Koh Samui!

We arrived to Koh Samui on Friday after a lot of effort... It all started with the interesting trip from Malaysia to Thailand. We left the paradise Perhentian island at 8.00 in the morning, with the speedboat, as planned. When we got to the pier Jacob did some bargaining with the taxi drivers to take us to the Thai border for 70 ringit(ca 160 sek), it would be a 1,5 hour car trip.
The car was old and hot...

But at about 10.45 we arrived... we had read that this particular border was not very safe... but still it was the closest and easiest one to use... and nothing had happened for some time now. The taxi driver tried to scam us by telling us he wanted 90 ringit all of a sudden... but Jacob was persistent and did just give in with 5 ringit more...
We walked through the border in the heat... got through the passport control and the health control(they take our temperature at every border...).
Then we got on these mopeds to the train-station... interesting...

We got to the train station and got two of the last tickets left on the train to Surat Tane in air-conditioned sleeping wagon... Sounded good... I mean 9 hours on the train.. nice to get some sleep and have it nice and cool.

The time needed to be moved back one hour, so we suddenly had one and a half hour before the train should leave. We got ourselves a nice, spicy Thai meal. And at 11.30 the train left the station. We had ok seats that was folded out to beds during night.
All passengers had nice snack-bags with nuts and fruit... but since we did not know where to buy it... we had to wait for the train salesman to sell us some food.

The hours went by... and so did the boredom... oh my god... 9 hours on a train that went like 50km/hour.. in a very bumpy way.
The train was only 2,5 hours late... so we arrived at 11.30. And hopped on to a small truck... with some other tourists going in to town. They dropped us off at a hotel, and we got a nice sleep.

The next day we had bought at package deal at the hotel, getting us by bus and boat to the island Koh Samui... It was pouring down at 7.30 when we was picked up. There was a truck outside were all the bags were thrown in... and also the passengers. So, the 8 of us going with the boat was going to sit in the rain on the back of the truck... But... me and Jacob were fast and got the seats in the car!! Then there was this English guy who got really irritated with the fact that he had paid for transfer in the rain... specially since there were seats left in the car. The driver was an angry man talking very bad words about us 'stupid tourist people'. Finally, they all got in the back and we drove to the next stop... where some of the passengers needed to pay more money... nobody knows why. The English guy again was upset and it almost caused a fight with the driver... Not a very good start...

We needed to change car... getting into another back of a truck... The English guy paid finally... and got to go with us... (him and his girlfriend almost did not get on the truck...).
So after a lot of arguing in the rain... we headed for the next stop. We waited for 20 minutes... and got loaded in a minibus... that took us to even another bus... a bigger one. This bus took us to the actual ferry!!
So... we were told that the boat were leaving at 8.00... but it left at 9.30. At 12.00 we arrived to the island.

The island was a lot bigger than we thought and after going to the place we thought we were staying... we realized we were not going to find our fantasy bungalow there(Chaweng was to busy and crowded... not very nice). So yet another bus/taxi to Hut Lamai and we found Beers Guest house... Well, sounds like a party place... but oh... the opposite. A nice little family having some bungalows and a lovely restaurant just by the beach. We love it here!

Unfortunately Jacob has coming down with some fever and a throat thing... so he has been resting by the fan and on the veranda... (poor him). I, on the other hand, have enjoyed the beach... walking a long with it.. sunbathing... sea bathing... foot massage... beer by the beach front... well... all that a nice vacation should contain! We are hoping the fever lets go soon so Jacob can join me..

Tomorrow, or the day after we are heading for Koh Tao, a smaller island for some snorkeling. Then we are spending the last days in Hua hin and Bangkok. We admit it... we can not wait to get back home... Only 10 days left!!

See you all soon!