In the morning i took the 11am Lomprayha Fast Boat from Ko Pha Ngan to Ko Samui. I have to say i was really impressed with their streamline efficiency in organizing everyone and getting the luggage and people on the right buses to their final destination. A lot of these tour/transportation organizations are putting 'stickers' on you with your destination. i LOVE it! I'm always afraid i'll get on the wrong boat/bus; i wear my sticker proudly ! It was a wonderful experience !
Arrived at Moonhut Bungalows before 1pm and let the "Dawson Clan" from Kalamazoo know that i had arrived. They said, 'we’re at the pool, come on over'.
I had tried to book a place near where they were staying and it worked out well. I was just a 10min walk down the beach to their resort. My Bungalow was similar to the other bungalows i’ve had. Small and efficient; no A/C this time but a fierce powerful fan; which was needed ... it is really 'heating up' here in the tropics !
I spent the next several days ‘living the life’. The Dawson’s adopted me into their ‘Clan’ and it was wonderful visiting with Americans, especially FRIENDS, half way around the world! I enjoyed some 'resort living'; and joining them for dinners/tours/trips/pool/gym. Most of those things i don’t get to do being a single traveler.
When we arrived, the seas were really quite rough. I wasn’t sure if that was normal, or if a storm was coming in . Unfortunately, it was a storm coming in. After our first sunny Pool Day, the weather turned nasty. We had an entire day of pouring down rain and cool weather. I was ‘home’ working on a blog, sitting in the restaurant area with my sweatshirt and socks on !
The weather forecast showed ThunderStorms each day for the next 2 weeks. Thankfully it was wrong. The next day the weather cleared a bit and we went to a huge ‘mall-market’ that was within walking distance of Chaweng Beach. We walked the mall for awhile then headed for the beach. This beach is more open and the waves were coming in strong enough for people to be ‘surfing’.
As we started walking the beach, Terri noticed all these ‘round blue things’ on the shore.
They were everywhere, and thousands of them.
I assumed they were some type of JellyFish, and later confirmed they are in the Rhizostomea family of JellyFish, which do not sting. But i’ve not been able to find out much else other than they can get as big as a soccer ball and frequently wash up on shore. The only name i could find for them is "Blue Button Jelly Fish", i like it :(
We had a few drinks sitting in the sand at one of the many beach bars. We managed to find a quiet one that didn’t have boom boom boom base music blaring :)
We did a Snorkel Tour over to the neighboring island of Ko Tao. It was with a ‘Dive Boat’ and we went to 2 sites that were said to be the best around Ko Tao. I’m a little bit 'spoil-t’. After 3 months of traveling the ‘best’ snorkel spots in 3 countries, my ‘bar’ is set a little bit ‘high’. So, i was not as impressed as the rest of the group, but as i always say, ,,,,, ‘a day in the water is better than any day out of the water’. So i was happy.
And i even met my goal of meeting some new fishes, so it was a successful snorkel.
This is a new fish, a Trevally…. usually found in deeper waters. He was just cruising by. Deep water fishes typically are not very colorful.
I have posted several photos of the Male Sling Jaw Wrasse, but never one with this beautiful coloring and markings … stunning ! In this photo, you can really see how the jaw can separate. I also saw the Yellow Female ‘sling’ her jaw out for the first time :)
I’ve seen these Parrot Fish before, but never in such vibrant colors, a Blue Barred ParrotFish
and check out those teeth ... no wonder it's called a 'Parrot' Fish !
There were more Christmas Tree Worms on the coral than i’ve ever seen anywhere!
Lots of pretty Clams here too ..
There was one area with a lot of Anemone’s …. along with their Nemos
Frequently you also see these Juvenile Three Spot Dascyllus.. They are never IN the Anemone, but hanging around on the outskirts
And my other new fish is this Blue Spotted Trout
This is a Coral RabbitFish .... she has real pretty subtle markings
There were a lot of Mushroom Corals. Those little white things sticking up are their 'tongues' ready to collect any food that passes by
It was a pretty sunny day and the water was nice and clear …
So sunny and clear in fact, that several people got sunburned, despite lots of sunscreen :(
Lots of fishes hanging out with us that day. These are ScissorTail DamselFish
We made a couple trips to Fisherman’s Village for dinner and the Night Market. We had a drink at this beach bar that had ‘trampolines’ that you sat on over the sand.
The food at the Night Market put the Taste of Kalamazoo to shame. It was massive; but mostly we were ‘afraid' to eat any of the food; and instead opted for a nice restaurant with tables on the beach.
Dawson’s left on 1 April, and was alone again. I considered taking the ferry over to Ko Tao and spending a few days there trying to find some snorkeling. But after experiencing the snorkeling on our ‘tour’; and reading more, i nixed the idea. It would have been another quick 2 day trip, (moving luggage here there and back again); and i was tired of moving. With the cost of the ferry and a new place to stay that would have been more expensive and not on the beach, plus the doubtfulness of great snorkeling, it just made no sense.
I opted to stay at my Bungalow on the beach and try to get my white legs tanned :)
I did, however, hate the thought of NOT spending my final days snorkeling :(
I walked down the beach late one afternoon and tried to find some markets that were open, but not much luck. I did find one market that had Mangosteen fruit. Terri and i both wondered what it was, but never had an opportunity to try it. A nice older woman who spoke good English gave me one and showed me how to eat it. The white sections were soft and REALLY REALLY sweet ... i like sweet, but one was enough.
Then i returned to Gaon Korean Restaurant where we all went the first night. The food was so good and i wanted to try something different. The dinner was fantastic. I had an early dinner and was home before dark so i didn’t have to walk the beach alone :)
Speaking of food, i have a new healthy favorite, Green Papaya Salad. I am going to attempt to make it when i get home.
We had been having thunderstorms on and off, and it rained my last night and the morning i left ... good timing
I flew from the Ko Samui Airport and had time in between showers to check out their beautiful gardens. This is called a Cannonball Tree because of the ‘fruit’
It has large incredibly beautiful flowers
The surroundings gardens were beautiful... the Thai's do love their Lotus Flowers
It took me 38 hours to get home: Ko Samui into Bangkok at 4pm, left 6am the next morning, into HongKong, Chicago, and Kzoo. It took me 40 hours to get to the Philippines, so i guess that's about normal. It was great to be back in the good ole US of A, ....and seeing all the ‘white’ people, all speaking ‘American’ :) It is tiring to concentrate to decipher different accents while speaking.
I left for this journey with very little planning. I booked my flight into the Philippines and out of Thailand. And i knew i would be staying with Kevin and Family upon arrival, (that was a huge benefit). Other than that, i didn't know what, when, how, or where i would be in between.
How many islands?
9 in the Philippines: Bohol, Panglao, Balicasag, Siquijor, Apo, Negros, Pamalican, Cebu, and Olanga
3 in Indonesia: Bali, Gili Air, and Nusa Penida
1 in Malaysia: A very short stay on Langkawi
5 in Thailand: Ko Lipe, Ko Kradan, Ko Phangan, Ko Samui, and Ko Tao
18 islands. Moving like that took a lot of online-time, researching and deciding which island i wanted to go to, which part of the island, which place to stay, and last but not least.... How do i get there ?????
What did i learn ?
-Moving from place to place every 2-5 days is much more difficult and exhausting, than staying in one place for a month or two as i've been accustomed to. As the trip progressed, i started spending more time in each location.
-I am a pretty light packer, but i can do much better. I've already made lists. The more you have to move with you, the harder it is; and the less likely you are to move.
Both of these are obvious, but .... sometimes you have to experience it before you truly believe it :)
Last but not least: I’ve not done this before, but i kept track of my time in the water. I was in the water 52 days and logged in 93 hours and 50 minutes underwater !
The purpose of this trip was to 'Find Nemo' and to 'meet new fishes'. I found him and many of his cousins. I counted 152 new fishes that i could identify; many other small ones that i could not. I would have to say: "mission accomplished"
I enjoyed this part of the world and would like to return. There are many more islands to explore and fishes to meet.
Thank you all for your support, thoughts, emails, and prayers during my journey !
