Ko Samet - Teh Fail :(

So I spent the better part of a day traveling... I walked about 2 miles to the bus station, hopped on one to Rayong (which took WAY too long, holy cow it stopped a lot), then took a 45 minute ride in the back of a truck to the pier across from the island of Ko Samet. This truck was completely packed, with probably about 15 other people jammed tightly in... and as my luck would have it, it was pouring down rain the whole time.

After the hour long ferry ride to the island, I walked another couple miles to the beach I wanted to stay at (I was already drenched, why not walk?).

The entire island is a national park, so the whole place feels like a jungle. But as you can see, the roads were not fun in the rain...



I stayed on Ko Samet for 3 nights. It was raining when I got there, and it was raining when I left.



However, ther were times when the rain did stop long enough for me to pull out my camera and take some pictures. This is where I stayed my first night. I got the place for 50% off because it is the low season and I was there during the week. This came to 200฿.



I was quite hopeful in my approach! This place felt like I was staying right in the middle of the jungle! And the view from the porch was pretty cool.



However, this had to be the biggest dive I've ever slept in... but despite the lack of a sealed door, the place had very few bugs... a lot of geckos though, but I've learned to like them in my room because they eat the bugs.



Yes, that's simply a mattress on the floor :(





But! Unlike the other 2 places I stayed after this night, it had it's own bathroom!

The other places had shared bathrooms, which was an experience in and of itself. There's nothing quite like showering, shaving, and pooing all within 3 feet of other people, many of them girls, all while trying to keep mosquitos the size of nickles from biting you.

Oh and bug repellent? The bastards couldn't have cared less :( Needless to say: during my time on Ko Samet I was violated again and again and again.



On the first full day I had there, the sun actually did show it's face for about 4 consecutive hours.

I was able to take a nice several-mile walk to another beach and enjoy being in nature for the first time in my travels.

The sounds of the wild here are so much different than back home. Unfortunately, it's inexplicable by way of text... and these pictures don't do the place justice either :(

I stumbled across this large drainage field (my best guess anywho) on my way to the other beach. It was really interesting hiking through jungle roads and trails closed in by the lush and very thick vegetation of the island, to come out into this wide open space.



I made it to my destination beach and did some hiking around the island's perimiter. This made me think of you Garey... the rocks found here are such as I've never before laid my eyes upon.





In this hike I ended up stumbling upon what I'm guessing to be a person's burial site?? A peak inside showed a folded note, and several faded pictures.



This is the beach directly across from where I was staying. I was able to get out here between rainings.



...and got to read a bit too!



I got about 30 minutes in before the rains returned.



Below is definitely the highlight of my trip. There wasn't anyone around, at least within earshot anyway, so I was able to sit in this hammock for a good period of time reading in the shade of the overhanging tree with nothing but the sounds of nature surrounding me.



Part of the view form my hammock:



...but after doing absolutely nothing but reading and watching TV in the common area of the bungalows I was staying at on the second day (completely trapped in by rain, you see), I decided it was time to leave. The weather forecast was rather bleak :(

Some Sights in Pattaya

As night life in Pattaya is so crazy, I never wanted to risk my camera at night. As such, these pictures were mostly taken during day trips.

Save for this one:



Imagine me entering my room after a night on the town, inebriated, only to find this thing flying around and acting all creepy-like... it was scary. I stifled a scream as the 3" beast flew by my head and ended up smothering it in "Bug Off" to kill it once it landed. I've found that "Bug Off" is also a great way to deter ants!




Look closely at this guy. He is sweeping water, and toward his establishment no less. Lots of people sweep random stuff here, and I have no idea why. They'll spend a good time doing it too...




I took this picture after missing a boat to an off-shore island by about a minute. I saw it leaving as I was speed-walking down the pier. A very sad me decided to make the 2 mile walk worth something...




A close-up of their city sign. At night, it illuminates in pretty fgt colours.




A lot of the buildings here are public access. A friend and I decided to go to the top of one of the hotels for a better view of the city.



If you look closely at the shore, you'll notice a long strip of beach. This is "Beach Road" (many streets here have English names as there was such a heavy influence of U.S. troops during the Vietnam War when the town was gaining popularity and becoming what it is today). If you follow it south to where the beach ends, that is where the famous "Walking Street" begins where you can find hundreds of "Go-Go" bars.

Also notice (if you look closely) that the beach is clustered with umbrellas. Thai people (and supposedly Asian people in general) strive for white skin, just as we strive for tan skin. As such, they don't like getting much sun. If they go to the beach, they'll sit under umbrellas, or go in the water with clothes on. Additionally, adds for moisturizing lotion here boast being able to make your skin more white.




Taken from that same pier where I missed my boat.




From this boat launch they're constantly putting in and taking out boats of rather large size. As you can see, they have to use tractors to pull them... and even the tractors have trouble sometimes...



...and clearly they're quite good at parking these boats...




This is a "firework" station not far from a monument to a famous Thai soldier. People may purchase those small chains of "machine-gun" fireworks and set them off here.




You'd think that this wouldn't be necessary...



This is the biggest Buddha I've seen yet. Quite impressive, really, and this walkway up to him was the first of it's kind I've seen.




Before you walk up to the Buddha, you may purchase small cages with 3 birds in it. The purpose is to say a prayer and then release the birds to bring you good luck. A gentleman did this, but when the birds flew out of the cage, one of them met an unsuspecting death as this cat leaped into the air and snatched it.

It's a pity to be caged for your whole life, only to be eaten when freed :( Poor birdie.

I wonder what kind of luck that guy will have now...