Waking up in Thailand: I think I’m gonna like it here!

Tonight I landed in Koh Samui, and while the sun has already been down for a few hours, I can already tell I am in paradise.

It started during my layover in Bangkok (simple luxuries like having soap in the bathrooms, etc.), and before long the song “I Think I’m Gonna Like It Here” from Annie kept creeping into my head as I realized where I was.

Thank the lord I was able to find a Lonely Planet Thailand book in the Bangkok airport; my LP Bangladesh wouldn’t have gotten me very far here! After that purchase I had all of a 45-minute flight from BKK to the island to figure out where I was going to go once I got here- nothing like last minute planning! I picked a place called Lucky Mother (ha!), which has a bunch of beach bungalows. I made my way to the hotel, checked in, and had some Thai soup for dinner (still fighting off a cold) in the thatched hut restaurant on the beach.

While I was eating dinner people were setting off fireworks all up and down the beach, and there were a half a dozen different songs playing at any given time from the various bars/restaurants stretching down the beach. But even with all of the commotion, it was absolutely silent compared to Dhaka, Bangladesh. I haven’t heard one person honk their horn yet!

Before I headed back to my room I walked on the beach to check out the local scene. I made my way down to the water and as I went for the usual toe test I had a familiar cringing feeling come over me that I have so often felt while convincing myself to get in the ocean at the Jersey shore (the water is always SO cold!). Once I actually touched the water though I was almost in shock at how warm it was. LP had said the water here is like “bath water” but I knew that had to be an exaggeration… But it wasn’t! The water here is LITERALLY warmer than the majority of showers I had in Bangladesh in the last 3 weeks… Absolute perfection!

Tomorrow I’m waking up and taking a ferry to Koh Tao, a little island north of here that certifies more scuba divers every year than anywhere else in the world. LP says it’s “THE place to lose your scuba virginity”, can’t argue with that! Hopefully the sun and fresh air (neither of which I’ve experienced in the last 3 weeks) will help clear up my sniffles so I can take full advantage of the diving…



I can’t wait to wake up tomorrow and actually see what’s around me!