Yesterday we used the Panviman taxi to get to Mae Had, on the north west side of the island. Getting around Thailand has been very easy so far in that everyone is happy to arrange taxis or ferry tickets for us. The road between resorts, though, was pretty hairy. Half was dirt road with large potholes or big lumps of rock sticking up out of the road. There isn’t much traffic, but what there is seems to mostly consist of farang (foreigners) without helmets. After seeing friends come off their scooters in the Cook Islands years ago and discovering that travel insurance doesn’t cover you if you aren’t riding with a helmet, I’m always surprised to see people going without. I guess a lot of people don’t bother with travel insurance… in which case I’m even more surprised they don’t err on the side of caution.

We didn’t book before we got to Mae Had Beach Resort http://www.maehaadbay.com/ and ended up paying a bit more than the rate we’d seen on Agoda. Next time we’ll just book ahead. The resort is very nice, although not quite as fancy as the last place. After we inspected our room and marveled at the truly enormous shower head and the phone by the toilet (?!) we went for a walk along the beach. It’s nowhere near as clean here – there are bits of rubbish along the beach and slightly murky water,  plus lots of seaweed. The people on the beach look more like backpackers and there is a dive centre that has lots of people coming and going. We asked about snorkle hire and it’s about $2 an hour.

We walked back and had a cocktail at the hotel’s outdoor bar and chatted to the barman, who knew quite a bit of English. Then we went for a swim (according to the website it is the largest pool on the island), lay around for a bit then went back to the room. I managed to go to sleep mid afternoon and slept til about 5am – a champion effort! Totally forgot to have lunch or dinner. Possibly the first time that has ever happened.

This morning was delightfully cool, at least until the sun was on us, and we had yet another buffet breakfast. No omelettes made to order, sadly, but I did get to try dragonfruit for the first time. Very pretty as well as being quite tasty. A little like watermelon but looks like white kiwi fruit in a bright pink skin.

This morning we’re off to snorkle, apparently once you get past the seaweed there’s reef. I am not looking forward to squealing like a little girl every time the seaweed touches my legs. I can’t stand not being able to see what’s going on in the water. I’d like to claim this goes back to my childhood when I stood on a fishing hook at Budgewoi, but I fear I’m actually just a wuss. I wish I’d brought my reef walking shoes, not just for getting out to the reef but also for getting across the hot sand. No one else seems to mind but I end up leaping across it in a sad, ungainly fashion, arms flailing and muttering ‘ooh ooh ooh ooh!’ the whole way.

Anyhow, fingers crossed that today will be free of personal injury and we’ll spot some pretty fish. Wish us luck!

I’ve written a long post this morning, complete with photos, but it keeps disappearing so I’ll try a text only post and save the photos for later.

The beach we’re staying on is absolutely beautiful and the resort is possibly the most luxurious I’ve ever stayed in. It is on a headland between two beaches and, although it’s a bit of a hike to get back up to our bungalow (particularly during the day when the heat is in the high 30’s and the humidity is extreme) the views are amazing and it’s turquoise water, white sand and coconut palms as far as the eye can see.

I don’t know much about Koh Phangan, but if someone were to suggest that this was the most quiet, middle class beach on the island I’d believe them. It’s super clean, no people walking the beach trying to sell anything, the price of everything is about a quarter what you’d pay at home – but I’m sure things are cheaper elsewhere. Except sunscreen. We didn’t bring any and it’s ridiculously expensive here. It also seems that there aren’t many people here right now.

Luke and I were pretty tired when we landed in Koh Samui but after many days of naps and relaxing we’re feeling great. Today is our last full day at Panviman resort and tomorrow we’re heading to Mae Had, where the snorkling is supposed to be reasonable.

So far the things I’m enjoying most are the food, swimming, the vistas and learning a bit of Thai. I think the best thing I’ve learned is ‘alloy muk!’ = ‘too delicious!’. People smile a lot when you say that.

Things I am not enjoying so much: the humidity and not being able to communicate with Thai people very well. Apart from one guy at reception, there’s no one here who speak much English at all and I am full of questions about what people here do and think.

We’re sitting in Bangkok airport waiting for our connecting flight to Samui. We’ve had a pretty smooth trip so far. Anth drove us to the airport and we had a short line in customs – in fact there weren’t many people in the airport at all. We decided, since we had some Australian coins on us, that we’d have a celebratory glass of sparkling wine to commemorate the beginning of our trip. Sitting down on the plane made it all seem very real and we got as excited as you can get at 1am after several nights of short sleep and a number of glasses of wine.

We flew Thai Airways and, as far as it possibly could be, it was a pretty good experience. Good food, huge selection of things to watch, many drinks being offered and we even had a spare seat in our row so, while Luke had the window seat, I got room to stretch my legs a bit. We slept for about 4 or 5 hours and right now I don’t feel too bad at all. We have a 2 hour wait before our next flight then it’s on to Koh Phangan.

Today is it! We leave for the airport at 9pm after a birthday dinner for my housemate Jess. Last minute tasks involve:
*sweeping everything I haven’t packed (that is staying behind) into some garbage bags and throwing them under the house.
*properly packing my travelpack and carry-on bag.
*buying a couple of last minute things, including some clear zip lock bags for toiletries and clothing that won’t be used til Europe.
*writing a gardening list for my friend Julian who’ll be maintaining the garden.
*taking photos of the car so that if Anth (my housemate who is taking care of it) notices any scratches he can check the pictures to see if they were there before I left.
*charging devices.
*doing the web check in and print out boarding passes.

You might be shaking your head thinking ‘Amanda! Why leave all these things til the last day?’ But if I don’t have last minute things to do I fill the time worrying about what I’ve forgotten and pacing the house.

Oh, and of course all the stuff we took camping needs to be put away. Pretty much all Luke and I talked about at the stinking hot, fly-ridden festival was how we would shortly be in a pool in Thailand drinking cocktails full of fruit.
Bring it on!