CHILLIN'

I didn't think I would spend much time at the beach during my travels.  Haven't had the desire to bake in the sun--haven't had the desire to put on that bathing suit!

But here I am in Ko Samui, Thailand's third largest island, in the Gulf of Thailand on the east side of the Thailand/Myanmar Peninsula.  I'm in a relatively isolated spot on the northeast side of the island called BangPor.

I'll be here for two weeks, if I can adjust to the "chillin' out" mode.  I have to do my taxes, so having little to do but lounge should motivate me to get started on that unpleasant piece of business.  I also need to brush up on my Italian in preparation for my return to bella Italia.

This is my little beach bungalow.

This is my hammock, where I spent most of this afternoon.

There's one store here--a 7-11 (they're all over Thailand), and here's a shot I took on my walk there.

And another I took from the place where I ate lunch.  Pretty hard to take, eh?








Ko Samui was out of the mainstream of Thailand until about 8 years ago.  People here did pretty much whatever they wanted without interference from the Thai government.  But since it's become a major tourist destination, the government's interest has been peaked.  

I met a very interesting woman from Vancouver this morning while I was waiting to check in and we spent a lot of the day together.  She's traveled extensively and has lots of great stories about the 30 plus countries she's visited.  She just spent two months in India.  Unfortunately, she's leaving for another island tomorrow.  There's also a very drunk Irish guy hanging around the restaurant/bar that's part of this property--Patrick Joseph Martin John Laverty.  He came here for a 3 week vacation, and it's been seven months now.  If I'm to believe him, he's independently wealthy, but does pyrotechnics as a hobby.  So it's been an interesting first day.

I won't be doing much blogging from here, because it's a resort island and the golf course or the beach are pretty much your choices.  (I think everyone on the plane except me picked up a set of golf clubs at baggage claim.)  So don't worry if you don't see any postings here for a while.  I don't want you getting too jealous!