Day 82 17th feb
I'm up an hour before the alarm clock time and slowly open the front door onto the beach whilst trying to keep the place dark....
It's official..... I don't sleep in "rustic" places... There's sand everywhere, the wind blows continuously and there a dampness in the air from the sea which gets into everything....
Now don't get me wrong, I'm very happy to be here... It's the nicest place we've stayed at in Asia by a mile and we don't really want to leave, but today we have too, and certain little aspects I'll be glad to leave behind.
As I open the further I can see the sun rise, red on the horizon out to sea, and this gets Shiree interest... She sits up and opens the shutter windows so she can see from bed.... I chuck some clothes on and wonder off down the beach to take a few last photos of the place...
We can see the pier from the beach area directly in front of the bungalow and I can see our awaiting speed boat is there already... It's not normally there as its usual anchor point over night is directly in front if the bungalows, but due to the low tide I guess it was easier to relocate it..
We pack up a few of our remaining things as the redness in the sky fades into daylight and have a last cup of tea with some of the early risers in the resultant area before heading off towards the pier with the intention if getting there early enough to secure our space upon the boat if the organisation ends up being anything like as kayotic as the arrival and we've also allowed ourselves enough time to grab some breakfast too....
We depart in the boat at exactly 9 o'clock after hanging our bags off the pier side down to an awaiting Thai crew member who would be perched precariously on the boat that would be constantly bobbing up and down in the waves...
You just hoped when you let go of your bags that he was ready for the weight of them as they must weigh about half as much as he did....
Themis speed boat was even more powerful than the first one with two 250bhp engines on the back, and within a minute of being started they were working hard pushing us through some very choppy seas... We'd opted to sit at the front of the boat this time, this area is open toped, and we quickly wished it wasn't.... Unlike a bus, we learn that on a big speed boat it's the front that's bumpiest and as we get lifted clean off our seats it would of been nice to if seen a roof above your head to stop you leaving the boat early, instead we have clear blue sky and a grab rail that we had to hold onto for dear life if we wanted to make it to the other side...
It was good fun, despite some spine shattering impacts, and mercifully a large section of water in the middle if our crossing became flat...
We pass the commercial fishing ships located around the quay from which we left and soon arrive at the Ranong harbour.
It's been suggested that we might be able to catch the earlier coach at 10 o'clock instead if 11 o'clock if we can get to the coach station in good time, and there's space, but by the time we arrive, having reclaimed our bags from the boat and been transported through the busy narrow lanes of Ranong we arrive at the bus terminal at ten past ten but this ends up being a blessing in disguise as whilst waiting for the 11 o'clock departure Shiree notices an issue with the ticket...
In Asia when you book transport you tend to get one ticket that stats your collection and end destination towns, and as you progress along the journey your ticket will be withdrawn and reissued as the transport type changes, so if your on a coach from point A to point B you'll have ticket 1, once at point B the coach company will then write you a new ticket ( ticket 2 ) for your boat trip from point B to point C
Today we have a boat trip, followed by a coach trip that's then followed by another boat trip, and Shiree's spotted that we have been given our used boat ticket from this morning back instead of the ticket we need for the end boat trip after we get off the coach so heads off to get things sorted...
Once she's bank I go off to get a mobile phone top up sorted for our Thai sim which ends up becoming a much more complex process than at home and ended up involving three people, all of whom didn't really know what to do, but more by luck than judgment after twenty minutes our "map" phone was back up and running and I'd returned with two ice creams....
I give "miss tastebud" the choice of ice creams and having picked the first one on the merit of its wrapper she quickly changed to mine once she'd tried her own...
Coconut, sweetcorn and pea is an unusual flavour for a nice cream, and it looks pretty odd whilst your eating it too, but that's what I ended up with....
The coach arrives in the form of a minivan which is a shame... There a little quicker, but usually much more uncomfortable and this one would prove to be no exception from the norm.... If you've not got a heard of Thais eating more nosily than a farm full of pigs in your ear all the time you've got bags stacked right up to the ceiling all around you and there's never anywhere to put your feet, as the floor space is occupied with bags and boxes too... It all makes for a pretty unpleasant 6 or 7 hr road trip with only the stunning surrounding scenery to offer some degree of distraction, which at times it does well....
We arrive into Surat Thani and walk straight into an attempted scam...
Our minivan driver has dropped us off at the wrong tourist company ( on purpose we suspect ) for our connecting coach transfer and informs us that our correct company is "outside" of town whilst showing us the price for his company to complete the trip...
Shiree's decided she's not paying for anything and after a minute or so's silents the guy points us in the rough direction of the correct company and coach change over point 200 meters up the road....
So, with the addition of a quick walk we enter the correct company and get our forwarding coach ticket and another boat ticket... Then we are straight out and onto the coach and we are off... We are now heading to the port of Don Sak which is our crossing point to Ko Samui, and after an hours ride in a hot coach we arrive.... We already have barrier passes for the boat so we walk straight on and find a seat on the vehicle ferry and order a plate of food... It's been a long day of travelling and we've hardly eaten anything so we are glad for whatever we can get....
This boat trip experience is slower, but more comfortable than this mornings and after an hours travel we arrive at Ko Samui boat port and disembark... From here we have to make our own way to our hotel so we need to arrange a taxi.... Once on dry land we are approached by a number if taxi drivers that all want silly money for the ride to our hotel, we do however find a minivan that's going our way with two spare seats to we agree a price of 300bt and squeeze in.... The price is good, it's a third of the price of the first taxi but it's certainly cramped.... Our bags are rammed in everywhere, much to the discomfort if the other passengers but we don't care... The price is good, and we're one of the first to get out having arrived at our next hotel... It's called cocooning and it's located within a stones through of the beach in the fishing village of Bo Phut...
The hotel is absolutely lovely.... It's got lovely crisp clean white sheets, air conditioning, a TV with English channels and a power shower....
It in total contrast to where we have just come from, and although the beach bungalows are absolutely brilliant, they offer a very different kind of experience and this hotel room is now a welcome sight.....
We park our bags and head into the village for a look around... It's built around a central pier and a beach road, with one other road leading directly away from the pier... The whole place is lovely.... The area was described by James, the hotel owner as being Ko Samui's equivalent to Camdon Market and he's absolutely right... There's little boutique shops and nice clean waterfront hotels along our walk into the centre, and there's a very nice, laid back feel to the place... It's to expensive to attract your budget back packer and there are no beach party bars or loud music.... We are going to be very happy for our short time here...
We enjoy a lovely meal sat in a restaurant that's built onto a platform that goes out over the beach, the gentle waters within the bay of Bo Phut break quietly onto the beach as we eat, and from here we head back to our lovely room for a good nights sleep.