July 9th, 2009
Last full day In Ko Samui…
Our new pal James here at the Nova Samui (he is from the Philippines and his English is very good) gave us a tip yesterday…Go down to the Big C and the internet s free, it is air conditioned and there is free coffee. The free internet at the Big C WAS very nice as I spent just over 2 hours getting some stuff done on the computer…Troy was able to get some work done and the kids got to hang out in a small mall like place for a bit. Rachael found some stuff to buy–as she does everywhere…As I have discovered, the air conditioning is a mixed blessing! Of course, it is very nice when you are in it–but you always HAVE to come out at some point and then it is a major shock to the system! Yesterday was particularly hot here–or so it seemed. It rained in the middle of the night last night, so cooled things down a bit for the morning–but i already feel it creeping up into the high 80s again and it is only 8:47am.
Tomorrow, Saturday (I think), we are moving to a place called the Beach Terrace Resort for our first three days in Krabi. It will be a similar travel as getting here to Ko Samui, but hopefully not nearly as painful. James has connected us with a (hopefully) better mode of transport off the island…but we will see! We have a private car that will take us the whole way to Krabi–hotel to hotel and even take us on the ferry–so no side trips, no walking with all our bags down the streets, no changing vehicles, and best of all no sharing our sweaty air. NOW this all being said—I will believe it when I see it–stay posted for the reality check…we will have complimentary internet again for the time we are there…so will be back in touch more often…WAHOO! On the 14th Russill and I will fly to Bangkok as he flies home to Calgary on July 15th 8am. I will then hop on a plane back to Krabi. We are flying AirAsia. The flights are about $26 each way and yes you have to pay to check a bag, but is costs the shicking sum of 50 baht ($1.50 USD). Not sure how they manage this, but they are sure busy and the service is very good. A far cry from the $25 USD it costs to check a bag on Unites Airlines now eh?? It is a 80 minute flight, so similar to flying between Calgary and Vancouver.
We took the hotel shuttle to main beach area yesterday night for ice cream (Swensons)–so that was nice–you sure do have to eat fast as IT melts even faster…did some wandering around. The touts are not nearly as aggressive here as they were in Phuket (Patong in particular). But I also notice the prices are not as low. But they are still low by our American standards. The stall owners must not be as desperate to sell things as they do not lower their prices like we saw in Phuket…Maybe tourism is hanging on a bit better here…not sure…Will be intersted to see what happens in Krabi with the prices. I bet they are closer to Karon prices. When I say not as good, I mean a T-shirt costs 150 baht instead of 125 (so this is about a 75 cent difference)–so not even really noticeable…
No real plans for today yet–debating an island tour–but may just veg out by the pool before our journey tomorrow!
