Thailand Vacation,  Part Four: Samui               June 2006

As great as the first part of the trip was, now we've gotten to the more important part - the "sit on your ass
on the beach and do jack shit" portion of the trip.



We were greeted at our hotel with fruity drinks and cold washcloths while they
did that paperwork that hotels always have to do.



...Which was merely a brief delay, as we were soon out of (most of) our
clothes and on the beach!



The beach to either direction;  we were just south of the tourist hot spot of Chaweng, so we
could easily get into town by walking or taking a 2 buck ride on the back of a truck, but our
beaches and hotel were super mellow unlike those in town.




The grounds around our hotel.  The place was a liuttle funky, but I didn't have a problem
with it.  The grounds all around the place were quite beautiful, and it even had a 9-hole
par 3 golf course, but it was too damn hot to actually play.



Here is the first of many of our friends we made on this trip...I named him Porch Dog.  
He was super friendly and spent a lot of time either on the beach frolicking around or
asleep on our porch.



And this is Chair Dog.  One day he appeared on the beach, promptly dug a pit under my chair,
and then slept pretty much all day.  He was really friendly too and somehow ended up in my lap
one day when there was some leftover chicken to be had.



These birds must be the pigeons of Thailand, cause they are everywhere (and I never
saw a single pegeon, surprisingly).  They have some really crazy mockingbird-like calls
and bright yellow splotches under their wings when they fly about.



There was a lot of scrabble played on this trip, thanks to this travel set that Chelsea bought.  
I think I ended up winning the series while there by a game or two.



Sights of the sea from our beach.



This was a tide pool near our house - you could just stand above it and look at the
tropical fish.  You could also cut your feet on the coral like I did and limp around
for the rest of the trip.



Another good friend - Breakfast Cat.  There were a few cats who just strolled around
and begged for scraps at the buffet breakfast spot at the hotel, but Breakfast Cat
was my favorite (and the prettiest).  



Here we have Porch Dog on the beach begging for chicken scraps...how could you say no
to those floppy ears???  He also had the good manners not to jump in my lap to get after it.  



Amongst other delectable treats to be found on the beach, my favorite was the lady who
carried around a small coal fire and would roast fresh ears of corn for you, and goddam
were they ever tasty.



I really have no idea what is going on here.



Here starts the photos on our day trip to the marine park of Ang Thong.  It was a bumpy
boat ride for an hour, but the pay off was probably the most beautiful scenery I've ever
seen in my life.



The place was just tons of islands.  Hundreds of them I would suppose.



We stopped when we first got there to go snorkeling.  I'm a pansy and was too
scared ot go in, and instead took photos of Chelsea out on the water.  You could
see plenty from the boat, tons of beautiful colorful fish.

Not a lot to say about most of these photos, just enjoy and know it just can't compare
to seeing it in real life.


















Supposedly this is the lagoon where they filmed that Leo DiCaprio flick "The Island",
or so we were told.  I've read in some sources this was the place, and I've read other
places that it was filmed in a different part of Thailand over near Phuket.  No matter
how you slice it, it was some of the bluest water I've ever seen, it didn't even seem real.



I felt the need to document the signs on the bathrooms on the island where we stopped
for lunch.  If anyone knows where I can get the "man" haircut, let me know cause I'm
itching for one of those.



Best photo of Chelsea ever.  



And that's it for Samui!  We trucked back through their entirely outdoor airport,
back to Bangkok for a final night and caught our flight back to California the
next morning.  It was an amazing trip, one I'd love to relive at a later date.