Koh Samui

The first island we arrived on was Koh Samui, the bottom of three sister islands off the Gulf of Thailand and our first stop as we plan to island hop all three of them. After a 13 hour bus ride and a long wait for a boat to get to the island, we finally arrived on this tropical paradise. We stayed at a guesthouse called AKWA on Chaweng Beach, which was said to be the nicest beach on Koh Samui. This must have been true because the beach looked as if it could have been off of a postcard. After a week of hard, dirty work with the elephants, we couldn't have been more excited to be on a beautiful beach, swim in turquoise blue water, drink smoothies, drink coconuts, and most importantly relax under the sunshine. Our first night we wanted to find the Reggae Pub, which was recommended as one of the top places to see on Chaweng Beach. We accidentally ended up at Rasta bar, confusing it with Reggae Pub. Little did we know that this small mistake led us to find the heart and soul of Koh Samui. We quickly realized that this spot was special~ we could write messages with permanent marker on the tables, all while enjoying the best live Reggae music sung by the most adorable older man. We became friends with the owner, Chan, and his nephew, Pet. These are two of the kindest people I have ever met! We even were introduced to their friend Luca, an Italian guy who owned his own authentic Italian restaurant on Samui Island. So the next day, we went for pasta at his place. It was amazing!!! The next few days we enjoyed probably too much sun (if that's possible), swimming in the lovely ocean, and eating French Crepes (took us a few days, but we finally found the best place to eat which was all of these food stands near our place and yes there was a man from France making us Nutella and banana Crepes!)😋 We spent almost every night with our new friends at the Rasta bar~ drinking, laughing, playing jenga, singing along to our favorite Bob Marley tunes (and occasionally Oasis upon our request for Wonderwall). Koh Samui will forever have a special place in my heart! It was hard to say good bye to our new friends, just like every good bye has been on this journey. It is so bittersweet because when you travel, you get to meet the most special people, but then all too quickly it is time to say good bye. If you have ever read the 5 people you meet in heaven by Mitch Albom, that is what for some reason comes to mind for me. You meet people for a reason and they teach you something that you never expected to learn. These experiences change you for the better, and even when you have to say good bye, you smile because you met. These people will stay with you in your heart forever. I look forward to seeing what our next stop, Koh Phangnan, has to offer us!