9/12/15
Railay Beach, Thailand → Ko Samui, Thailand

When our alarm went off at nine, we remembered the crucial fact that we had nowhere to stay tonight. We quickly did some research and booked a resort in Ko Samui before taking one of the boats to the mainland.

Our boat pulled into the same port we had arrived in, and we walked up to a bus station full of travelers. When it came time for our trip, we entered the bus, and I was pleasantly surprised by how nice it was. I mean, it was no FlixBus, but it did have reclining seats and AC. We had a six-hour ride from one coast of Thailand to the other.

I took a nap and awoke a few hours later to the sound of raindrops pelting the bus. I looked out the window and saw nothing but palm trees and deep brush. We were far in the jungle at this point, and every break in the trees showed people walking in fields and riding motorbikes through paths. It dawned on me as I gazed out at the lush green colors how many different landscapes I had observed from bus windows.

Soon the rainy lullaby and dark sky put me right back to sleep in my reclined chair. I didn’t wake again until we’d arrived in Ko Samui.

When we arrived at the station, we waited in the shade for our ferry. We’d chosen to explore the three islands in the Gulf of Thailand rather than stay on the Indian Ocean. Ko Samui was the first and biggest of the islands in the gulf. It was the second biggest island in Thailand after Phuket.

We were surprised at how busy the streets of Ko Samui were. I guess I’d imagined something similar to Railay Beach. This was a busy island, and there was plenty of opportunities for business with all the tourists. Our taxi driver must have had all the resorts memorized because he sped off at our first two syllables.

“Fair House Resort,” the driver said when we reached our destination. We tipped him and walked up to one of those typical hotel check-in roundabouts. The resort was rated four stars on TripAdvisor, but you could tell it had been five stars in the nineties and they just hadn’t upgraded anything.

We checked in, and the woman at the front desk drove us on a golf cart to our fifty-eight-dollar-a-night suite. Admittedly, our room was in an odd area of the resort, and Ash gave me a nervous glance. “Well, it does have character,” I told her. We were beginning to second-guess our stay on the island.

To get some fresh air and escape our outdated room, we hailed a red taxi from the main road and headed to Chaweng Beach.

The man dropped us off in a very vibrant scene full of shopping, nightlife, and massages: three of Ash’s favorite things. We ordered mai tais from a liquor cart on the side of the road and strolled the promenade. Shopping always lifted Ash’s mood.

At the end of the market was a makeshift food court. We walked along the path and perused the menus. All the owners were standing in front of their shops, yelling their specials at us. We smiled and continued walking until we came to a guy the size of a sumo wrestler. He was standing with a five-foot-tall guy who could have fit in my backpack. It was the oddest duo I had seen in a while. They both smiled sincerely and bowed their heads as a greeting, not saying a word. Finally, people who let their food speak for itself. We sat down in their restaurant, and they both looked at each other like they had just won the lottery. All the other owners threw their hands up in disbelief.

We both ordered our favorite dish, cashew chicken stir-fry, and two large beers. Before the sumo wrestler left our table, he said, “I will make sure our mom makes it especially good for you two.” This was when I knew we’d made the right choice; not only were we supporting a mother and her sons, they were honored to have our business.

It had been quite a day, and I could tell we were both getting tired. Not just from today but from the last three months. Sleeping in different beds every few nights and spending long hours crunched on buses, planes, boats, and cars was finally catching up to us. Not to mention being sick numerous times. These last few weeks on the islands in the gulf were going to be a great way to reset before we returned to the US.