Waiting for Bryan

  Kho Samet, Rayong, Thailand Monday, October 13, 2014

Well as i have to hang around for 2 weeks while his lordship goes off galavanting back in England, I thought I may as well hang around somewhere nice! So i caught a bus from Bangkok to the Island's nearest ferry port and hopped on a boat to Kho Samet. I arrived by boat around 2pm on Monday and the first shock was i had to pay to get OFF the jetty the boat had delivered me to. Paying to get on I could almost understand but paying to get off was definitely a new one on me! So money paid, the taxis told me my place was so close I could walk. So off I went in the direction he pointed and lo and what do you know - he was right. Just 10 minutes and I had found Runa Runa Guesthouse where I had booked into using the internet. It wasn't that great to be honest and I knew I couldn't stay there beyond the one night I had already prepaid for, so after I had checked in, I went for a nice walk to find something better for the rest of my stay. Next shock; I had to pay to get to the beach - 200 baht (£4). Apparently it's because it's a National Park and it will be valid for the whole week I am here, but still! The beach is packed too. It isn't quite a Benidorm or a Bournemouth but it's pretty full. Mainly Russians and Chinese. It spreads out in both directions from where you enter the beach and the village is designed so most of the rowdy bars and restaurants are down here on the beach - good idea really. There are a few swanky places to stay along the beach but they are very expensive and way out of my budget. I only found this out after looking at a few and the cheapest I could find was 700 baht a night (£14) for a little hobbit hut. They looked cute but gosh were they hot inside.So I went back off the beach and into the village behind and found a really friendly Thai man who seemed very genuine and was willing to give me a nice room with AC for 800 baht a night instead of his usual price of 1200. The room wasn't swanky at all but it had a soft bed and a nice bathroom. Bonus too the tv had English channels and I had a fridge. He also provided a litre of bottled water every day. so I booked in for the following day and told him if I slept well then, I would stay the whole 6 nights I had remaining here. Later that afternoon I found a place to eat on the beach called perfect Dough and a really friendly lady who seemed to own the bar got really chatty. She didn't seem like she was just doing the whole customer service thing on me and seemed very genuine. I promised I would come back another day and went back to my grotty room. The next day I checked into the nicer room further down the village and felt much happier there. I felt a bit mean as the chap who runs the first place was so sweet. His guesthouse is attached to his shop so as consolation I felt obliged to buy a couple of things from his shop (sshh - don't tell Bryan) However, my new room felt much cleaner even though the first room hadn't been dirty. Just brighter and fresher I suppose. And big bonus it is 100 yards closer to the beach so it will save me 2 minutes on my walk every day!! The rest of the week just drifted along really. Mornings were spent doing something - I don't really know what, then to the beach for about 1:30/2:00. The sea is so clear and so warm here it's like my hot tub - well not quite but almost. I had none of the usual ooo ooo ooos getting in - straight in and it feels great! During the day there is a constant stream of food sellers with coconuts which they prepare in front of you (but they don't have any rum to go in them before you ask), fresh mango and pineapple which they peel and slice right in front of you and don't get any sand in it - I am very impressed by that! There are men selling hot chicken - well they cook it on the beach for you if you want to risk it and of course they come along selling sarongs, tattoos, trips and other bits and bobs. It's so easy just to stay put and let everything you want come to you I did try a couple of other restaurants during my stay here but they didn't have the same friendly feeling as "Perfect Dough" where Pat worked and to be honest the food for vegetarians isn't all that great here so most days I found myself back there for at least one meal a day. One evening Pat bought me a beer then shot back to the bar to make cocktails and came back with the left overs for me (ie she had made a bit too much to go in one glass) What a great place this is turning out to be. She had a 3 year old lad named Stan too who kept everyone amused too. On the beaches at night the sellers instead of selling sunglasses and sarongs, come along selling fireworks and those huge lanterns that you send off into the sky. Its really pretty with lots of them going up. Which reminds me we are off to see the lantern festival in Chiang Mai at the beginning of November so it will be spectacular there. I have booked a speedboat tour of some of the other islands around here and you can read about that trip separately. One of the absolute highlights of the week here? I found the banana roti man again! (See 2 nights in Bangkok entry) There he was - right there on the beach all this time. I had been walking past him without realising. Good job I found him near the end of my stay here or I would get so fat I would need more than one seat on the bus back to Bangkok. Mmmmm! heaven on a plate. Ha ha Bryan, I've got banana roti - you haven't!   :-) Well my last day on the island was lovely. I went back to Perfect Dough again.... and had breakfast (best fried eggs in ages and they use real butter on their toast - bonus). Then I spent the whole day under an umbrella reading my book then going for a swim when I was too hot and only coming out when I'd cooled down. Bliss.In-between the procession of beach sellers I managed to fit in fresh fruit (and my last banana roti) drinks were supplied by Perfect Dough. Then as the evening wore on, I had a pizza and a Chang beer there. Pat was able to take time out from the kitchen and joined me for a drink and it was so nice to chat away as the music played. In fact the music was so good (thumbs up from me Yod) that night that I pushed the boat out and had another beer. Then a cup of tea - and what a cup of tea - it was huge! By now it was 10:30 and the beach gets quiet then and bars start turning their lights off. Although it does feel safe here on the whole, I am not going to walk anywhere on my own in the dark so it was time to say goodbye. So with contact details all exchanged and promises of keeping in touch it was time to go home. So I went from being totally unsure about if I'd made the right decision to come here or not, to feeling like I had made new friends and could stay forever. I had a really lovely time here and would love to think I will go back one day. You never know - stranger things have happened....! [gallery columns="4" ids="8623,8631,8650,8665,8679,8688,8699,8709,8719,8728,8736,8742,8749,8755,8763,8772,8779,8786,8789,8797,8803,8808,8818,8827"]