Time has got the better of me, as I head home from my holiday. In order to return to my normal routine of blogging on my daily training regime I need to write one blog entry on my visit to Thailand and Koh Samui.
To be honest, one entry will probably be enough to cover what I want to say.
Samui was a very different type of holiday compared to our visit to Vietnam. It was not the cultural and learning feast that Vietnam was. That’s not to say that we did not have a brilliant time, in fact we did, but it was just very different.
As we approached the island the view from the plane was stunning. I instantly thought of the TV series Lost and the tropical island at the centre of that programme. The island was encased by a beautiful blue sea and its high peaks touched the clouds and were covered in beautiful tropical foliage. I was excited and couldn’t wait to land. Once on the ground we were met by the manager of our resort, the Tropical Garden Village and he drove us back along the main road. The view from the air, I have to admit was far more inviting than the one from the ground. I think if I had to describe it in a nutshell it would be Benidorm or the Algarve, tacky touristy places built for droves of European holiday-makers looking for sun, beer and fun. I am not trying to belittle such holidays, as I have done them myself and thoroughly enjoyed them. It’s just not what I was expecting from Thailand.
Our resort was cheap, but not too bad. We each had our own rather large beach hut (not on a beach though). By good luck and fortune Stephen and I had been upgraded. Upgrade meant that we had an outside walk in shower room and a toilet that opened up into outdoor shower room with no way of closing it off to the outside world! It was quite strange really. Stephen could see the next hut’s front door from his toilet seat as his hut was lower down the hill than their’s. If he could see them, they could see him. I felt sorry for his neighbours! The huts were fine though and we were all quite comfortable, well apart from me! A giant Geko, who we named Geoffrey seemed to like my hut a lot On the first night he sat on the wall by my door, as if waiting for a chance to get in! By the end of the week there he had taken residence in my bathroom above the mirror!! I know he was harmless, but it was a little disconcerting to have a lizard follow your every move in the bathroom! 
The main highlight for us at koh was our cousin Jenny’s wedding. It was the reason we were there, it was the reason we were in South East Asia. Jenny and her husband to be, Tone, and the vast bulk of the wedding party including Stephen and I’s Uncle, Eddie, and Aunt, Lynn, were all staying at a 5 star resort, Rocky’s, further round the Island. It was great to see everyone and arriving on Monday meant we had two days of catching up, enjoying some lovely (and expensive!!) food and drink.
The Wedding was on Wednesday and it was a brilliant and glorious day. The three of us turned up in our hand made white linen suits, perfect for a beach wedding. We couldn’t help, but pose for photo after photo in as many different poses as we could come up with from M&S-style catalogue poses to holiday brochure poses walking away from the camera on the beach! With such attire the only thing for us to do in the three hours we had to wait before the wedding was hit the cocktails!
Everyone made a real effort to look both wedding-glamorous and beach-ready! Eddie, particularly impressed us with Lawrence Lwyellen style shirt and polished toe nails – very metrosexual for a rough and tough car mechanic from Yorkshire!
The wedding itself was brilliant. Jenny, my cousin, the bride, looked stunning in a glorious white dress. She looked every bit the blushing bride, putting everyone else in the shade. The look on Tone’s face as she came down the aisle said it all. He looked a happy and lucky man! The entry of both the bride and groom had included a procession of Thai drummers and dancers who brought a real sense of culture and exoticism to the proceedings. The ceremony itself took place on a small beach by the sea surrounded by large, smooth round rocks, the perfect, picturesque tropical beach wedding that could easily have been lifted from the cover of a magazine. We took our seats and gazed on as the very happy couple exchanged their vows. It was, thankfully and purposefully so, a short ceremony. After they were married we all posed for pictures and champagne along the rocks and the beach.
The occasion was perfectly rounded off with the appearance of an elephant who had been brought to take the happy couple off for a ride down the beach. The rear of their seat saddle read “Just Married” and we all cheered and smiled as they disappeared along the beach.
They weren’t gone for long! They were back for the meal and reception, which was held immediately afterwards inside the resort with its lovely air conditioning. What followed was a great night with plenty of quality food and drink, as well as dancing. A lot of the dancing was led by Rob who took to the floor with his pretty impressive jive moves. He quickly had my aunty Lynn twirling across the dance floor. In fact so impressed were the onlookers there were cues for Jive lessons with Rob, first the girls and then the boys! No wonder Stephen and I had to peel an exhausted Rob off the sun lounger to get our taxi home. I wasn’t much better though having spent at least an hour dozing off on a lounger!
With the wedding over we took it easy on Thursday before again meeting up with Eddie and Lynn for an evening meal, which started early and finished very late! It was good to be able to spend so much time with them.
Friday was a great day. Rob, Stephen, Eddie and I went sea fishing. We hired a boat for the day, with a couple of guides who took us out to sea. Unfortunately the recent windy weather had made it too dangerous to go deep sea fishing, but we got out far enough to catch some good fish. It was a lot of fun dangling our rods off the side of the boat and before 12 I had caught the two biggest fish of the day and Eddie had caught one not too much smaller. Stephen had caught a few smaller ones, but nothing big enough to eat. At lunch time we stopped and one of our guides gutted, de-scaled and fried our freshly caught fish to perfection, which we enjoyed with rice and salad on the boat. I have to admit, despite eating in some pretty expensive and impressive places, this was the nicest meal I had on all of Samui. I don’t know if it was the satisfaction of eating something I had caught or just the simple, but extremely tasty way he had made it, but it was beautiful. We fished for a few more hours, but I had no more luck. Stephen continued to haul in the smaller fish and Rob caught one too, so we finished the day happy men. It was a lovely, peaceful and satisfying way to spend a day.
In the evening Rob, Stephen and I went to a local Thai boxing (Muaythai) match at one of the local stadiums. Stephen had seen Muaythai in Bangkok, but Rob and I had not seen it before. We treated ourselves to some VIP seats, which meant we ad pride of place next to the ring in lovely leather sofas! Very classy. They were clearly designed for Western tourists with money, as most of the local Thai people were in the cheaper seats, not that they sat in them much. They preferred to be standing up waving advice to the boxers and betting on the outcome. We saw 7 fights that night mostly Thai versus Thai, but there was one all western fight between a Brit and a Pole, as well as a Swede against a Thai. The boxing was pretty vicious. With elbows, knees, feet and fists all been exchanged in a flurry we sore plenty of brutality and roughed up looking fighters at the end of it. There were a couple of knock outs including one from an elbow in the first fight that dropped the guy to the canvas if he had been shot. I have to admit I have always been a fan of boxing. I understand why people don’t like it and protest that in this day and age we should not have to look to human violence for entertainment, not to mention the risk and health factors involved. Having said that there is something to be said for watching two incredibly fit and skilled martial artists trying to defeat one another with skill and power. There is perhaps also the raw natural state of two people fighting for dominance that maybe appeals to us at a genetic level, something from our distance past where fighting for resources was a natural instinct.
We all enjoyed it, so much that we went to another stadium on Saturday and watched more! Friday night ended in a local bar with a couple of friends from the wedding, who had also been at the boxing. We drank a little too much, or at least I did, and by mid way through the second half of England’s second world cup game I felt a little ill and had to jump into a taxi and head back to the resort! That was my last big alcohol night. I was done. I am really not designed for that anymore!
Aside from the wedding the real star of our time on Samui was the local fishing village. Made up of a long street, which was car free in the evening, it was a cluster of lovely local restaurants and shops one side of which was sat on a beach. Although still catering for tourists it was far less like Benidorm and much more like a picturesque coastal town in France or Italy. We tried several restaurants and bars there, as well as the local ice cream parlour. The food was some of the best we ate on the island including a fantastic lobster dinner that Stephen and I had on our last night, as well as number of traditional and well known Thai dishes. The local market stalls gave us the chance to buy some more gifts for friends and family, as well as another chance to haggle and barter, thankfully I remembered to go in the right direction this time.
The only other exciting thing to mention about our time there was we did encounter a wild snake on the pavement. This had been my biggest fear (well apart from flying!) of the whole trip, bumping into a snake!! I hate snakes, yes I know I have made that very clear, but I just need to remind you again so you know just how scared I am. The three of us were walking back from a trip to the beach when I noticed something long and snake-like on the pavement. It was coiled and didn’t look happy. I have to admit at first, as it was so still, I thought it was fake, a statute or something, but it was nowhere near a shop or home, so was totally out of place. I decided it had to be real and quickly stopped in my tracks and called out “snake, snake, snake!” I began to move backwards quickly, whilst warning Stephen and Rob, who took a second or two to realise what was going on. Rob was almost too slow and wasn’t far from stepping on the snake, but in the nick of time he spotted it and with moves that reminded me of his dance lessons at the wedding he got out of the way. The snake gave a large hiss and flashed away into the grass beside the pavement. That was a little a scary. I was glad, however, that I didn’t panic or go into the foetal position, both of which I had feared would do if I ever met a snake!
So our time in Samui was over. On reflection I had a brilliant time and really enjoyed myself. It wasn’t Vietnam. That was truly special and unique. In my opinion this part of Thailand seems to have become a victim of its own success with resort after resort being built all over the island and every local employed and geared to trying to get every bit of cash they can from tourists. It has lost any soul and character that it may have once had as a traditional Thai fishing community, as culture has been pushed aside for riches and wealth. I don’t begrudge them this, why should I. It makes perfect sense from their point of view. Tourists want to come there and spend money, so why shouldn’t they be the ones to benefit from that and make much more than they ever would as simple fishermen and farmers. Tourists are happy to be there and to spend, although we saw very few during our time there as the recent political troubles in Thailand and the economic downturn had clearly had an effect, as well as it being the low tourist season. I am perhaps being very selfish wanting to see the romantic and traditional life there that I would not want for myself in my own country. I also felt that the island had gone too far with massively overpriced tours, food and drink, accommodation and everything else. I felt like me hand was never out of my wallet. I am not sure if such prices our sustainable, as Thailand has always been known to be expensive to get to, but cheap when you got there. If people are now faced with costly flights and Western prices, maybe they will look elsewhere for a holiday. Places like Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia are all looking to get some of the South East Asia tourism dollar for themselves and if they can offer what Thailand used to then I am sure tourists will look to move away from Thailand. I would, based on my recent experiences, certainly choose Vietnam over Thailand. From what I’ve heard from other travellers is that Cambodia and Laos offer similar experiences to Vietnam.
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