Koh Samui (Perry)

As I'm writing this Jen and I are actually in Khao Sok National Park, but I feel that I need to touch upon our time in Koh Samui. Of the 2 previous islands we visited, Samui was the biggest and by far the most developed. As such, Jen and I decided that after roughing it Thailand style, we needed some luxury. Hello Anong Guest House.

Arriving by ferry, we were whisked away by taxi to the main beach area of Samui, Haad Cheweng. To get an idea of Cheweng, all you need to know is that there’s a Starbucks, MacDonald’s and Burger King all on the same street. After walking the streets, we settled on Anong Guest House, a decent place tucked in off the main drag. For 800 baht a night, we had air conditioning, hot water, and a toilet that flushed. We had found paradise. Or so we thought.

After a couple of nights in Samui, passing the time checking out the street markets and visiting some of the bars, we figured we were done with the island. And honestly this had nothing to do with both Jen and I getting destroyed in Connect 4 by a super friendly Thai “bar girl”. Seriously, this girl beat us 20 times in a row. No, we were done with the chaos of it all. Plus, we had quickly realized that our “luxury” guesthouse was a little too near the main nightclub “Green Mango” and as a result we weren’t actually getting much rest.

Anyways, on the third and what we thought last day, we were walking the streets looking for a place to book our boat off the island and we were stopped by a Thai guy named Cola. He was obviously selling something but he was pleasant enough and we had nowhere to be so we decided to humor him and play the scratch cards he had thrust into our hands. After checking Jen’s he became very excited. He pleaded with us to listen to some sort of “presentation” for one hour. If we did, he would receive $100 USD from his boss. He also assured us that Jen had won one of four prizes on the back of the card, one of which was a week in a 5 star resort.

Well, we were pretty skeptical, but we agreed, mostly due to Cola’s full-on excitement. Long story short, turns out we actually DID win something, and so spent the following 5 nights at Samui Cliff View Resort. A huge step up from the Anong guesthouse. This place was NICE and obviously a bit more expensive than what was in our initial budget. We both agreed it was time to enjoy a proper honeymoon and decided to stay in Koh Samui a few more days.

An added bonus to the place was that it was right in between two beaches (Lamai and Chewang) so the only economic way to get around was by scooter. That’s right, I finally realized my European dream of driving a scooter. Never mind that it was an automatic and that I nearly drove into on-coming traffic when I first fired it up, it was still a scooter. So for the next few days, Jen and I drove our “hog” around and tore up the island roads, enjoyed the gorgeous pool and views at Samui Cliff View, and did not eat in the hotel’s overpriced restaurant. (Well, ok, we did once . . . )

For photos, as always, visit http://gallery.me.com/adamschen