Almost killed by butterflies in Koh Samui!

So even though there are cheap flights from Bangkok to Koh Samui, the train is even cheaper, and I’d read glowing reviews about how “fun” it is to take the train in Thailand, that it’s safe and clean, etc.  And even a “first class” ticket is just $50 for a 12 hour ride – most of which you could sleep through as the train leaves Bangkok at 7:30pm and arrives in the near-port city of Sarat Thani just after 7am. 

Well.  I can confirm that it was safe and cheap.  And while the first class cabin was NOTHING like you would expect from a first class train cabin in the states, it was still clean (if a little old and worn), so whatever.  But I got very little sleep thanks to the rattling and bucking.  Part of this may be due to the fact that I was near the end of the car/at the junction where it hooks to another car.  At the end of the day, I guess I can say I’m glad I had the experience, but I immediately decided I would be flying from Samui to Phuket and then from there back to Bangkok (fun/weird fact: although Bangkok is farther from Phuket than Samui is, the latter flight – on the same airline – costs twice as much).

Koh Samui is beautiful and definitely the more “laid back/mellow” island compared to Phuket.  I stayed in Bangpo, on the north side of the island, which is even more chill/less densely populated.  I actually stayed in a bungalow right on the beach, which was cool, in a little guesthouse operated by an expat named Sean/Shahinn who had been there a year after spending the previous six in…..wait for it….Guangzhou!  So I asked him what he’d thought of GZ, and he paused, then said diplomatically, “Well….I found the Chinese……culture…a challenge.”  So I laughed and said, I just found the Chinese people to be a “challenge.”  He laughed and we then swapped stories about how, even though GZ is a pretty cool city, its downside is it’s full of Chinese people.  Ha!

  

ANYWAY, the cool/fun thing about Samui is that I quickly rented a scooter and basically spent my 3 days there tooling around the island on that.  Took me back to my Hawai’i days.  There are few things cooler than zipping around a tropical island on a scooter, let me tell you!  Of course, I had to learn the “tics” of this particular scooter – namely that you can’t lock it because its lock was messed up (which, apparently, the nice older Thai woman who rented it to me tried to explain but I waved her off saying, “Yes, yes, I know how to lock a scooter.” So they had to come fix it and remind me not to lock it after that), and that you can’t start it with the kickstand down – which is actually a sensible precaution that they simply hadn’t had on the scooters I rode in Hawai’i (maybe they do now).

So I rode all over the island, checking out various little island towns, beaches, the Big Buddha, etc.  The highlight/lowlight of the trip was the day I took the advice of Sean to cut through the middle of the island, go up the mountain for a great view, and then down through the rain forest to the other side.  Well, although I thought I’d taken the right turn, I got nearly (so I thought) to the top when the cement road abruptly dead-ended into rutted dirt (pic to be posted).  I got off the scooter and trekked over the rise to see the cement road started back up again, so I figured they just couldn’t pave over this difficult part, so I carefully rode the scooter up over the rise and was back on my merry way, but not near the top as I thought, as I was greeted by a VERY steep switchback that I feared the poor old scooter wouldn’t be able to handle.  After THEN thinking I had crested the hill, and stopped accordingly for some scenic pics, I found ANOTHER steep switchback and willed my little chugging scooter up THAT.  I should also mention that this road was VERY little used – although in good condition (maybe because of that).

Anyway, after finally cresting the final rise, I started my descent.  My very steep descent that was almost as scary as coming UP the hill.  I’d made it maybe a third of the way down when, again, the cement road abruptly ended into a dirt road.  And not really a road so much, as a worn down Jeep-path through the rainforest.  I figured this was to protect the pristine nature, so headed in to the forest, which immediately became pretty dark due to the tree cover.  After a few hundred feet in I was set upon by butterflies – at first a few dozen, but then probably nearing a hundred or more.  While I like butterflies, let me assure you it is sort of unnerving to have dozens of them flying around you, smacking you in the face, etc.  I suddenly empathized with my friend Charlotte who has a strong dislike for butterflies – and as these were brown, almost moth-like butterflies, it was easier to hate them.  Finally, the butterfly swarm abated, but my troubles just began as the path suddenly veered downward, and became MUCH rougher, fainter, rutted, strewn with logs and rocks, etc.  I finally decided I had somehow managed to take a different route than what Sean had suggested (I later discovered I’d turned too soon off the main island loop road – although why this particular road/path I was on even existed made no sense considering how desolate it was).

By this point I was a little panicky and scared.  I had seen NO homes, no businesses, etc. for some time.  I figured I could always turn back, but there had been no “alternate routes” or turn-offs for some time, and it would be a bitch to re-navigate anyway.  I could discern I was still heading for the coast (although, as it turns out, not the one I thought), so despite the rough terrain that I had no business traversing in a well-used little scooter, I plodded on – only falling over once (woo-hoo!) and slightly injuring my foot.  Believe it or not, the path grew increasingly faint and rocky, but after what seemed an eternity of me thinking I would end up crashing the scooter and then being set upon by some wild animal or snake, I came upon what looked like a freshly bulldozed path through a dirt hill with, I thought, a glimmer of water/sea on the other side.  I trucked through it and was finally relieved to come back out on a cement road through a high end housing area, which then led me on a multi-optioned trek that, mercifully, finally, ended back up on the ring road.  I was literally shaking with relief.  During my adventure, I’d reflected on my mom telling me one of the things she hated about getting older was becoming more fearful.  I did have to constantly remind myself during the more treacherous parts of my ride that I was on an island so couldn’t really get lost, that I’d found myself in at least nearly-equally dangerous situations in the past (e.g., drunk and lost in the dark in a strange foreign city), etc.  So I’m hoping to now use THIS adventure for in the future if/when I find myself in another “scary” situation.  Yay, me!  J

Also, as it turns out, I did indeed come across a very large/long snake like the one I thought would set upon me after I crashed the scooter.  This during a hike to a waterfall the next day.  Amazingly, I didn’t scream like a girl when I saw it – just watched it slither it’s VERY long body across the path in front of me.  Yes, I am SO butch!  J

After my 3 days in Koh Samui, it was off to Phuket.  I flew Bangkok Airways, which labels itself as “Asia’s Boutique Airline” and I have to say I was impressed.  At the airport in K.S., they had a nice little outdoor lounge (next to the outdoor/ but roofed gate) with a mini-buffet of small sandwiches, pastries, popcorn, juices, etc., and even though the flight to Phuket was only an hour, we were served a light meal.  Very nice.

As for Phuket, it was all about the room I stayed in – as those of you who’ve already seen my squealing about it in Facebook will know.  Seriously, though, this may have been the nicest hotel I’ve ever stayed in.  The Centara Villas are built into the cliffs overlooking Karon Beach and my room had a fantastic view with my own Jacuzzi out on the deck.  While I did take their shuttle into Patong for an evening of sightseeing (and to snatch a Phuket Hard Rock Hurricane glass), I spent most of my time in the water – my deck Jacuzzi or the beautiful hotel two-level pool.  Because the villas extend from the top of the mountain nearly down to the beach, they had “mini-cars” (sort of like the ubiquitous Thai Tuk Tuks) that you could request to take you from, say, your villa to the pool, the restaurant to your villa, etc.  It was truly an experience.

Speaking of the tuk tuk, I actually had my first tuk tuk ride when I came back from Patong to my hotel (the hotel shuttle only takes you TO the city).  I had not really had the need or opportunity to take one yet in Bangkok, but the one I rode back to the hotel from Patong was fun because of the color, the way he had it tricked out in the back with his light and sound system, etc.  I decided then and there I’d need to do one of those “Bangkok at night by tuk tuk” tours before I leave!

Final note on Koh Samui and Phuket: for whatever reason, there is a large Russian presence on the islands.  Not sure why that is and my internet is currently down so I can’t google it.  But especially in Phuket, I saw numerous Russian businesses, and the information signs in the Phuket airport were all in Thai, English, and Russian.  Will have to “investigate” this more as I haven’t noticed it so much here in Bangkok.