Koh Samui - a million things to do and i tried to do them all!

A view of my bungalow at Your Place (seriously, I can't get over how great that name is!)
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I woke up in early in Railey and began my extensive journey to Koh Samui. Of course at the time I did not know just how extensive it would be! At 9:30am I boarded a long tail boat to Krabi. From there I waited a half hour for a mini bus which to me to a waiting area for the bigger bus. There I waited another half hour and then boarded the bus for the pier. Except this bus didn't take us to the pier. Instead it took us to a waiting area where we were told another bus would take us the rest of the way. We were supposed to wait there for 1 hour, during which more and more busloads of people continued to show up! After 2 1/2 hours, the other buses showed up and there was mad chaos as people tried to get on the right bus. (This gives new meaning to the term "Thai time"!) To top it all off, there was not enough seats for all the people there! Eventually we got it  sorted and we headed for the ferry. After 1 1/2 hours on the ferry, we showed up on Koh Samui. It was now 9:00pm instead of 4:30pm which is when I was told I would arrive. Now, this is the best part of the story! Just as we're getting ready to go, our minibus driver locks his keys in the running vehicle! So the next 45 minutes consisted of watching him try the door handle over and over, and look into the windows helplessly. Then all of a sudden, he says "Ok, lets just take this one." We look behind us and there's another minibus that has been sitting there the whole time! And he has the keys for it! All you can really do is laugh at this point, so that's what I did. I made it to Chaweng beach, which is the most popular beach where there are supposed to be a ton of places to stay. I hadn't pre booked a room and I was so tired at this point, that I just walked into the first place I say, the Chewang City Hotel. It was nice but expensive (1000 Baht for the room) but the idea of a hot shower was quite appealing to me! That night I wandered around for a little while and then crashed for one of the best nights sleep since I got here!

Me at the chinese style temple in Koh Samui (that's a giant Budda in the background!)
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The next day I went looking for a place called "Your Place" which had been recommended to me (thanks Megs!). I found it and booked a room for three nights. It was a great little place with nice, clean and cheap bungalows. I think it is named that because then when people ask you where you're staying you can smile and tell them "Your Place!". I thought it was funny anyways!

All you can really do is laugh at this point, so that's what I did.

I bought a brick to help them build a new temple. You got to write your name and everything on the actual brick they will use!
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After a quick catnap, I went exploring down the beach. Your Place is in North Chaweng which is attached to the main beach, but its a bit quieter which I liked a lot. I signed up for a couple tours as well to keep me busy for the next few days. The next morning was my first tour which took me around the whole island, stopping at the touristy places. It was a great way to get them all done in a single morning! We went to a few temples, saw a monkey show where the monkeys help to harvest the coconuts, saw some famous rocks that are shaped like male and femail genitalia (called Grandfather and Grandmother rock), saw a mumified monk, and even did a little shopping! I actually got to have the monkey sit on my arm which I thought was pretty awesome! (I want one as a pet again! I mean, if they can harvest coconuts, just think of all the other great things they could do! Drive me to work, send my emails for me, fetch my fresh fruit all day...). I bought 10 pairs of fisherman pants for all my family and friends (get excited guys!) for only 1280 Baht! That's only $4 a pair of pants!

Me getting a Thai Massage after a very stressful day!
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After the long stressful day, I decided that a massage and a lovely dinner would be nice. I had signed up for my first ever Scuba Diving lesson early the next morning so it was definately bed time!

The next morning at (ugh) 7am, I was picked up at the guesthouse and taken to the ferry. It turns out that another couple from Canada were also coming along for the trip that day! Ruth and Frank are from Vancouver so we got to chat about all things Canadian for a little while. Then I got prepped and did my first dive! ( went f\down to 6 meters and absolutley loved every minute of it! My instructor (Allen) was really impressed with me, telling me that I was a natural and one of the easiest students to teach that he's ever had! I got to do another dive after lunch, this time to 12 meters down. Although the course I did doesn't qualify me to dive without and instructor, it will probably give me a discount if I do decide to take another course. I'm thinking that I will get my qualification in Australia. Frank and Ruth told me that there is actually really great diving off the coast of BC, so maybe I'll have to take it up full time! The best part is that I got one-pn-pne attention, while I looked around and saw other company's taking 4-5 students for one instructor. I think I got pretty lucky!

A Pic of Grandfather Rock!
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After an exhausting day, (and another catnap!) I met Ruth and Frank for dinner. then we took a walk down the beach, got some Thai Pancakes (man am I going to miss them!) and then I headed to bed. The next day I was leaving for Koh Pangnan and the infamous Full Moon Party. I got up and did some last minute things and then got picked up for the ferry at 3pm. And that, my friends, is where this story ends, and the next begins!