Monday, February 14, 2011

Ko Samui Part I: The Basics

This weekend my friend Jen and I from my program jetted down to the southern island of Ko Samui for some fun in the sun.


We got in late Friday night, and after waiting for an exceptionally long time for our tiny bags that we were forced to check because of sun screeen sizes, we made our way to our hotel.


The hotel was gorgeous! After a week of sleeping in bunk beds with tiny pillows and without proper sheets, we were ready for some indulgence. And since the price of a 5 star hotel on the beach here is the same price as the simplest hotel you would find back in the States, we went for it.


We had been wandering the streets looking for somewhere to go after dinner for drinks and commenting on how surprised we were that it was so quiet. We had heard it was such a party town and we were about to give up when we passed a street and looked left and saw a street packed with people. There's a triangle of bars and clubs that are overflowing with people, the music at each place louder than the one before. We stopped in a smaller bar for a couple of cocktails where the crowd was interesting to say the least. Once I noticed the shot list and found that even I was grossed out by it we moved on.


We made our way to the corner club that was really two clubs in one, one side was hip hop and one was Euro/techno music, where we danced until 4am and then called it a night.


The next day we slept late and headed out to the beach. We took a long walk up the main strip of beach and back to our hotel beach. We laid out for hours in the sun, enjoyed some fruity cocktails, and had amazing massages right on the beach.


For dinner we had an amazing meal at a restaurant on the beach, where each table was a cabana with beds for seats.


After dinner we wanted another Thailand-specific experience, so we headed to a Cabaret-themed "lady boy" show. Thailand is known for their advances in the sex change industry, thus there is a variety of shows featuring what they refer to here as "lady boys." We headed to the cabaret where the show girls belted out tunes from Broadway shows like Fame and Chicago, as well as numbers from singers like Diana Ross, Mariah Carey and Christina Aguilera.


Some of the performers were gorgeous with enviable bodies, some had confusing bodies that I liken to Barbie dolls, and some were downright questionable with Muppet-like features and awful teeth.



After the show we decided to be good girls and head back to the hotel to go to sleep since we planned a tour of the island for Sunday morning. We saw the best of the best of Ko Samui including a waterfall, a cute elephant, an 18 armed Buddha, and a stunning Wat on the water.





After our tour, we had 2 hours til we had to leave for our flight, so we got $5 pedicures on the beach, followed by a happy hour cocktail and late lunch. Once we got to the airport, we were just as impressed as we were with the sights on the island (since it was dark when we arrived we had no idea what the airport was really like).


The Ko Samui airport is supposed to be the most beautiful airport in Thailand, but it might be the most beautiful one in the world. Everything is outdoors, including the domestic departure gates. There's shopping on "Park Avenue," restaurants, coffee shops, gardens and waterways. You are transported to your colorful airplane by open air trolleys. All airports should be like this.



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