That was one of the first things in my mind when I woke up the next morning. It was a groggy morning as we did end up having a few drinks in our hotel room the night prior, but we readily got up and prepared ourselves for the day's activities.
The free breakfast was indeed awesome. They served a wide range of items that we usually wouldn't eat for breakfast such as stir-fried veggies, coconut curry soup and pasta - but of course I didn't care. The 5 of us filled up our plates and took a seat on one of the tables of the patio to enjoy the sunshine.
Mmm, buffet breakfast.
However, the sun appeared to be hiding behind the thick layer of grey clouds. It seemed to be quite a cloudy overcast day (but still warm and humid), but we weren't going to complain. We were going to go fourth with our plans to hit the beach and take in some relaxation, sun tanning and consumption of fresh coconut!
The lawn chairs on the beach were provided by the hotels surrounding the area. We each took a seat and look lazily into the beautiful sea and sky. Sure, it was overcast but the view was certainly still wonderful. I look the liberty of people watching for a bit too (I'm not creepy!). We all noticed this one lady who appeared across our visual field multiple times - it seems as if she was speed-walking across the beach, back and fourth to get exercise. Good for her, but it was her skin that got us attention. She was BAKED. She seemed to be in her 50s, had blonde hair and incredibly, scarily dark and blotchy skin. Probably from all her exercising in the hot and blazing sun. It did not look healthy.
Relaxing on the beach!
Aside from skin cancer lady, there were also other interesting individuals on the beach. Although the number of these people could get slightly annoying after a while, the salesman on the beach who were selling coconut and other tropical fruits were actually quite amazing. They carried two boxes, connected by a sturdy wooden stick, full of these heavy fruit on their shoulders. They would walk from beach to beach, calling out for people to buy their fruits. We were definitely thirsty, so we got some fresh coconut to drink and some fruits to share.
The relaxation period went on for a while more until we decided it was time to get active and explore the island. Koh Samed is a small island off the east coast of Thailand. It is approximately 7 kilometers from it's northern to southern point and about 4 km from its eastern to western point (I really just got all this information from Wikipedia...check it out here). Our resort was located at a beach called Ao Phai - there were many, many other beaches along the coast of this island. Our resort site provides a good graphic of the beaches of Koh Samed. I would also suggest using Google Earth to check out the wonderful island!
One way that was suggested to us to explore other parts of the island was to rent some motorbikes. Grace left us at this point - she decided that she wanted to enjoy the relaxation phase further by getting a spa treatment. The rest of us - Jean, Alex, Jordan and I, rented 2 bikes from the nearby rental store and began our adventure cruising around Koh Samed!
One of the motorbikes!
But wait - before we could actually rent and take the bikes away, we had to do a "driving test". It was a strict Thailand regulation. Just kidding! It was for the renters to ensure we were 'adequate enough' to operate their vehicle and not bring it back in broken and sad pieces. I supposed this may have been done on purpose, but the employees of the rental place told us to ascend up a hill beside their place to test our driving. I'm not saying we are all fantastic, superb motorbike operators, but the ground was terrible - it was cracked, rocky and had holes in them. There were also other newly renters going up the hill too - one lady unfortunately fell and seemed to have scraped her knee. After the hard and vigorous driving test, it was decided that Jean and Jordan would be our main drivers for the day's trip. So, I took the seat behind Jordan and Alex behind Jean, and we set off to ride into the sunset (actually, not exactly, as it was only a bit in the afternoon).
It was rocky. The roads were unpaved and therefore provided an incredibly rough, turbulent, cracking terrain for the tires to tread on. Thud, thud, thud, was the sound of the motorbikes bumping on the ground and our butts slamming down onto the seat. It wasn't the most comfortable. But we eventually got the hang of it to start enjoying the view and not fear for our lives every second. I actually found a good collection of photos of the roads of Koh Samed; view them here.
Along the way, we saw a few residential areas, access to beaches and hotels. We decided to take our first stop at Ao Cho beach to cool off and also rest our bruising buttocks. The cameras come out!
Walking to the beach front
Jordan, Jean and Alex on the beach!
Jordan showing off his skills :P
The journey was really, really hot. Sweat ran down our bodies in speedy beads. Jordan was smart to bring his hat - the sun was beating on my dark hair and making my entire head feel like it was on fire. The road curved here and there, ditches blocked our paths and pile of rocks discouraged our continuing travel. We kept going of course! There were a few parts of the path where we got to cruise smoothly - we even got to go downhill sometimes! That was quite nice to be able to feel breeze in our hair and skin.
Our next stop was at another one of Koh Samed's beautiful beaches. The path we chose to the beach had a convenient store located next to it; we quickly bought some cool drinks and snack to replenish what we had lost on our sweat and enjoyed our munchies in the shade on the beach.
A little cute spot by one of the hotels!
Enjoying our snacks on a swing by the beach.
Modeling Thai drinks!
Enjoying the warm waters once again :)
The journey south continued for another while. After hours of riding in the hot sun, we felt pretty tried. We decided to make our last stop at a suggested view point on the map that the renters gave us. It was atop a tall hill that overlooks some of the rockier shores of the island. Unfortunately, the entire area was exposed and the sun was still quite strong; I felt like a bean being baked in the sun. A human bean. We enjoyed the view for a little while and set off in the direction we came from - home!
The look out point
Don't let the shaded skies fool you - it was incredibly HOT!
Our stomachs rumbled; we parked our motorbikes in a parking lot near the rental place and walked back to meet Grace. We decided to eat at the next restaurant down the beach - they also had seating on the beaches as well! We order some chicken with cashew, seafood stirfry, pad thai and other delectable dishes to enjoy.
Chicken with cashew!
Pad Thai
The sun was setting, but there was one thing we had to do before the day ended - return the motorbike because it was only a day rental. I wanted a chance to ride the motorbike so Jordan and I trekked back to the parking lot to take the bikes for another ride before returning them.
The air was still warm but the sun was no long beating on our backs. It was a nice ride - I went a bit too fast at first with the bike but became used to its acceleration. We rode to the area that we, along with Alex and Jean ventured to before - a outlook post not too far to our resort that had a pagoda structure built with benches for people to sit at and enjoy. We sat upon the benches and look out to see the setting sun peaking out of the slits in the clouds, creating a orange, yellow, and blue coloured sky. It was quite relaxing and mesmerizing.
Silhouette photos!
The sun's rays spreading amongst the clouds.
The sun peaking out for a short while.
A glaring red dot
A picture with the view!
Nice shot, by Jordan!
Daylight was dimming and we wanted to ensure we get back to the resort before it's dark and we get lost. So, we got back on our motorbikes and drove around the round dirt track for a few times before we decided to call it a day and head back.
Yep, one of our motorbikes had flowers on it!
Part of the dirt track - Jordan mastered it!
(I must confess that I did fall off my motorbike. Only once though! I accelerated too quickly over a turn and the bike couldn't get enough traction on the sand. So it, and I, fell over. Thank goodness that I just started the bike up and it wasn't going fast at all. Only minor scraps to the knee!)
After returning the bikes, we met up with the rest of the crew. We wanted to spend more time on the beach, so we got on our swimming gear and headed on to enjoy the waters. The night was bustling with the nightly activities - the music was blaring from nearby bars and the fire spinning guys were setting up once more for another show.
In between our photograph taking, drinking beer and enjoying the sand beneath our bums and legs, we were inspired - let's let up a lantern! It was Alex, Jean, and Grace's last night here on Koh Samed (Jordan and I were staying for another day). Why not celebrate the last night by doing some memorable and special? But we had to wait. The wind was too strong right now, so we decided to play it safe and wait until it dies down.
Our group photo on the beach was photobombed :P
Jordan's artistic photography!
The fireshow sign
Finally, after a little while, the wind died down. Before the breeze became too strong again, we set off to set up the legendary lanterns and see it float across the dark sky.
It was a disaster. And that is not a euphemism Well, it would've been more of a disaster if Jordan didn't stop it in time, and good thing he did. What happened was that our judgements were erroneous - the winds were still too strong. While lighting up the lantern, we should have known, seeing as the lantern was blowing and swaying along with the tough blows of the wind. But we were stubborn - we must do this! So, when we finally got the wick lit and let the lantern go...it simply blew towards the beach, to the trees! Ah crap.
Jordan jumped up and catch the lantern before it got too far and lit up an entire freakin' tree. I was a bit in shock when I realized that we could have set the whole island on fire. It was quite scary. The latter events consisted of some of us freaking out that the lantern was almost completely on fire. The more level headed ones pointed out that we were right beside the water, so we submerged the blazing lantern into the fire. The ordeal was over. Let's just say that it was quite stupid for us to light that lantern in the first place, especially with the wind blowing in the direction of trees and wooden structures.
Setting the lantern up
Writing out names for good luck
Having a hard time lighting the lantern and not setting the entire thing on fire
Preparing to let go.
Oh sh*t, it's on fire.
Alright, so our memorable event didn't work it. It's alright - there are plenty of other things to do on the beach! We decided to head to a nearby bar and get some ice Thai drinks to get our night started. The bar there had a promotion going on - when we get a drink, we can flip a coin. If it lands on our choice, then we get the drink for free! My memory's a bit blurry on the details, but I think 1 out of the 4 of us got a free drink.
The drinks we had at the outdoor bar!
The music was pumping at the club next door; we headed over and started to dance. I must say, it has been (even to date) one of the best dancing/clubbing experiences I've had. The building appears to have some type of garage door that opened one of its side completely to the beach and sand. All the other windows were open so we could feel the sea breeze while grooving to the music. There were tables around for us to sit down if we needed a break; the floor was sandy so we threw off our shoes and let our feet comfortably exfoliate against the floor. The bartender was nice (and tried to hit on Jean) and the drinks were relatively cheap. We danced for a long time and before we knew it, it was 2am and we needed to get back to rest.
Even with our blazing-lantern-almost-setting-the-entire-island-on-fire incident, I'd say we had a pretty good last night on Koh Samed :) What a great island!
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