all day Saturday relaxing on the beach. It was a beautiful place. Perfectly clear, warm water. White sand that looked like flour. It was everything the guidebooks said it would be.
And despite the warnings, the island certainly didn't feel overly crowded. That afternoon, a few of us decided to go on a boat cruise/snorkeling tour of the island.
It was a lot of fun. The snorkeling wasn't the best that I think I'll experience while over here but the ride around the island, seeing all of the different beaches and cliffs, was really cool.
That night was one of the most fun I've had in Thailand. We got dinner at a restaurant on the beach and were pleasantly surprised when fire dancers started performing. They can do amazing things with the fire.
They performed for at least forty-five minutes. It was really awesome to see. After that, my buddy Lee and I headed over to the Mauy Thai boxing ring set up across the street from our hotel. We had a lot of fun betting each other which fighter would win each fight. Following that, we decided to test out the pizza place down the road. It may have been the fact that at that point in our night we were hungry for anything, but it was outstanding.
The next day, sadly, we had to leave. It was a quick trip but definitely worth it. On our way home, the bus "broke down." We found out later that it had in fact run out of gas. We should have been tipped off when the driver started driving forty miles an hour and turning off the AC intermittently. Only in Thailand would the guy decide not to stop until he could actually go no further.
Despite that small fiasco, the trip was an amazing success. As I already said, there will be a few posts coming up in the next few days concerning teaching updates and Thai holidays. Hope everyone is enjoying reading them.
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