On-the-Road Tales

I had to leave my plush digs in the morning without even getting to explore the fabulous looking buddha adorned fountain courtyard I could see from my room. Headed back to the airport for my Bangkok Airways flight to a small island off the west coast. My agent booked me an extra leg, a phantom ticket, to get some ridiculously low 50$ tickets or something so I picked this island not really knowing anything. Turned out to be a touristy beach resort so I could ease on into Thai culture I guess. The airline lounge for Bangkok had refreshments, papers and free internet – US ailrine could learn some customer service from these people. 1.5 hours on an ATR72 to Koh Samui.

The airport was essentially a hut covering a conveyor belt. Walls are not necessary I guess. I grabbed a 3$ shuttle to Changwa, because that looked to have the most accommodation choice. Being spoiled from my night before and losing approximately half my bodyweight in perspiration in the thick humid air, I opted for an airconditioned bungalow instead of roughing it with a fan. Without a scheduled bus route to guide my days, I was back to the tough choices that were the brutal reality of my nomadic life – Should I swim in gentle, tepid, aquamarine sea? or should I recline on the glistening, opal sand and read my newly acquired book (forest fire fighting tragedies in the northwest – my favorite genre found in a bookswap!). Tough. I did both but quickly retreated under a palm before I melted. Explored the town a bit and calculated how many silk bedspreads I could pack in an extra bag. I had dinner in the most aesthetic (ok another word i do not know how to spell) pleasing restaurant I have ever graced. Dark wooden furniture perched on the sand, 40 feet from the waves lapping the shore. Floating white lanterns in the trees above and surrounded by flickering fires. Tops my favorite dinner restaurant list.

My sister, Nancy, has decided to abandon her husband and children and join me in Cambodia. She has always wanted to see Ankhor What and somehow logistically and made it happen. This is a bonus not only because I will have someone to drag out as a bodyguard for sunrise photography at the temples (she is a morning person, she will not mind haha) but she will be able to carry souvenirs home! Up to this point in my travels I have bought a grand total of maybe $50 worth of a tee shirt, small statue, a magnet and some trinkets for the niece and nephew. Besdies not being able to carry it, my attitude towards purging junk seems to have stuck with me and I have been able to avoid knickknacks. By the way – if you were expecting a present, get that out of your head now.

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 22nd, 2007 at 12:24 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.