We'll Miss You, Samui!

Our last blog was March 28, a staggering forty-four days ago! While we awaited our second and final visitor of the trip, Dr. Kyle Forbes, we did little other than relax, exercise and stuff our faces full of tantalizing Thai food.

We decided that the stress of looking for a house following 63 hours of travel from Nepal was worth it. Arunya House bungalows were beautiful and comfortable.










Another perk of moving to a new development is that it came with free dogs, which we appreciated.












Although they were a bit needy...














and confused.












The new house was built on higher ground than our last bungalow. Apparently this time around, the flood waters entered our previous bungalow and rose to the top of the beds! High and dry baby, high and dry.









When our rations ran low (it didn't stop raining for TEN days), we soldiered to the store. During this particular outing we had to traverse this U-shaped wall to avoid walking in waist deep water. Acrobats we are.














I guess we could have taken a taxi instead.




All the raining and flooding took us by surprise this time as we had heard April was the hottest and driest month in Thailand. The rain finally stopped and everything dried out just in time for Songkran and the accompanying nation-wide water fight. In honor of the holiday we gathered artillery and headed to Chaweng, an area usually too touristy and expensive for us. How many times do you get to celebrate Thai New Year, right?

Driving the motorbike 20 minutes to this beach was an experience. Thais lined the street with hoses and buckets filled with water and even ice. By the time we got there we were sopping wet!

Nobody messed with us on the beach and I'm pretty sure it's because we looked really hardcore with our gats. Uh!















We retired to our room across the street from the beach to shower and get pretty, then we made our way back to Ark Bar. It turns our we weren't that intimidating with our water cannons after all. In fact, we were drenched relentlessly by pedestrians, Thais in the back of passing trucks, and tourists perched on balconies.












We met up with our Singaporean friend Ben, who was smarter than Nick and I in that he didn't carry a water gun, and therefore was less of a target. He also kept his shirt dry in his pocket until the coast was clear.

We had met Ben earlier in the day while bobbing around in the water and we became fast friends.
Ben was a fun beach companion and we shared many laughs and great conversations.




He treated us to dinner at The Library, where we enjoyed our first steak in ten months. Mmmm. Thank you, Ben!

We liked him so well we met up with him a couple days later for another beach day and we've been keeping in touch through email since. We hope our paths will cross again someday!






Kyle finally arrived on April 21st and we spent his first day in Thailand back in the Ark Bar lounge chairs, sunbathing and people watching. We spent the next couple days showing Kyle our favorite sights and feeding him (not literally) our favorite foods.

It was fun to have an old friend to join in our shenanigans.















We took the motorbikes out to the waterfalls. First stop: a hike to Hin Lad.












It was still raging from all the rain.































Second stop: Namuang Waterfall 1, also raging.































There must be something in the water.

















That looks like a safe place to take a nap.













Our private beach, oh how we'll miss you. Ufershnecke!















Artsy.













In-motion self-photography from the back of the motorbike. I think it turned out surprisingly well.













Our last night in Samui was sad and wonderful! We returned our motorbikes to the shop then walked over to Tropical Massage Spa for a tearful goodbye with our dear friend Nan. Nan, you are a beautiful, generous and kind person. We'll miss you so much!








We then said goodbye to our friends at Satang.













And Pin gave us a private fire show.































Our last meal on Samui was delectable and the service unparalleled. Since we had already returned our motorbikes, the owner offered us a ride home so we wouldn't have to walk the 2 km home in the dark! Yes, please.









Samui will always have a special place in our hearts. The sadness comes from knowing we'll never have the same access to it in the future. We'll be returning as tourists, not residents, but I guess that's okay, too. Same same but different.

The following two weeks with Kyle were extra special because we explored areas of Thailand that were brand new to us. Stay tuned for the next two installments!