Thailand Part II: Ko Samet Island



Papaya Salad Extraordinaire



Soap Carving

Tuesday

We left Bankok  by private van which took us 1.5 hrs to the town known as "Sin City" in the guide books!  Pattaya is known for both it's gentle bay and  the "walking street" where sin is on sale. What surprised me is that the seedy side was not apparent to a casual observer but the warm welcome, great street food, and beachy feel of the place attracts all kinds of tourists.  The predominance of people we met seemed to be Russian or from Eastern European countries.   They all assumed we could speak their language! Pattaya also has a huge retirement community: this is why we paused there before heading to the island.  Tanya's paternal Canadian grandmother lives there in an appartment near the beach.  They settled there to be near her family and remained long after Tanya's parents moved away.  She welcomed us like family and we dumped our bags, coffeed up, then took her along with us to explore some of Tanya's recommended destinations.

Floating markets are popular places to shop and enjoy the culture, where merchants carry their wares on their boats and cook their spicy Thai dishes while you watch. The Pattaya Floating Market was a delight to experience.  We walked on bridges and platforms where we shopped for everything from fancy flip-flops to exotic soap carvings and jewelry.  We sampled fried banana, sweet potato, watermelon slush, delicious meats on sticks...wow yums! Alongside the river was a vendor selling "play time" in a huge clear plastic bubble and in a hampster type treadmill, both bobbing on the water surface.  Ethan took to the bubble and the girls pushed off in the cylinder where they flipped and floated into each other amid howls of laughter: both theirs and ours.

The other market adventure was our stop at the "Fish Spa" which was high on our list ot things to do in Thailand.  We had our feet bathed before sitting on benches surrounding big tanks of small fish.  We plunged our feet in to the kneees and giggled like children as hundreds of dead-skin-eating fish locked their lips on our toes in a massive feeding frenzy! In a fantastic exfoliation extraordinaire, the fish nibbled all the way to our knees while amused passer-bys laughed with us. Check. One more thing Tanya had told us about, experienced together. 

In a clumsy combination of "baht buses" (shared open truck taxis), one over-loaded ferry boat, and taxis, we AND our over-sized suitcases eventually made it to the island of Ko-Samet.  The final 45 minute boat ride was nerve wracking for me as I'd surveyed the life jackets on board as I saw the boat filling up with holiday supplies, a washing machine, motorbike, one truck full of ice cream, fish, more people...Lets just say there were not enough vests to go around!  I was so thankful to arrive safely at the port where we were met only by mosquitos!  It was dusk and we had no hotel on the eve of the big national holiday: Songkran Festival.  On the internet, it appeared there was no avilability but we took a chance on finding a place when we hit the ground.  The first place was way overpriced and had space only for one night.  Thankfully we loaded back into a taxi truck and tried a second hotel that turned out to be just perfect.  For around $60/room/nite, we got side by side rooms that were spacious, clean, and right on the beach!  By 8pm we were leaning back on cushions on the sand just a few feet from the water, having dinner by lantern light. The fish and fresh salads were tantalizing.  This was incredibly relaxing and enjoyable.

Wednesday

After a scrumptuous breakfast of pinapple pancakes, we hired our chair and umbrella for the day.  Hours passed lazily without the interruption of calls to prayer as we swam, read, walked, dozed and ate such wonderful creations as papaya salad, made fresh in front of us by the traveling food vendor. This sweet/sour/cruchy concoction is served with a pat of sticky rice and grilled chicken.  I've GOT to learn to make this! On a stroll through the little village, we encountered our first water toting revelers who happily soaked us with buckets of cold water as we passed by!

Thursday

Robert was determined that we take the kids snokeling, and I'm glad he insisted.  It was not the Great Barrier Reef, but it was incredibly cool. We had to book a boat tour to get to the good spots.  There were no docks, so the boat just came right up to the beach where we waded out and clamored on...really funny to watch. We zipped to another island where shades of blues  and turquoise fell in layers like an English Triffle up to the pale brown sugar sand beach.  As I surrendered to the warm water and heard my heavy breathing through the snorkel above me, I remembered why I loved the sacred sanctuary of the deep blue waters where coral live.  We were greeted by striped, dotted, pointynosed silverfish and even a cousin of The Rainbow Fish. The long needled sea urchins reminded us that this was not a contact sport but Emily and Robert came too close and suffered their wrath.  Robert even brought a tip home that is firmly installed in his toe.  We swam very "flat" and tried to hug the surface when the coral they were lodged on rose close to our bellies.

Teeth clamped around the salty mouthpiece, mask sealed around my eyes and nose, the freedom to explore and wonder at the sea city beneath me was exhilarating. The kids would pop up and yell for us to come view some cool fish or colorful coral and we kept each other pretty close.  Not sure if they heard my snorkel broadcast: me singing "How Great Thou Art" like a ventriloquist through my clenched teeth---it just couldn't be squelched!

After a swim at our second stop we had a nice rice and barbeque lunch with the ever present fresh fruit.  At the last stop, Emily got too dizzy to stay in the water as the waves were higher and we'd had a lot of sun. Before returning, we toured a fish farm where we walked on narrow boards between the sharks, sea turtle, leopard fish and others destined for dinner.  We were glad Emily had sufficiently recoverd her balance not to fall in.

For dinner, we let Tanya lead us on a progressive dinner through the streets! After having egg on a stick, chicken on a stick, and some amazing purple banana cooked in leaves, we had our main course at a "noodle stand" where we were able to sit down and order.  We all went into fits of sneezing and coughing as the chilis cooking in this outdoor kitchen were so strong we Westerers couldn't take it!  Everyone laughed at us:) When we could breath again, Tanya ordered our noodle soups WITHOUT chilis. (There were plenty in the air) She also mercifully got it without "blood cubes" which she insisted gives it such great flavor! The combination of fresh veg, beef balls, spices and thin noodles with bean sprouts was sooo delish. Fish sauce, hot sauce, vinegar and sugar completed the delicate balance of flavor that makes Thai food such a symphony on the tongue.  Our dessert was a tiny green pumpkin that had been cooked with custard inside.

Apart for our concern for Molly who was having her second round of painful injections for her migraines, I hardly had a thought of what was happening in the "real world." We hoped Gadaffi might have fallen from power while we played, but no such luck.

Friday

Last day on the beach; we had to do our traditional family sand sculpture.  We decided on a sea turtle and he turned out to be quite handsome! After a lovely morning of sand and swimming we showered and drug our embarrassingly big bags down the street to the boats.  As our flight home was not until 3am, we planned to let the kids experience another evening in Pattaya where the Songkran celebrations were in full swing. After stowing bags at Grandma Donna's (she and most sensible people were holed up inside and refused to come out) we jumped on a baht bus on the beach road into town.  Within minutes we were completely soaked to the bone with ice water, dumped and squirted on us by gleeful revelers!  Open buses were targets and the congested traffic made sure we got more than a shower.  We squeezed together and tried uselessly to dodge the streams. This yearly celebration is in theory a time to pay respect to their elders in which they are recognized by a ceremony of pouring water over their hands, and families get together. The water theme continues as all the neighborhood Buddahs get a bath from the worshippers. And of course, it's a time for everyone to cool off in the streets during their hottest month of summer.  After we stopped to eat noodle soup again, I "cheated" and made myself a trash bag dress to shield against the icy storms.  I could duck my head into the neck, turtle style, when we passed the most aggressive water warriers.  They also make a powder paste and smear it on heads and faces.  We felt pretty safe from this as we were riding on a bus---not so! At a stop light, a half dozen arms reached in from both sides of the open bus and smeared the goo on all but Ethan and I who were crouched down in the middle between the legs...One determined guy jumped into the back with us so he could paint Ethan so I alone escaped unslimed. The powder dried and crusted in their hair and ears and they looked fully initiated to Songkran. 

After one more shopping stop at an open air market, we hired a bus to take us back.  Only then did we pass the street known for it's prostitutes and sex tourists. I'd warned Ethan to avert his eyes if we found ourselves in awkward situations but thankfully, it was all contained in designated areas. The only massage parlours we saw were for "theraputic" massage.  It is a sad reality that the sex industry thrives in Thailand due to the economics and laws that look the other way.  Thank God for groups like International Justice Mission who have offices in Bangkok for the purpose of freeng victims of trafficing and giving them a means to an alternative livlihood.

Another "Christian" group is taking a different approach.  In the back of one of the buses was a sign warning of the judgement of God and pronouncing May 21, 2011 as the day we could expect it!  I picked up a flier and saw it was from a church in California--wow, leave it to those Americans; grrrrrr!

We were at the ultra modern Bangkok airport with 4 hours to spare (Robert likes "fluff time!") We were relieved to discover that the sandstorm had cleared enough for the Kuwati airport to have re-opened.  This may be the last time we fly "home" to Kuwait.