Koh Samui, Thailand: Part 2

Thailand was way to cool to only stay for a week! On the night before our scheduled flight to Cambodia, we checked out of the resort we had been staying at the last few nights and took a 20 minute taxi ride to a hotel near the airport. Once we got there we talked over our experiences on the island and agreed that we really wanted to stay in Koh Samui a bit longer. After a discussion over a nice Thai lunch, we decided to stay through Marshall’s 30th birthday and leave on the 21st giving us another two full weeks to enjoy the island.

Come to find out, trying to stay longer was a bit of a challenge. We not only had to change the flight to Bangkok but we also had the flight from Bangkok to Cambodia booked as well as a hotel in Bangkok and a hotel in Cambodia. So we had to see if we could get a refund or change dates of all four of those bookings all with less than 24-48 hour notice. Let the calls to customer service begin!

The owner of the hotel overheard us talking about all of this and said that the two cribs he had were taken by other guests so he had to go to the store to buy one for Tyson to use that night. He kindly offered for us to with him to the store and he’d stop at the airport along the way so we could talk to the Bangkok Air ticketing office directly. We talked to them for a while and realized it would be best to move the flight to Bangkok and also add a connecting flight to Siem Reap, Cambodia through the same airline. The original flight we had to Cambodia was through a different airline that would not give us a refund or change the date of our flight and would have required us to go to the ‘old’ airport in Bangkok which would have been at least an hour bus ride from the one we’d fly into. Easy decision to let that one go considering that wild schedule with Tyson and the relatively small amount of money we’d be losing.

We also ended up not being able to get a refund for the hotel night we booked in Bangkok, but it was only $27 so not a big loss. Luckily I was able to reschedule our hotel in Cambodia to a date when we’ll actually be there, so that was great. We’ve enjoyed the spontaneity of not planning any hotels or flights too far in advance as we’ve found it to be less beneficial trying to plan a trip too far in advance because if you decide you like a place and want to stay longer you have to change everything that you’ve booked past that point in time. Oh well, no biggie. More beach time and opportunity to explore what this area of Thailand is all about!

After the ticketing office we headed to a big super market to find out they didn’t have a crib big enough for Tyson. While the owner looked around for it, we took full advantage of being at a big store (which we hadn’t seen for at least a week) and looked for some new sippy cups for Tyson along with some healthy snacks and loaded up on diapers/wipes.  

We went back to the hotel and we walked down the street looking for other places for us to stay for the next few days since we only had one night booked at our current place. We found a great beach front place a few blocks away and went into the receptionist office to chat about pricing. We could see dark clouds rolling in over the ocean quickly that were obviously dropping huge amounts of rain. All of the other employees were running around the grounds picking up towels, moving beach umbrellas, and what not to prepare for the coming rain. One walked in and we asked about how long until it got to us and he said maybe 5 minutes (and we were still at least a 5 minute walk from our place). We knew we wanted to stay there, so we quickly started negotiating trying to hurry the process along. We negotiated to stay for three nights for a larger room with a sea view for a great price. Problem was her only demand was that we pay for the first night right then and there.

We knew we only had moments before the massive rain hit, so Tyson and I took off towards our room while Marshall stayed to get all the paperwork in order. Marshall described the next few minutes like it was from Sharknado 3. The wind picked up as soon as I left and I started running pushing the stroller as fast as I could. Marshall said the ocean turned white with whitecaps and a huge dark cloud of rain over it. The lady was apparently in no hurry and took her sweet time copying his passport and taking the payment. As soon as she was printing the receipt the power shut off. That’s when the first sprinkle hit which is right when Tyson and I got to our room thank goodness. Marshall saw the impending doom and said screw it—don’t need a receipt, thanks, and took off. He came in soaked and windblown, but alive, lol. We spent the rest of the evening watching movies and the monsoon rains out the window of our Bali themed room. Fun times!

That night I woke up to loud bangs that sounded like gun shots coming from next door. I almost had a heart attack and was about two seconds from crawling under the bed. Then I realized that it was fireworks going off at the beach across the street. Apparently fireworks go off all the time at the beach in this area of Koh Samui. Literally every night at random times. This one happened to be about 100 feet from where we were sleeping and scared the living daylights out of me. As always, Tyson slept through it and Marshall looked at me like I was crazy. We survived the day, that’s what matters.

The next morning we checked out, packed our backpacks, and walked across the street to a beach front resort that was actually a lot cheaper than the last hotel that wasn’t on the beach (makes no sense). Once we dropped off our stuff in the room we walked to the beach which happened to have a bunch of beach toys for Tyson to play with. I was showing him how the watering can worked and he was having so much fun filling it up in the ocean and then spilling it all over himself. We saw a boy around his age playing by himself next to the kiddie pool (naked) so of course we purposely put Tyson near him so they would play. They were splashing around laughing together. Like I said, take every opportunity to let him play with other kids, clothes not required in Thailand (is the new rule I just made up).

They loved playing and copying each other’s actions. When Tyson would dip a flower into the pool, the other boy would grab a flower and dip it into the pool. Then the boy started throwing away flowers in the trash can so Tyson started picking up flowers and throwing them in the trash can too. Then they walked down to beach and played with toys in the sand together. After a while his mom came to get (clothe) him and we all started walking back up towards the restaurant. We adults were so busy chatting that we didn’t notice that the two boys decided to walk up to someone’s patio door and bang on it then open it. A man was in a towel on the bed and a women was walking out of the bathroom in her towel. They just laughed and then we grabbed the boys as quick as we could and headed back up to the restaurant to get something to eat. Most of this trip Tyson’s only been able to play with Marshall and me so it was really cute to see him have such a fun time playing with another kid for such a long time. He’s getting really good at playing with others and isn’t showing any signs of shyness that he had earlier on the trip. So proud!

The next day was full day of playing at the hotel. There were two little Thai brothers (age 6 and 2) with British accents that came up to us and wanted to play. The 6 year old had a nerf gun that he was so excited to show us. He wanted to do a shooting contest with me. We determined various targets (palm tree, lamp, flower pot, etc) and we’d take turns shooting it to see who hit it first. I actually hit just about every target on the first try. I think I just found myself a new profession. The boy was so funny, on one of the shots he grabbed my hips and said that I needed to get a little bit lower for the shot. Smooth kid, smooth. Meanwhile Tyson and the two year old boy were playing in the sand together. At one point Tyson started following him all the way back to his room and then the mom picked up Tyson and brought him in their room (while I sat on their doorstep). I hear the older boy say, “Dad, you have another little boy now”. Tyson ran straight for their shower so I went in and grabbed him before it got too weird.

Today was our most adventurous day in Koh Samui so far. We walked about 20 minutes over to a big Buddha statue that is a landmark on the island. At the bottom of the Buddha there is a sign that says ladies can’t wear shorts or tank tops to walk up the stairs to the Buddha (out of respect) and that’s exactly what I was wearing. Tyson was sleeping in the stroller, so I walked up by myself just a few steps to take a picture when a guy yelled over saying that I had to go put one of their robes on that they have for people to borrow if they aren’t appropriately dressed.  So I put on the robe and walked up the 50+ stairs to the Buddha. There were mostly tourists at the top taking pictures but there were also a few ladies that were kneeling and praying. After I went back down Marshall ran up while I watched Tyson at the bottom. Although 20 minutes isn’t a long walk, it feels really long when it’s scorching hot out so we ended up taking a songthaew (pick-up truck with seats on either side) on our way back to the hotel.

Every Friday there is a night market at Fisherman’s Village which is a five minute drive away from where we were staying. It starts at 5pm so we wanted to get there early to have dinner and walk around and then get back at a decent time for Tyson. Right when we got there we were starving so we stopped and had dinner at a great restaurant overlooking the water. As usual, Tyson just wanted to play with the servers the whole time instead of eating his dinner. Such a silly boy. By the time we were done with dinner, the market started getting crowded. As we were walking down one end of the market we stumbled upon a playground area with like 30 kids. Tyson was so excited to play with the kids that we ended up staying there for a good hour. We are generally right by his side the whole time he plays but this time we stood back a little to see what he would do. He was climbing all the way up the slide backwards and then turning around at the top and sliding back down. He has become so much more independent over the past few weeks and his vocabulary and mannerisms are changing so much that he seems like a new kid all the time. It’s been really fun for us to watch him grow and learn on this trip, which is all in all the true purpose of this trip. We’re so lucky to have this opportunity to spend so much time with him!

Once Tyson wore himself out playing we continued strolling through the market and let him fall asleep as we maneuvered passed tourists and all the little kiosks/carts in the street. We walked past all kinds of interesting foods like squid on a stick and a green seaweed pie thingy. In the center of the market there were two martial arts instructors that were teaching random kids how to balance on a plank that’s on top of a rolling cylinder. This market was such a fun experience and definitely one of the highlights of Thailand so far. We’re excited to go again next Friday, or maybe we’ll check out a different one on another part of the island.

Later that evening as I was brushing my teeth I noticed my toothpaste tasted different... a lot different. I looked down at the tube I had squeezed and it was Cortezone crème that we used for Tyson’s rash. Gross! Well, at least it wasn’t his butt cream.

Tomorrow we will be moving over to a hotel that’s a little ways down the beach that Marshall found while strolling the beach the other night. We negotiated a sweet deal and will be staying there for four days. We’re basically hopping around to different hotels depending on what deals they are willing to give us. So far we haven’t paid more than $40 a night for any hotel we’ve stayed at in Thailand. Such a steal of a deal!