HappytimeBlog » Koh Samet

Koh Samet to Bangkok

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 03:36:11 +0000

The speed boat arrived and we all got aboard the makeshift pier rolled out by a little red tractor and hopped into the whiter than white boat, took one last look at Ko Samet under beaming sunshine and gentle skipped across the water out of our little bay. The ride back couldnt have been more civilised in comparison to the crash bang wallop of the way over five days earlier, it was warm, smooth and all together fucking lovely. But very sad to be leaving on such a beautiful day and
knowing we would soon have to say goodbye to mummy and daddy.
We had about an hour to kill before Mr Jack was due to pick us up so we went for a stroll around sleepy Ban Phe and Mandy bought probably the best shorts ive ever seen quickly followd by a glorious sit down on the pier with a can of chang. Mr Jack arrived in style and handed us all a cool towel to mop our brows and all too soon we were burning rubber away from Koh Samet and back to the “liveliness” of Bangkok.
But we had our little corner of peace in the Peninsuar again and we had checked in and faffed about abit were on a river ferry heading for the skytrain. The plan was a short ride around and then some dinner, at the next stop to where we got on it seemed like every person in Bangkok was waiting to get on as well and within a minute the doors were shut and the word sardines springs to mind. One woman in particular was carrying a bag of piping hot soup which unbeknown to her was resting on Mandys leg and scalding her knee a treat and of course in true british style Mandy quietly endured it so not to make a fuss.
Siam square was heaving with people and on our way there Jo had spotted an open air arena thing that looked alot of fun so he lead us there and there was a band playing on a stage, a massive screen showing a football match, a market and an art showcase of lots of big aereal pictures taken all over the world of the most amazing places and things it was mega awesome and just insipred us further to see the world.
We had a quick trundle through the shopping mall and as we did a crowd of people passed by with a young white tiger in a shopping trolley!!?? well the last time we were in a big flashy mall in Siam square we saw 10ft sharks in an aquarium so it didnt seem too out of the ordinary. We topped off our new Bangkok experience with a gut busting trip to The Hard Rock Café which was very fitting as we had had our last meal in england before we left at the Hard Rock and now here we were again…
With a fair bit of pursuasion we got Mandy into a TukTuk and rattled off to the red light district for a stroll as you do. We litterally got out of the TukTuk walked down the street to a backing of loud music and “hey mister you want ping pong show” then got in a taxi the other end, having had quite enough of that we headed for the Millenium Hilton’s 360 bar for another roof top night cap before returning to our hotel with mummy and daddy for the last time.

Bright and early the next morning and by the time everyone was up and about the sunglasses were already on. We headed down for a breakfast fit for a king… they even had veal sausages! before climbing into the leather clad charriot of Mr Jack for the last time and by now the tears were starting to roll. We went and checked Jo and Mandy’s bags then said our teary goodbyes before heading back to the Koh San Road…

p.s. (from Georgie) mummy and dado thankyou for the best week we have had traveling, thankyou for coming, thankyou for everything. we cant wait to see you next time!!!
p.s. (from Aaron) Thanks a hundred million it was the best holiday Ive ever had and I cant wait to see you again we miss you already
lot of love and hugs xxx The Kids xxx

Rain Rain go away

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:03:56 +0000

Another wet morning but we didnt let that slow us down too much, we had a plan to head over to the east side for the evening for dinner and to catch the fire show, so the day was spent reading and dozing by the beach all very lazy before grabbing a baht bus and bouncing on over to the east side where we had a lovely seafood dinner many beers and watched six young fellas two of which were only 12 spinning and throwing fire staffs and hopping on each others shoulders, one cockey little chap fell over in the sea and the added weight of his trousers made them fall down whilst he had another lad on his shoulders both were swirling their flaming battons and neither of them stopped…
The next and last full day on Ko Samet was all set for adventure, we hired two quad bikes and set off around the island on the wet and fucking bumpy dirt tracks, I thought that our quad had squeaky breaks when we first set off by i later discovered that is was just Mandy shreiking at the roads ahead and clinging onto Jo so tight his head might pop off, but after a mile or so she seemed alot more at ease (not that she had much choice) we went right to the southern end of the island where its mostly gated off by a posh resort then headed back stopping at beaches along the way whenever we saw something we liked. As we pulled up to the first one we found loads of shacks under a thin cover of jungle leading out onto a pristine and deserted bay of white sand and crystal clear water and just as we did the weather broke and the sun beamed down on us whilst we had some mama cups and beers and paddled about in the sea to was the thick red mud off…
The rain started again but only very lightly so we moved on to the next beach and the next beach and the next… until we were on the east side where we had hired the quads from and before we returned them had 5 slices of assorted cakes and coffee which all went down alot better than the mud being thrown up from the quad tires.
Back at our resort on the west we got showered off and Georgie, Jo and I went for a massage while Mandy sat and read and played with some cheerful little children, it was a damn fine massage and all the hard work of the day had given us all a pretty big appettite so we sat down for our last feast on the island together and then sliped to the bar next door to watch a thai cabaret singer (who Jo loves )do his thing on his piano, we had caught the piano man most nights if only for a drink or two but he was really good to listen to and pretty funny at times when he didnt get the words right… “i feel snice” “so snice”
The morning we have to head back to Bangkok… Is beating sunshine the best we have seen since Jo and Mandy arrived. We have our breakfast down near the beach and go for a stroll along it afterwards while waiting fo the speedboat to arive and whisk us away from paradise…

Bangkok to Koh Samet

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:56:18 +0000

Our last monrning in Bangkok was spent laying in late and again having a wicked breakfast up in Jo and Mandy’s room before getting in the minibus for Ko Samet, our driver was a lovely chap who works in bangkok driving the Peninsular mercedes around and sends his money home to his family who live in the north and cannot afford to live there with him, he was telling us that it had been 5 months since he had seen them last when we pulled over for a smoke and so he could get directions as it had been a long time since he had been there.
We got to Ban Phe and sourced a speedboat over to the island, it was like having a very long car crash… the sea was pretty damn choppy and it was raining a little but the driver didnt seem to care a single bit and just bounced the boat from wave to wave crashing down on each with a thud so loud and heavy it sounded as if the boat might just break into pieces, what with that and the fear that sea sickness could set in for Jo at any time added a certain danger to proceedings and I think although we were all glad to be back on dry land Georgie would have been happy to just ride in that all day long…
A short stomp along the pier and a bumpy and slightly wet baht bus ride we arrived quite nicely at the Vimarn resort Ko Samet. A lovely secluded bay with a number of gorgeous beach front resturants and bungalows creeping up the hill all snatching some of that old sea view, we were brought some amazing pineapple punch thing and cooling towels during check in despite the fact it was one of the wettest days we have seen yet, we offloaded in our rooms and spent the rest of the day either on our porches reading or in a resturant eating and chatting, in fact the next few days were spent exactly the same due to pretty shitty weather but finally yesterday the weather broke and we had a day of perfect sunshine and so spent all day bobbing in the warm sea and reading on the beach and of course Jo and Mandy ended up slightly pink, after the sun went down we took them along to Ao Hin Kok the backpacker beach where we normally stay for a little peek at the cheap side before wandering back to our resort where we met a pair of really nice greek women Naya and Alicka, drank much wine and many brandy’s until the early hours and air-con called…

Koh Samet again with Toby

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Thu, 01 May 2008 09:13:53 +0000

well its thursday morning on ko samet, and we are sitting with the sand between our toese having breakfast, yesterday we hopped on the bus from bangkok back down the paradise that is here, this time with toby and when we were 5 mins away from ko samet toby leaned over to me and told me he had only left his passport in bangkok under the guesthouse mattress!!! but the smart little fella i am i remembered to pick up a business card (i wanna get one from everywhere we stay) and i gave them a ring and they were really nice and helpful and are keeping it in the safe for a few days when we hope we can get Laura to forget about working in Australia and come here, so we would go back and get it too. when we got on the island we checked into the very same bungalow we stayed in first time, dingy but charming! this time all 3 of us which equates to 2 quid each or something silly, and then we just had to hit the sea and swim around in the warm blue water for a while. its safe to say that Toby LOVES it here and so do we! of course last night we got a few beers into us and some quality food and went swimming in the night… its just as warm! well… we will speak soon lovelys but fr now we love you long time… xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Back to Bangkok

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:10:41 +0000

Hello evryone hope you are all very well, today has been a very eventful day already and its only 2pm, we woke up this morning read for a while and had some breakfast buffet then went down to the beach for a swim. today was the quietest day so far and everywhere just seemed so much more peaceful it thats possible, even the water was calmer and it was hardly rough yesterday but today it was so still you could look through it like glass and just bob away like a turn in the loo but only in the bluest loo you ever saw. then we went back to our hut and sat on the porch reading some more… i decided to check our emails on the phone and noticed we had several so we went for a stroll along the beach to the internet cafe and after reading several we saw one from Toby saying he was arriving in bangkok tonight and he will see us in a bit!!!!! suddenly the peace was shattered! we got back sharpish and packed up the man at Jep’s Bungalows was so nice and although we had only just payed for tonight and it was past check out time he gave us a full refund, so we hopped on a baht bus back to the peir and waited for our boat to arrive. instead of waiting for each other to finish here the boats just dock alongside one another and you have to climb through them regardless of whats on them and what you are carrying, we had 3 to cross with our heavy old bags and the were unloading all sorts of things like beer and fruit… it was a mission but its really fun it makes tou feel like a pirate! as last time the boat ride over was lovely and although already we miss ko samet we are deffinately going back! we are now on a bus back to bangkok which im really looking forward to because although its just manic and hot its so friendly and fun. last night i was going to make a post but we went out and sat on the beach and had thai food and got slowly sozzled on mojito’s at a bar on a rocky outcrop with low tables, candle lanterns and little cusions… mwah for now love us two xxxxxx…
Sun 27/04/2008 17:49 Text note

Koh Samet day 2

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 22:34:33 +0000

our shady spot

island life is hard!!! there i said it, i know it must look all sea and sand to you but i assure you its not! a typical day is frought with dilema and tough decisions! to swim in the warm clear blue sea or not, to stay and read one more page of your book under the shady tree or get all the way up from your deckchair and get a cold beer or to sit and wait fo what seems like hours for the man to walk past with his rod across his shoulders with a bbq and fresh cooking chicken in one basket and fresh coconuts and pappaya salds on the other or go to the nearby beach resturants/bars for more wholesome faye but leave the cool sea breeze???? its a tough life. i think you can gather all we did today was sit, swim, read and eat… which suits me! we did go explore another beach in search of the baywatch bar!!! but only to be told the owner is away on holiday! 2 questions jumped out at the two whiley adventurers… where? and why? the man owns a baywatch themed bar on an island as close to paradise as i have ever seen! it must be a pretty special place is all i can say… in other news, the tiny whole digging crabs today started fighting…a big crab wanted all the holes so after smaller ones had dug them he came and pinched them out, then sat in them watching for more. i have become quite obsessed with the tiny crabs as if you sit still long enough lots will come out to play and then if you move they all retreat and just poke their eyes out and watch you. this evening we went for a stroll along the beach to the north and watched a kind of fire twirlets show with about six men slinging burning batons about then retired tou the veranda on our shack and are now reading and watching little geckos run about eating our mozzies….. loadsa sunkissed love golden balls and twinkle tits xxxxxxxxxx

Koh Samet in all it’s glory

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:18:52 +0000

well… that big storm in the distance… its not so distant anymore, we are back in our delightful bungalow/shack/pit/shit hole, which i might add i love… but georgies not convinced. we have paid for two nights for fear of it getting too busy (as the guide books said it would) but i think tomorrow we will find another place to stay… anyway i thought i would go into a little more detail about today.

we set the alarm for 5 but because of the cheesy singing last night we both had earplugs in so it didnt manage to wake us until 7, at which point we quickly gathered our shit together and stomped up the road, after half a mile/ 200 yards we got a baht bus ( a pick up with slats for seats in the buck) to the bus station and managed to turn up moments before the bus arrived, hopped on the aircon lovely and ate some sunflower seeds for 2 hours until they dropped us at the turnoff for ban phe, which turned out to be a really nice friendly little village where the peir is for the island of ko samet, but the peir was actually about 2km from the main road and we hadnt got more than 10 yards before an old man on a moped with a sidecar pulled up with a smile and waved us in…so we did and his poor little mopes screamed under the weight of us and our massive bags!

at ban phe it was still raining as it had been all morning when we rolled ourselves to the pier and for 100 baht return each bought our tickets. the boat was big wooden and had clearly seen many many trips between the mainland and the island but as ko samet is a weekend retreat for bangkokians everyone there had a holiday buzz about them, especially georgie who pranced about on the deck like captain jack sparrow! id say 15 mins and we were there still a little apprehensive whether we would get a room or a taxi but we got straight onto another baht bus and a lovely aussie lady assured us there is plenty of places to stay. the roads on ko samet are difficult to walk let alone drive but after a few mins he waved us out and we got a room in the bungalows we picked from the guidebook. which are a little ropey but for 300 baht or 6quid we werent moaning…
straight to the beach! and what a beach, there are 14 on this island and most are white sand all have lush crashing waves to jump in ant the water is the right side of warm, the shade is cool and the sun is hot and the beer is cheap! we are expecting it to busy up over the weekend but its really quite chilled and slow moving with each guesthouse having a beachside bar, resturant and bbq. what more does a person want? we just wish you all were here with us!
after much swimming and sunbathing and chasing tiny crabs who are both quick and whiley around for abit we decided to explore on a quad (they have many mopeds too but im no fool) that was pretty damn fun. then we had dinner in the beach bbq, mackrel kebabs and a night stroll up the beach and watched the thunder storm roll in…and it did! so till tomorrow xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Koh Samet in all it's glory

Aaron Bradford | HappytimeBlog.co.uk — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 22:18:52 +0000