Empty Nest Trekkers: Koh Samui 13-16 September

Another beautiful island! We took a short ferry crossing from Koh Pha Ngan to Koh Samui. Koh Samui is Thailand's third largest island and lies 36 miles from the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand. Our first night we stayed on Lamai beach area which was too touristy, noisy and crowded for us. We stayed in a basic beach front bungalow for $18/nt. Judging from all the fancy resorts around us, we seemed to have picked the blue light special hotel. It was clean, had air, and perfect for our budget though. We really don't care about fancy hotels....just need a clean room bed, shower, and air conditioning. It's really surprising how inexpensive everything is over here! After 1 night on Lamai beach we wanted to get away from the tourist and noise and experience more of the local flare. We hitched a ride to the west side of the island and found a perfect beach bungalow on a deserted stretch of beach in Lipa Noi. Unfortunately, Paul tweaked his back (old injury ) so we decided to just stay put for a couple days--usually takes that long for the ol' guy to get moving normal again ;) We had planned to get another scooter and explore this island but instead I took the opportunity to walk around the town and surrounding area while Paul read every article in the Economist back at the bungalow. I also had my first Thai massage. It was an experience! I was a little shocked when she climbed on the table and straddled my back. At that point I wasn't sure what I had signed up for! She had all my limbs contorted in every direction using her feet. Thank God she only weighed about 90 lbs!
So far I think we have mastered 2 Thai words. This part of the island isn't geared for tourists so most of the menus aren't in English and most of the time we have no idea what we are eating but it's delicious!! We eat most of our meals on road side stands. The food is amazing. Back to the mainland tomorrow.