CRABBY IN KRABI, FOOEY ON KO SAMUI

Well, I think if we had a bit more strength the title would have been better, but the sentiment wouldn't have changed.

We're presently in Ko Samui, a large island in the Gulf of Thailand.

We arrived here around 7pm after journeying all day by bus from Krabi on the other side of the Thailand peninsula along the Andaman Sea (Indian Ocean). The place is supposed to look like this (it very well may; we got here in darkness):

But instead, we're in the middle of Eurotrash Hell. What I mean by that is, all sorts of scroungy Europeans looking like they haven't showered in at least two months (as opposed to once a month back home). Hair braided to hide their greasy scalps, clothes (or lack thereof) offensive to the locals and all riding around on noisy scooters or in the back of obnoxious pick-up taxis. What was apparently once a beautiful, sleepy island has now become another tourist trap catering to low-rent European traffic.

Don't get me wrong; Jill and I love low rent. But unlike our fellow travellers, we do try our best to get to know the local culture and, at the very least, try not to offend. As we speak, several in this room are currently offending the locals by not obeying the "no shoes inside" custom. Why the Thai tolerate this (wait, money, right?!) I guess I'll never know.

Anway, after a long bus ride, we enjoyed a two-hour ferry ride across the gulf to the island. It was only sullied by the constant squealing of pigs tortured by the heat and suffocatingly tight cages atop a truck. Jill swore off pork for the rest of the trip. Jill just reminded me of the cigarette smoke.. how could I forget.

The two days before, we spent in Krabi province on the Andaman Coast. Specifically, we stayed at Railey Beach West, a tiny peninsula with its own bay. The scenery is stunning:

But unfortunately, we only got to enjoy it for two hours. When they say monsoons, they truly mean it. After swimming for probably 30 minutes, a monstrous cloud rushed across the bay and in a manner of seconds started dumping rain like I have NEVER seen before. It was like white-out conditions but with rain; I can't even imagine how much it poured while we stood in a cave and watched. When it let up just a bit, we headed back to the bungalow but got totally soaked in the process. Adding insult to injury, the sewer water in that bungalow overflowed in the bathroom so we had to change rooms.

Long story short, we've pretty much either been trapped by rain or on the move trying to avoid it the whole trip. Not pleasant. At least in Latin America, unless you're truly dealing with a hurricane (which we haven't yet) the rain can be counted on to last just so long, but never is a hurdle to travel by foot or by vehicle.

Hopefully, if there is room, we're taking a flight back to the mainland to head over to some east Gulf Coast islands that are supposedly dry nearly year-round and haven't been turned into a gigantic tourist trap like Ko Samui has.

I suppose it's obvious we're a bit negative about the experience right now, but we've been very privelaged to travel a good amount in Latin America. So far, the language barrier is probably a big culprit; we don't have that problem in Mexico and south. But we've also found some pretty amazing places that are still quite and like paradise in the Western Hemisphere. So far, this place has yet to stack up (except for at the breakfast, lunch and dinner table).

Until we get back to the mainland, hope all is well. We're both in 100% good health, though low in spirits. Better days are ahead.