3 days on Koh Samui
After 2.5 months of intensive traveling, a beach was a welcome change.
Our actual rode to Koh Samui was an adventure all of its own, but more about that in a separate post.
It was everything that you would expect from a beach vacation; a tiny room right on a beach, a restaurant also on a beach, the aforementioned beach and the warmest sea that you may want to have.
The first two days we walked in a little triangle between the room, the restaurant and the beach. And on day 3 we took an excursion to Ang Thong Marine Park. (About this a little later).
The most eventful thing that is worth reporting is that we met a nice Russian family from Moscow. They swam up to us on the first day and striked up a conversation. This was their first trip overseas and they shared their fun stories about trying to communicate without any English and the tourist traps that they got into. Apparently, they spent 5 days in Bangkok. The first 4 they got within 100 meters of the Grand Palace only to be told by someone that the palace is closed either due to flooding, some fake Bhuddist holiday or ceremony that only happens once in 20 years. Poor guys were so disappointed. But they finally made it on the 5th day and never listened to advice from a "friendly" stranger on the street.
We enjoyed their stories that we decided to go out for dinner together the same night.
Over dinner they asked us a lot about life in U.S. They were interested in the smallest details and whether the stereotypes are true. However when they found out that we are Jewish and have been to Israel, the conversation turned political and they asked about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
As people who have no real attachments to either side they became curios in forming their own opinions. Based on the media reports the common belief in Russia is that Israel is the "occupier". We talked at length about history, the formation of Israel, the conflict, etc. We closed down the restaurant. In the end of the discussion, I think they came out with conclusions that were much different than what the Russian media reports.
If we managed to convert two people, the visit to Koh Samui was totally worth it :)
As I mentioned before, we took an excursion to a Marine Park. It was as beautiful as a postcard! The day involved a boat ride, kayaking, a strenuous hike, swimming and the most amazing views. In this case a picture is worth a thousand words...
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| 2011.10.12 Koh Samui |
