Sunny Delight

Our next stop was Koh Samet on the East side of the gulf of Thailand. We choose this tiny island--its only 7X2.5 km--because it would be an easy commute form Bangkok, however, after a plane, a shuttle bus, two public buses, a motorbike and sidecar (that was interesting), a boat, a sawngthaew and lots of walking, I'm not 100% sure "easy" would be the exact description I'd choose. Nonetheless, we did indeed arrive-- Koh Samet was a lovely getaway and the sunset we watched there was well worth the rigmarole of reaching the place. We splurged on a nicer place than usual 100 feet or so from sandy shores and decided in the morning that the breakfast buffet that came with the room would have sold the place to us in a NY minute. After omlettes made to order, fresh fruit, and too many cups of coffee (ah how we've searched for a rich drip brew like this one) we spent some time relaxing in the sun, swimming and kayaking and then rewarded a hard day's work (riiiigggghhhhtt) with a massage in the shade waves crashing gently in the background. As I will be taking a thai massage course later in my travels I'm chalking that one up to field research--I've always loved the sciences! We reluctantly departed today (well yesterday now that I'm typing this up) and are back in Bangkok to live out Ilse's last day in style. Neither of us can believe we've come full circle already. It seems only yesterday (well maybe 2 days ago) that we were hopping in our first tuk tuk. But after many adventures, new sights, people, tastes and currencies, it's time for this part of our journey to end, which means of course, it's time for the next part to begin :)