Day 15:
We bid our sad farewell to Jeffrey and Winnie, but were excited to experience the tropical island of Ko Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.
We knew we would be in for an adventure as our flight from KL took us back to Bangkok where we would switch airlines and catch a flight 45 minutes later to Ko Samui before catching a 2 hour boat ride to Ko Tao. Our hope was to check through our luggage in order to speed up our transfer in Bangkok.
We were happy to hear that this would be possible, but soon after were informed that Bangkok Air had changed our flight and we would not be there in time to check the luggage through and would have to make new flight arrangements upon arriving in Bangkok. Fortunately, there is about a flight per hour to Samui and we were still confident in making the last boat to Ko Tao.
After we disembarked the plane from KL, we met an airport representative who said we could just go to the transfer counter instead of picking up our bags, clearing customs, and rebooking. We made the long walk across the airport only to be reinformed that we had to claim our bag, and recheck in...still time to make the 12pm flight though and the boat to Ko Tao.
Our flight on Bangkok airways was quick, about 50 minutes, and they even managed to hand out sandwiches and drinks. We landed on time and secured a cab to the port only to be greeted by a mob scene of farangs (foreigners) all looking for a way off of Samui to one of the neighboring islands. We were told there were no more boats to Ko Tao that day..."All full". When I asked about a private boat the cost was $30k baht about $1000 US dollars. Not gonna happen. Our driver shuttled us over to another pier where there were smaller 'speed' boats, but we saw a similar scene of Italians trying to bargain with a lady to no avail. We soon realized we were stuck on Ko Samui for the night with no idea where to go.
We bought our ticket for the first boat out in the morning and left our bag at the pier and trudged down the street through the dust, cars, carts of food, motor bikes, and stray dogs. We looked at one bungalow called 'One More Beach Bar' showed to us by a toothless Australian that still had pee in the toilet when Sue inspected the bathroom. NEXT!!! About a hundred yards further down we came to a sign the said Secret Garden, a bit more promising.
We walked up to the open air dining area where some farangs were eating lunch and were greeted by a smiling Thai woman who showed us to the desk. We were already feeling more relieved and Sue inquired about a room and we were on our way to lodging for the night, seaside included =).
I hurried back to the pier to gather our ever increasing bag and carried it through the streets as I soon realised that is was not going to wheel there through the dirt and sand.
Sweating, I arrived to find Sue checked in to a lovely bungalow with AC, an outdoor bath, and even a DVD player, all for about $55 dollars per night (no breakfast included).
We sat down to a delicious meal of spicy Thai food and quickly drank 3 Secret Gardens. A signature drink made of bacardi, guava juice, kiwi liquor, lime juice, and cucumbers. YUMMY!!!
John and his wife Rebecca, were gracious hosts and allowed us to call Ko Tao to let them know our dilemma. We took a short walk on the beach and laid out for a bit reminiscing that we had been in KL earlier that morning. We were joined by other farangs, stray dogs, and at sunset Water Buffaloes that were led by several Thai men and staked in the sand, we think for pictures with tourists, but there were no takers.
We had another drink at sunset, 'A Taste of Asia', before heading across the street to blog, next door to the bar with several Thai women calling at passing men.
We stumbled back for a delicious dinner of a whole sea bass and a spicy salad with crab meat. It was an amazing dinner and I topped it off with another drink, a 'Samui Dream'. John, we learned, often entertained at the bar in his previous home of Hong Kong, where he met his wife Rebecca.
We wrote down the recipes for all our samples from the bar and will be making them at home for our friends and family.
All in all what started as a very stressful day, ended quite blissfully.
We bid our sad farewell to Jeffrey and Winnie, but were excited to experience the tropical island of Ko Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.
We knew we would be in for an adventure as our flight from KL took us back to Bangkok where we would switch airlines and catch a flight 45 minutes later to Ko Samui before catching a 2 hour boat ride to Ko Tao. Our hope was to check through our luggage in order to speed up our transfer in Bangkok.
We were happy to hear that this would be possible, but soon after were informed that Bangkok Air had changed our flight and we would not be there in time to check the luggage through and would have to make new flight arrangements upon arriving in Bangkok. Fortunately, there is about a flight per hour to Samui and we were still confident in making the last boat to Ko Tao.
After we disembarked the plane from KL, we met an airport representative who said we could just go to the transfer counter instead of picking up our bags, clearing customs, and rebooking. We made the long walk across the airport only to be reinformed that we had to claim our bag, and recheck in...still time to make the 12pm flight though and the boat to Ko Tao.
Our flight on Bangkok airways was quick, about 50 minutes, and they even managed to hand out sandwiches and drinks. We landed on time and secured a cab to the port only to be greeted by a mob scene of farangs (foreigners) all looking for a way off of Samui to one of the neighboring islands. We were told there were no more boats to Ko Tao that day..."All full". When I asked about a private boat the cost was $30k baht about $1000 US dollars. Not gonna happen. Our driver shuttled us over to another pier where there were smaller 'speed' boats, but we saw a similar scene of Italians trying to bargain with a lady to no avail. We soon realized we were stuck on Ko Samui for the night with no idea where to go.
We bought our ticket for the first boat out in the morning and left our bag at the pier and trudged down the street through the dust, cars, carts of food, motor bikes, and stray dogs. We looked at one bungalow called 'One More Beach Bar' showed to us by a toothless Australian that still had pee in the toilet when Sue inspected the bathroom. NEXT!!! About a hundred yards further down we came to a sign the said Secret Garden, a bit more promising.
We walked up to the open air dining area where some farangs were eating lunch and were greeted by a smiling Thai woman who showed us to the desk. We were already feeling more relieved and Sue inquired about a room and we were on our way to lodging for the night, seaside included =).
I hurried back to the pier to gather our ever increasing bag and carried it through the streets as I soon realised that is was not going to wheel there through the dirt and sand.
Sweating, I arrived to find Sue checked in to a lovely bungalow with AC, an outdoor bath, and even a DVD player, all for about $55 dollars per night (no breakfast included).
We sat down to a delicious meal of spicy Thai food and quickly drank 3 Secret Gardens. A signature drink made of bacardi, guava juice, kiwi liquor, lime juice, and cucumbers. YUMMY!!!
John and his wife Rebecca, were gracious hosts and allowed us to call Ko Tao to let them know our dilemma. We took a short walk on the beach and laid out for a bit reminiscing that we had been in KL earlier that morning. We were joined by other farangs, stray dogs, and at sunset Water Buffaloes that were led by several Thai men and staked in the sand, we think for pictures with tourists, but there were no takers.
We had another drink at sunset, 'A Taste of Asia', before heading across the street to blog, next door to the bar with several Thai women calling at passing men.
We stumbled back for a delicious dinner of a whole sea bass and a spicy salad with crab meat. It was an amazing dinner and I topped it off with another drink, a 'Samui Dream'. John, we learned, often entertained at the bar in his previous home of Hong Kong, where he met his wife Rebecca.
We wrote down the recipes for all our samples from the bar and will be making them at home for our friends and family.
All in all what started as a very stressful day, ended quite blissfully.
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