After a bit of twisting of arms and advice from both the British Council and my parents, I decided to head to the island early Saturday morning to meet a group of ETAs already out there. I was feeling very apprehensive about the whole thing - travelling a long distance across sea on my own to meet people I hadn't actually met or spoken to before, not to mention sharing a room with one of them. I'm happy to report that my apprehension was dismissed as soon as I set foot on the island and began what was the best weekend I've had since arriving in Thailand..
My journey started with a taxi to the skytrain followed by a few stops to the main minivan station. As soon as I got onto ground level again, loads of Thai drivers start shouting various locations at me in desperate need for business.. After taking a deep breath and buying a very sweet banana smoothie, I ventured around the corner to find the right van heading to Ban Phe pier in Rayong. 200 baht later and I literally bumped into 2 ETAs in the local 7/11, one of which I'd met just the night before at an organised meal for Bangkokian ETAs. They were heading to Hua Hin so I assured them it was a lovely beach and good weekend trip whilst waiting for what seemed like a lifetime for my van to appear. After last weekend, I was more than a bit worried about the minivan journey.. My worries were reaffirmed when I got into the van with a madman. He drove like a maniac. The roads were so bumpy once outside of Bangkok that we skimmed the air multiple times. It was a very tense and very quick journey. Once I got to the pier, a ferry was leaving to the island only 15 minutes later, so I was happy and relieved to see things go to plan. It was only 100baht for a return trip to the island, about £1, which took around 45 minutes. I spent these minutes lounging on a colourful deckchair, admiring the oncoming mountains and the fading city backdrop with the occasional glance at the local Thai's taking numerous photographs of themselves in various poses - they LOVE taking selfies!
On my arrival to the beautiful island I was welcomed by stormy dark clouds and an eerily empty pier.. I couldn't get through to the other ETAs so hopped on the back of a pick up truck taxi that took us down windy dirt tracks until we came to a forested canopy near the beach. Koh Samet is a national park meaning it is protected and you usually have to pay an entrance fee. By some lucky series of events, the man I had sat next to on the ferry ride spotted me looking confused and lost after getting off the taxi and very subtly came over, told me to keep my head down and walk quickly straight on to the beach - this was to avoid the small shed office where you paid the entrance fees. My casual, looking-like-I-knew-what-I-was-doing ploy was a success and as soon as I came to the beach I spotted the group of ETAs! Perfect. 2 friendly girls came and introduced themselves as Anna and Megan and took me to the hotel where we were staying for a few nights. They were instantly so welcoming, kind and easy to talk to - all the worry I had slipped away..
We were soon exchanging stories of our time in Thailand whilst heading back to the beach. I introduced myself to the gathering of 10 or so before picking up one of my favourite thai sweets - a roti, a bit like a pancake stuffed with banana and topped with condensed milk (I can't get enough of the stuff!). Despite the glooming clouds, the sea was calling and I found myself slipping into warm waters once more. It was only when I was in the sea that I truly felt I was on an island - on looking back to the beach you could see the jungle-like backdrop and the edges of the peninsula.
Some of the group wandered off to browse for trinkets or go for a nap - why not!? We arranged to meet back on the beach in a few hours time to grab dinner and drinks. The area we stayed in - Saikaew beach - was very small so made for a perfect relaxing getaway, even bumping into other ETAs on our wanders. Dinner was filled with inspirational travel table talk. I found it so interesting listening to where others have been in the world, including Shri Lanka, America and India. It made me realise there really is so much to see..I will continue my travels as soon as possible. Since living in Thailand, my views, perspective and general outlook on a lot of things have changed. Travel is a key one. In Thailand, if people talk of travelling for a few hours on a bus, it feels like the equivalent of 20 minutes. In England, we frequently complain of these few hour journeys, but here time is no object that stands in our way. Many ETAs, including myself, have travelled 6 + hours to explore. Thailand is a vast, beautiful country with something for everyone, you just have to find it.. When I get home, I will make a much bigger effort to travel locally - I will make the most of free weekends by using my time to explore rather than see the short weekend as an obstacle. I left dinner in high spirits feeling inspired and excited about life's opportunities.
My philosophical bubble was burst when we ended up at a strange smelling loud bright bar on the beach, complete with pole dancers. Needless to say I felt a little uncomfortable, but it is good to be out of your comfort zone once in a while otherwise you will never be able to grow or learn - people change all of the time so its important to explore yourself to see what your likes and dislikes are. This day, however, I still didn't like a noisy, fluorescent, tacky bar. At least I tried! I managed to (very easily) persuade my dinner travelling-talk companions to head a little further down the beach to a quiet bar, made even more appealing by the array of giant bean bags lining the entrance. It was lovely to go a little deeper into conversations and we all found the comfiness hard to part from..
The next day was Sunday and most headed back to their schools in various locations. Myself and 3 other girls managed to get the Monday off school however, we after a tasty breakfast of scrambled egg on toast, we decided to do a day trip island hopping on a speedboat. Best. Decision. Ever. This ended up being my favourite day since arriving in thailand.. It was perfect from start to finish! We hopped on the front seats of the speed boat and soon set off to the first island. I would describe it as paradise.. White sands, crystal clear waters, mountainous surroundings - pure bliss. We even found wooden swings hanging from a few trees, setting the scene and completing tranquility. It made for the perfect photoshoot..
We were free to snorkel around the island where, despite some battles with the snorkel and a few tasters of the salty waters, we saw beautiful, tropical, colourful fish. The water was even warmer and the sand even softer. A few hours later we headed to a different, more remote island. Here, we ate our included lunch of fried rice and fresh fruit. More swimming, relaxing and sunbathing was done..
Our next stop off was in the middle of the ocean where we free to jump off the boat into the open waters. The 2 tour boat guides began throwing the remainders of our lunch and fruit into the sea, where hundreds and hundreds of amazing fish came rapidly up to the surface to feast! It was amazing but I must admit I did freak out almost every time I touched a fish, which was almost every second.. They were just beautiful and it was a really incredible experience. The tour guides had a lot of fun when they started to strategically throw fruit in my direction so the fish would surround me, my limbs flailing.
The last island was the least picturesque but had a thick jungle backdrop and views overlooking the other islands. Still pretty enough for a sneaky photoshoot round 3...
We all felt so chilled out that the speedboat back to the main island livened us up a little and we were soon giggling and chatting away once more, feeling so happy with our day and expressing how surprised we are that we got all of this for only 600 baht - around £12. Not too shabby!
Our day ended with 2 of the girls getting tattoos..a brave, admirable thing in my eyes that didn't seem to phase them in the slightest! Me and Megan had manicures around the corner followed by a coconut oil massage for her and an hour long foot rub for me. The two newly tattooed ladies came to join us after to round off the adventure-filled day. I think its safe to say each of us slept soundly, deeply and happily.
We arose early next morning to make our way back to our schools. Megan had to reluctantly split from us, having bought a different ferry ticket, so me, Anna and Laura sat awaiting our ride. A few moments later, a young fresh looking male Thai came over to us and explained that he wanted us to be in his documentary - what!?? The next 20 minutes were just hilarious. We were made to walk along the pier doing numerous takes with 3 giant cameras and microphones pointing at our faces, complete with clipboard. We had to have a mini interview about the island of Koh Samet, encouraging tourists to visit and to assure them that there was no sign of the recent oil spill (although this actually happened on the other side of the island..). The ferry was full and they were made to wait for us! Laura gave them her email address, so maybe we will have a little preview of fame in the next weeks to come...
Once we arrived back at the pier in Rayong, we realised that Megan had been dropped at a different pier completely. As it turned out, there are 7 piers that all fall under the same name. This is so very 'Thailand'.. Eventually, we did reunite and split off again to make our journeys back to the big city. We were all in agreement that it had been the best send off for the last teaching weekend. The beauty of the islands and the kindness of the people made me feel a little emotional and for the first time in a long time I felt truly content.
