Koh Samui, Ferry Poo, Closed Hostel

Today we woke up to another power outage. Thankfully this one was not as long lasting from 10am-3pm. Unfortunately we would not see the power back on before we left for Koh Samui. We had a very Thai breakfast of omelette with toast before going to 7/11 to stock up for the journey.

Before heading to the pier, I walked to the learn trapeze office to collect a climbing t-shirt I wanted. Each shirt bought provides profit for the climbing scene in Koh Tao which is growing every day. It started with a man called James March who started mapping climbing in Koh Tao in the 1900’s. His first two areas simply called ‘front yard’ and ‘backyard’ as they were parallel to where he lived. Being isolated on Koh Tao he didn’t use any of the global grading instead grading routes very easy (VE), easy (E), medium (M), and on and on. Since then, various people have continued to map Koh Tao using March’s system, notably Kelsey Gray who produced the most recent and updated guide: https://rakkup.com/guidebooks/thailand-koh-tao-rock-climbing/

Abbreviated PDF: https://goodtimethailand.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/KT-Climbing-guide-1.14-sm.compressed.pdf

Pleased with my purchase, we headed to the pier and boarded the ferry to Koh Samui. Just our luck we pick seats with dog poo on the floor. Koh Samui already earning, rather unfairly, the nickname Koh So-Pooey. With a full ferry changing wasn’t an option so we spend the journey spraying various fragrances and holding our breath.

We were out of luck when we arrived in Samui too. The taxi took us to our hostel and the lights were all off. After contacting the owner, he informed us that the hostel has been shut for around a week with plans to open only after Christmas due to it being low season. However, the hospitality of Thai people is unmatched and he said he could put us in another hostel he owns for the same quoted price of the other one. It was also an upgrade! We are slowly becoming used to how nice Thai people are. Makes a change from being called slurs on the streets of Nottingham!

He took us on a small detour to show us the streets of Koh Samui before we settled in for the night. A shower later and off to bed for we have an early start tomorrow with a morning flight to Chiang Mai.

-M

Ps. Here’s a photo of Robin’s haircut, don’t tell her I posted it :)