Still Haven't Been Sold Into Sex Slavery: The Art of Island Hopping: Koh Samui

Since I got here, I’ve been doing my best to go native. I hear that’s the best way to really experience a culture. In someplace as foreign to me as Thailand is there is no other choice but to fully go where I never thought I’d go; jump in quickly and ask questions only when really, really lost.

So when my school said,

“We’d like to send you on a free trip to Koh Samui” I thought it sounded too good to be true. Surely, the school is trying to bribe me with something...which I'm totally fine with.Why would I ever say “no” to a free trip to an island anywhere? Where ever they end up having us stay, and since it’s free I’m guessing it will either be a dump or a home-stay, it’s bound to be another great experience where I am thrown into the Thai culture whether I want to or not.

The Destination Resort and Spa is flanked on all sides by run down bungalows and shantys, most likely where the hired help lives. Yet before I had a chance to say “I told myself so” we pulled into the parking lot of the resort and stopped there. Psych! Some one ushered us into the a lobby that is actually a desk and plush couches underneath a great tent and gave us passion fruit while they cleaned up the rooms. The ladies and I took this time to explore our new home. The resort has planked walkways that are covered by beams of wood that hold flowerbeds and bushes whose tentacles reach down to brush against you as you walk past. One area we came across were condos surrounding a large pool. All the back doors opened onto steps into the pool. The main pool was an infinity pool that stretched out to the private beach and the beautiful ocean.

So when I was walking to my room, I knew this was probably going to be a great stay. I was unprepared. This was the nicest room I will most likely ever sleep in. A real bed! A real king size bed. Rainfall shower with rubbing stones instead of a floor. A balcony with a large couch. An outdoor bathtub (cross that off the bucket list!!). TV. Bathrobe and slippers. S and I looked at each other while the bellboy set down our bags and literally started jumping up and down, yelling and running around the room. The bellboy stood staring at us (and it didn’t occur until much later that he was probably waiting for a tip) as I put on my slippers and robe and started sliding across the hardwood floor.

If I do a little mental math, I calculate it took approximately 2.59 repeating seconds for my mind to switch from native-Thai-fun-experiences-woman back into middle-class-blonde-American. I can’t really tell you much about Koh Samui because I left the resort twice in the whole weekend. And what I saw says it’s a lot like a Snow Bird area for Thais and Europeans. But who cares! I got to bathe outside. I got to kayak again. I got to sit by an infinity pool and drink froo-froo drinks. I slept in an actual bed. I could even flush the toilet paper!

I opted to swim in the ocean instead of the pool. The beach was deserted so the water surrounding it was mostly all mine to enjoy. The beach is in something of a wide cove surrounded by various hills and sailboats and one very, very large Buddha statue on a cliff, watching everything. I thought about taking a picture of it but decided against it. It feels like I’ve been seeing Thailand only through my new camera that can focus farther and better than I can. But this view couldn’t really be translated into a photo; at least not with my lens. It couldn’t capture the different colors of the clouds, the many hill peaks stretched out far into the sea or the perfect gold color of the Buddha. In a picture you can’t hear the sea slapping my skin or the distant bells from the temples. Can’t convey the feeling I had of being somewhere old. With that Buddha watching me take a swim I got the feeling I was on some island where the locals had long been extinct and the veggies had reclaimed the hillside and this mammoth of a statue was all the remained of whoever had once been there. I chewed that fantasy while I swam.