So Long Phuket, Hello Koh Samui

After traveling together for two weeks in Thailand Chaz and Bobbys' trips were coming to an end.  Chaz had to leave on Saturday, March 2nd, and Bobby on Sunday.  It sure felt good not to have to be back for work myself!  Once they both left Mike and I stayed one more night in Phuket and made a quick exit.

From Phuket we booked a trip to Koh Samui, which is an island on the other side of the peninsula.  Thailand has a long, narrow strip of land extending to Malaysia with islands on each side (see map).  Of the eastern islands Koh Samui is the most visited and touristy.  But it is also the biggest, so there are still opportunities to (somewhat) get away from the crowds.

The trip from Phuket to Koh Samui
took over 10 hours by minivan,
bus and ferry...long trip for
such a short distance!

Here's a close up view; we stayed on Chaweng
Beach, with many hotels and bars; the interior
was great for exploring with a motorbike

Mike and I spent four nights on Koh Samui and toured much of the island.  Any idea how we got around?  If you have read my past blog posts you probably will know the answer - by scooter.  This was Mike's first time riding in Thailand but he adjusted to it quickly (it's really not too difficult, kinda like riding a bicycle).  We did go on rougher roads - partially paved, dirt, gravel, and through steep elevation changes.  It was a challenging but fun ride and a great way to see the interior of the island.  Along the way we also stopped to hike trails through the jungle to waterfalls.  It wasn't very remote though - several spots had animal shows and elephant rides for tourists.

Oh wow, elephant trekking on a road!

Lots of traffic on the main road ringing the island...

...but nice and quiet on the back dirt roads

Traveling with Bobby and Chaz was fun, but not as rough as I like to backpack.  I don't know the best way to describe it., but rough sounds about right.  Being that they only had two weeks and were still earning money I can understand why Chaz and Bobby wanted to indulge a bit.  To many people it wouldn't really be indulging, but for me staying in a room with A/C and a TV is quite indulgent for SE Asia.  We also ate at real restaurants, whereas I prefer to eat street food when available.

Truthfully it was nice to have a break and enjoy a nicer hotel or two, but I like to travel cheap - if I do it cheaply that means I can travel for longer!  So when Mike arrived I was concerned that he also would want to stay at nice places (by backpacker standards) and spend more than I wanted.  So far though it has worked out nicely.  On Koh Samui we stayed in a hotel with A/C but dividing it between two people made it very affordable.  He also likes to eat street food and is very budget conscious.

hmm, I'd prefer to try more authentic food -
plus street food in SE Asia is super cheap!

 There are some backpackers who sacrifice too much in pursuit of cheap travel; yeah you could potentially get by on 10 dollars a day, but then what would you have to write home about.  Another day of eating plain rice and walking around by foot cause the transport is too expensive?  Don't get me wrong, I like to wander around on foot in new places, but you need a balance of budget consciousness while still being able to cough up some dough if need be to have a worthwhile experience.

Enough with my two cents and back to the trip.  Long story short budget traveling with Mike has worked out so far.  On Koh Samui, however, the weather did not work out so well.  All but one day was overcast with spells of rain.  As it happened the sun came out the last day, so we did get a little time on the beach.  We could have decided to stay longer, but having explored much of the island it was time to move on to our next destination, Koh Phagnan.