Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Lifetime

Hi,

Monday on Koh Samet was a day of adventure. We walked, swam, bounced, explored, and still had time for a nap.

There were a few responses to the 'Easy Monday' song. Add your voice to the chorus and tell me what it is:
"She told me she worked in the morning and started to laugh. I told her I didn't and crawled off to sleep in the bath.
And when I awoke I was alone, this bird had flown. So I lit a fire, isn't it good, __ __?" Hint: You gotta be kidding.

One of the first things one must do on an island is sample the ocean water. We knew from our arrival that the water was warm. We slept way past 6:30am and had breakfast around 8, which seemed late. A little later we were walking into the ocean. The water is very warm and shallow in the bay where we're staying. The bottom feels like a washboard under the feet and is a little weird. We swam a little and then decided to check out the pool. The pool was warmer but just as interesting in terms of the 'bottom'. We entered from the steps and realized that it was a uniform depth like ours. Well, that is until the bottom just disappeared and treading became the order of the moment. There were no markings on the side of the pool, no indication that there was one corner of the pool that was deep. We laughed about it and a guy sitting on the side commented that the same thing happened to him.

After lunch we were looking at a map and Lisa noticed a place at the northern part of the island called Samet Village. We found out how to get there and went in search of the taxi stand. We were told that walking there would be difficult and we soon found out why. The 'taxi' on Samet is a pick-up truck. It's a very organized transportation system, but sitting on the seats was not very comfortable or safe so we stood behind the cab and held on to the roll bar. Hmm, roll bar? The road was compact dirt with pot-holes, gullies, and unexpected twists and turns. Just as we were sick of the ride it was over. Samet Village was part tourist district, and part local life. We went in and out of the shops, and observed the way things work on an island. On what appeared to be the main street there were two 7-11s right across the street from each other. Children rode motorbikes and ATVs, and it was clear that the local industry is tourism.

We had dinner on the beach in front of our 'resort'. It's more like a motel than a resort, but the word attracts more clients. In the evening they set up a few tables on the sand with candle light and that's where we had dinner. You can choose a dinner plate from samples that are then cooked over an outdoor grill while you wait, for a long time. It's delicious so the wait is worth it, but it seems that all the meals are cooked slowly on the island. Near the end of our meal we could see 'fire guys' off in the distance, twirling batons with fire on each end.

One thing that was bothering us was the fact that we couldn't connect with the hotel WiFi. The slip of paper with the password noted that the speed was 256k/516k, meaning we could expect old school dial-up. Then it hit me that my fairly new phone had some way to become it's own 'hot spot'. Without a lot of thinking I was able to follow directions and use the internet connection from my phone to connect my laptop to the rest of the world. Having said that, I will send you this message.

Have a Happy Tuesday.

Peace,
Danny

"Reputation is made in a moment:
character is built in a lifetime."
~Unknown

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