Internet connection for the rest of my time in Samui was pretty dodgy so only really able to update now im in London (more about that later)...
When i was writing my last entry, it had just poured down. That actually went away pretty quickly and the little river of water going down the street went away after a few hours. I decided to go down to the other end of Chaweng and got some lunch with Ryan and we hung out at the beach for a wee bit under the umbrellas and got harrassed by lots of wonderfully annoying touts asking us to buy icecream, "I scream, you scream?"
Managed to get through alot of my book Shantaram (which ive almost finished woohoo - 920 pages long). Just before the sunset went down we decided to go take some photos of the area...above are a few of them. After that went back to the ARK bar and had dinner on the beach and a few beers on our comfy little cushions soaking up the atmosphere.
The next day (Wednesday 25 March) i decided to have a little sleep in and went down to the beach on my side of Chaweng. Managed to sneak myself onto a hotels lounger avec umbrella and read my book for a few hours and listened to my iPod, went for a couple of swims in the clear water. Its funny its really nice that the water is so warm, but it takes a few seconds to get used to it and after a while it isn't refreshing anymore! There seemed to be a few little strange things in the water that kept biting me so I mostly spent my time on the beach reading. I stayed under the umbrella the whole time but managed to get incredibly burnt anyway!! Nevermind. Later that night went back down to Ryans end of the beach and had some food and drinks, and had an early night.
On Thursday I was feeling a bit sore and thought it would be better staying inside to protect my poor skin from getting even more burnt!! At the hotel i stayed in they provided a whole lot of DVDs so i sat inside with the aircon on full blast and watched them all day! Although in the morning i went to get a Thai massage which was really nice, even tho it was a bit hard! Later at night i went to get a pedicure, why not when its cheaper than home?
On Friday i decided to go for a walk, had no idea where i was going but Chaweng isnt that big so just went for it. Came across a few random buildings and a lake but nothing spectacular, the heat was pretty intense so didn't want to walk too far...had a look in some shops and got a foot massage which was really great, i wish i had more of those. Had some indian for dinner and went back to my room to watch some movies!
On Saturday i left Koh Samui for Bangkok...ah Bangkok. So many things to say about that place. Was lucky enough to find the right bus to get to my hostel on Sukhimvit Road (the busiest craziest and longest road in the world) for only about 150 baht. Walked around a bit and met up with Ryan who was staying at the same hostel. He wasn't hungry so i went to a Mexican place nearby to get some food and accidentally ended up getting something extremely hot that burnt my mouth and throat, it was intense! I was pretending that i was all good tho and was determinded to eat it all!! :P After that we went to a random little bar and people-watched, we were right on the street so all these frog-ladies kept coming up to us, i don't know how many ways you can say no!!?! Some people brought and elephant through there, and i think one with a monkey and i really hate that so had to turn around!! Quite interesting just seeing people go past.
The next day we had a big trek up the sky train to Chatuchak Park (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatuchak_Park), which is apparently the biggest market in Thailand, and apparently the whole world!! It is really hard to get around as its basically a maze and the paths are pretty narrow. Managed to get a few things, and also a back massage whilst there! Was a good days shopping, but pretty tiring with the heat. Went back to the hostel after that to have a wee rest, and i got some kai. I got some Chang on the way back which we had in the hostel, we sat in the lounge that is actually the smokers lounge but luckily there was noone puffing away. A Thai girl who worked there was watching a Thai soap opera so we joined her and managed to make sense of it all, it was pretty hilarious...imagine a Thai Shortland Street series, and Gerald had just died and was lying there (thats not the funny part of course) and his friend (the blonde one) is so upset she climbs on the bed and cries for ages and starts singing for about 20 mins without saying anything...its just so random. Then it went to an ad break and another scene, and then cuts back to the hospital scene and shes doing a bit more singing. Anyway, i guess you had to be there. After that we went back to the bar we were at the night before, gotta love 45 baht Changs.
On Monday i said goodbye to Ryan as he was back home to Northern Ireland. I took the skytrain to Siam and came across some random people performing, then went into this MASSIVE hardout mall called Siam Paragon or something. Found a movie theatre but didnt realise it was an IMAX till they asked me for 500 baht to watch a movie ($25) which i didnt have! So went to the department store and had a look at their amazing pen section, it sounds silly but they had such a great array of fun and colourful office supplies. Had Japanese for dinner which was very yum and a nice change from Thai and watched dvd whilst thinking about having to pack :P
Tuesday was finally the day for me to leave!! Packed up my things and left them at the hostel. I decided to go to Silom to see the Japanese area that was apparently there. As i was looking a huge thunderstorm came over the city so i took refuge in an Irish bar and had lunch there and paid the earth for it!! After that had a thai massage which really hurt and i dont know wether it actually helped me or not! Got the train back to my area and hung around till i got my taxi back to the airport which was fashionably late. My plane wasnt leaving till 1.10am so had a lot of time on my hands which is always good.
I had a really nice time in Bangkok overall, i think the highlight for me was definately my time in Phuket where i met Lisa, Claire and Ryan and had the most relaxed time there. It was challenging but it was def and 'experience' and im glad that i went there. When i go back i think i will go to some of the smaller islands, it will be much easier without my massive suitcase to lug around!!
