Ko Samui: First taste of the beautiful Thailand Islands…

I'm currently on the island of Ko Samui; it was a 10 hour bus ride (it was actually a beautiful bus, double decker, huge seats and no chickens) from Bangkok, with an equally amazing 2 hour ferry ride; the price 280 baht or about $11 Cdn. for everything - Crazy! The island life is lovely: it's a slower way of being where you fall into a rhythm with the locals.  It's not so much about rushing to see everything, it's more about slowing down so you catch everything and miss nothing.

I'm staying in a simple A-frame beach hut, thatched roof, raised floor, mosquito netting, one light, one fan, mattress on the floor, clean and tidy, but rustic.  There are a few metres of white sand to the ocean. There are a lot of young people: Germans, Dutch, English, Aussies, French, etc. and we spend a lot of time hanging out by the ocean drinking Singha's (local Thai beer) and enjoying our cultural differences. price: $7 cdn for the  room per night and 30 baht or $.90 /beer.

I wake up each morning about 7:30 - dogs make great alarm clocks - except the snooze doesn't work, you can't adjust the time, and they sometimes go off prematurely at 4 am. I have a shower, it's not heated but that's just what you need because it’s already 25 degrees, then it's off for a run along the beach, swim in the ocean and some banana pancakes for breakfast.  The afternoons are spent touring on scooters, hanging on the beach (reading, writing, sketching), or various sightseeing or adventure day trips.  I wish you all could be here. 

Off to Ko Pha Ngan tomorrow, it's more rustic then Ko Samui and they have the infamous Full Moon Parties:  A huge 5000+ beach party with plenty of adventures and misadventures. Here are some more tidbits of Thailand.
1. Scooters are not meant to be driven through shrubbery
2. Don't eat those little red peppers, if you do, have plenty of Singha (beer) handy
3. Mosquito netting works on other things besides mosquitoes.
4. When driving a scooter try to remember that they drive on the wrong side of the road - it is imperative.
5. Sunscreen is not overrated.
6. Thai people's beauty (inside beauty) increases exponentially the further you get away from tourist traps.
7.  Canada is a wonderful place to live.