The alarm went off at 4 AM. By now, we were used to operating with little or no sleep. The struggle to get out of bed never gets easier though, and we lazily gathered our things to catch our 6 AM flight. After 3 jam packed days of riding motor bikes, elephants, and zip lines, our bodies desperately needed a break. The thought of relaxing on the beaches of Ko Samui served as a strong motivator to push through as we entered the airport at sunrise.
Two plane rides, a cab, and a ferry later - we finally made it. It was exactly what we had hoped for. The water was a clear blue, the beaches full of white sand, and, well...the pictures says it better than I can
Our bodies needed a nap, but we knew better. We could sleep when we got back home. Grabbing a few refreshments from the local 7-11 (note: Thailand must have the most 7-11s per capita in the world), we set out to explore this beach town. The first thing we noticed was that everyone here was under 30. While we didn't meet one other American during our time here, we did meet several young Australlians, Israelis, and Europeans. All of whom were on 'holiday' for at least one month. When we told them we were traveling for two weeks, they had a hard time understanding why we could take such little vacation time. Surely, they suggested, a trip to the other side of the world could hardly be worth it for only two weeks. We began to realize that in many countries, it is not unusual, and is even encouraged, to take frequent and long vacations. Must be nice.
As we continued to explore this young beach town, we came across a local who moved from Australia and started a touring company. Quite the salesman, he intrigued us with excursions of cruising around the island, snorkeling, and scuba diving. We had a decision to make. We wanted to go out that night, and make sure we were rested for the most anticipated event of our trip - The Full Moon Party (2 days later). Exhausted already, we were hesitant about how many more adventures we could handle. After an in depth discussion, cost benefit analysis, and budget consideration - we somehow opted to do all of it. Constantly falling back to "When else are we going to get to do this?" - we traded in some of our relaxation time to continue maximizing this trip.
As we walked back to the hotel, it caught up with us. We had fully exerted ourselves since day one in Bangkok, and needed to take some time to recharge. We took the much needed nap out by the pool of our hotel, and awoke as the sun was setting and our night began.
The local Australian salesman had recommended an Italian place, Mona Lisa's, for dinner. Growing slightly tired of Thai food, Italian sounded like it would be a refreshing change. Little did we know that once we had tried the food here, we wouldn't eat at any other place for our 3 day trip. Literally. It was just that good.
Well rested and well fed, we continued our night by heading to the 'largest pool party' in Thailand. Splashing around in a giant pool with 400 other tourists wouldn't go down as the most hygienic event in the world, but it was fun meeting and learning about other people, places, and cultures. Fortunately, it was next door to our hotel, and when we got tired, it was just a few short sandy steps away to the comforts of our bed.
We thoroughly enjoyed the next morning as it was our first chance to sleep in. Even better, the hotel provided a breakfast buffet with fresh fruit, eggs, french toast, potatoes, and vegetable rice. We would be cruising around the island for the full day, and snorkeling, so naturally, we stuffed our faces. We left for the cruise, hopped on board, and knew that when we were greeted by this guy (our captain) - we were in for a good time.
The group on board was quiet and not very talkative at first. Knowing we would be together for 7 hours, we hoped it wouldn't be spent in a long awkward silence. However, as we sailed around the island, taking turns to jump off the boat into the water, and swim up to the beaches - we got to know our fellow travelers better and learn more about them. We snorkeld as a group, getting some good views of the the exotic fish of Ko Samui. As we boarded the boat to return to the island, and the crew started playing music, you wouldn't have known we had all just met that day.
We cruised back home taking in the beautiful sunset from the water. We said goodbye to our new friends, and planned to all meet again at The Full Moon Party. After another quick bite at Mona Lisa, we headed to bed early anticipating our 6 AM wake up call for our first scuba diving experience.
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