The Sea Was Blue and The Drinks Strong

Being stuck in airports is something that nobody likes, but I've got to say that I didn't mind waiting in Koh Samui's. It was much more of a beach hut with some planes next to it and a few mini buses out front. I purchased from one of the desk a ticket for one of the mini buses and boats leaving from a miscellaneous port to Koh Phangnan. The taxi was very pleasant and so were the other passengers, a few being English travellers also. We eventually reached our port where we had to wait for about an hour and my breath was taken away. The sea, was beautiful. The white sand, bordered by the bluest water topped by the peer stretching out like an arm reaching for peace. A taste of a real paradise.

We took the hour as our free time to swim and simply float around in the warm water. The relief of laying down my heavy bag in the sand and letting the water soothe the aches away. We chatted with a man who moved here from England who lived on the beach front, he'd been here for about twenty years and apparently was now bored of the sun and beaches. I couldn't see how. The boat eventually arrived at the end of the peer and we made our way still dripping with sea water. I took my seat at the front of the large boat, my feet hanging overboard, the large waves reaching them and shining in the sun. I reached my port before long and found myself a taxi accompanied by two Norwegian girls who offered to share their fare with me as my hostel was on the other side of the island. Driving through these island towns was an unusual thing, they were more palm tree jungles, dotted with houses, dirt roads and the odd tarmac one too. After driving for quite some time I was eventually tipped to the front of the taxi as we drove down a very steep hill, down towards the beach I might add, and came to a halt by some cabins. Shiralea Backpackers Resort was where I had arrived, and as I climbed the wooden steps there lay on a rug with a beer was Brian, "Hey! You made it!"
"Told you I would".

I had paid a little extra for my room here, after Bangkok I wanted a room with aircon. However when I arrived at my little hut through the little jungle path I found I not only had aircon but also two double beds and my own little hammock on the decking outside over looking the pool.

First things first though, I needed food. And the burger I got was amazing, huge and cooked perfectly. I might add that so was the cocktail, not cooked but mixed to be strong but fresh tasting. Fresh because I watched Joy, the bartender, blend the whole fruits.

Not only was this place homely, set slightly in the jungle area with its own pool, still close to the beach, serving great food and drink, but it also had an eclectic mix of people from all over the world. Not only that but a group from an "Under thirties" cruise, spending time at this place before moving on. Among the people I met where a Dutch couple Mark and Tamara, Brian obviously, Leah and Rahul, who actually used to work in my home town! Julian from Germany, Carl from Sweden, Luke, Victoria and Scott who have only just returned after nearly a year away, and Lucia an Italian girl from Florence. This not being everyone obviously and I'm sorry to anyone who's names I cannot remember!

On one particular night, Joy's bar had switched on some UV lights, and then out came the UV reactive paints... We painted each other for a good hour drinking all the while. The artist in me quite literally shone. After the painting finally stopped, we went to spend some time at a party on the beach called "The Black Moon", similar to the "Full Moon" parties which you're probably familiar with, one problem that is when we got there they had decided to charge quite a lot of money for entry and none of us had brought enough. We decided then because of this, to make our own party outside of the gate using their music! With a whole load more people joining us, including many more Germans! I swear I met more German people on my travels than actually live in Germany. The night that followed, sat on that beach with plenty of Chang, Chang is a Thai beer that we could never guarantee the strength of, one night we could have five bottles each and feel fine, another night we could have one bottle each and be on our backsides in the sand, was great. More fun than you can imagine. Gentle breeze and the cooling sea, contrasting the ever warming bottles of beer we collected. However, that can be one of the worries in Thailand, recently a girl was told she was drinking Gin to find it was actually Methanol, she went blind and died. Be careful where you get your drinks from. I don't want to ruin the happiness or fun, but always buy from a real store.

The taxi ride back was eventful, as we would not all fit, some of us had to hold onto the roof while standing on back step of what was essentially a pick up truck with a cover. The hills proved dangerous but a lot of fun at high speeds, in my drunken state my hands slipped. I'm gone. This is going to hurt. As I fell briefly, hands gripped me and pulled me back into the taxi, thank you whoever the hands belonged to. For that, I could easily owe you my life.

When we arrived back home at Shiralea it had begun to rain, slowly washing the paint from us. As the night was late we retired to the pool hut, we sat and played into the night under the bombardment of water, the odd cicada and lightening. That night when I returned to my hut, the electricity had shorted out. But I did not mind, what a memorable night it was.

My Street 

My House

and My Hammock

The Endless Sea