Happy Doing Not A Lot

Monday 4 September

Oh what a beautiful morning! The sun was shining, the sky a startling forget-me-not blue and the swimming pool an oasis amongst the coconut palms. Just perfect for our early morning swim. After a few lengths and splashing around, breakfast beckoned. By the look of it, we were first customers – about 08.45 – but within half an hour, more people had arrived, including a construction consultant (about late 30’s with a good body), who had bought land here some time ago, tried living in London and Sydney, but now settled here, in what he called “paradise”.

Some exercise was needed, so we strolled round the road out of the village, to look for the hotel where Juz and Dave would soon be staying – its about 15 minutes amble from Smile, by road, actually situated off the Chaweng to Nathon road – and probably much quicker by the shore route, but Colin is not happy walking on the sand, and it was very difficult to walk in the sea, as the gradient of the beach is surprisingly steep, and the tug of the current keeps pulling you away from the edge, into the waves. We missed the turn off on the way back and found ourselves back to where we had walked yesterday – thus doing a circular tour of Bophut. We have seen hardly any put-puts around here, but perhaps they are mainly based in Chaweng (they are the trucks with open backs that pick you up like a multi-taxi for 50+ bahts). Another difference we have noticed is that there are now very few Suzuki Jeeps – everybody’s hire car last year – it is now all huge 4 x 4’s everywhere, either trucks, four seaters or people carriers, all shiny and new. There’s also no lambretttas now, just lots of brand new small motor bikes, for carrying whole families around. Perhaps we have to go to Chaweng or Nathon to get the real picture.

After replenishing our water supplies and purchasing a supply of Singha beers and stamps at Antons (a mini-market just up from the bungalows who has a fine wine collection and sells just about everything) we remembered to post our cards and returned to Smile for some “computer time” – I finally managed to post yesterday’s blog – the connection was difficult for a while – and Colin played some more with downloading his photos. The Thai-Shite is performing superbly.

A few dips in the pool and sitting in the Jacuzzi reading my book, or laying out on a lounger were about as energetic as we got for the rest of the day. The sun was very hot again, and finding a shady spot under an umbrella was essential – particularly for Colin, who burns very quickly. He still managed to get a bit sun burnt, and felt a bit sorry for himself as he ladled on the after-sun.

In the evening we returned to the Frog and Gecko for more refreshments of the cocktail variety, before venturing to the Indian Restaurant. We chose vegetable pakoras and a mixed seafood platter, deep fried, with that tangy Thai sauce for starters, and Colin had a mixed seafood “tawa” (mainly squid, with peppers and onions in a garlic, tomato and spicy sauce – a house speciality), while I stuck to traditional Indian with Chicken Dhansak and Aloo Gobi with breads. The food was again delicious and the portions large, so we struggled to eat two thirds of it. Apparently this is the best Indian restaurant on the island – that means there are more!

Whilst there, Mike came and sat at the next table – he was a 55 year old Englishman, who had divorced his English wife and settled down here five years ago and now has a 24 year old Thai wife and a child, a few months old. We have seen lots of middle-to-old aged English men out here with beautiful young wives – it definitely seems the place to escape from domestic tragedy. Mike explained to us that we would need an extension to our visa if we were staying in Thailand over 30 days. Oddly, Colin had read this in an information magazine on Koh Samui earlier today, but had not thought too much about it – in fact, to be truthful, ignored it! Mike explained that we could obtain a 10 day extension quite easily from the Immigration Office in Nathon – OK for our time here in Koh Samui – but may have to apply in Bangkok for a further extension to cover us for our tour of the mainland. Something else to sort out – no one mentioned that we would need an extension if we stayed over a month, or we could have sorted this out in London. Mike has a 90 day visa as he has owned a bar here and worked on Koh Samui, but still has to “leave” Thailand every three months to get it renewed – he pays a trip to Singapore, or Hong Kong, or has been known to go to Las Vegas – he’s very into poker – but sometimes goes just across the border into Malaysia for a quick trip! Anyway, Mike was very helpful and even gave us his phone number in case we get arrested – which will happen if we don’t get the extensions sorted out!!!

I thought the evening was cooler tonight than the previous two nights, with a distinct breeze blowing off the sea. Perhaps that’s because the day has been so hot. This really has been a languid day, but very peaceful. We did remember to text “Happy Birthday” to Darren and a “Happy Holiday” message to Dawn. We saw a couple of other people in the pool at odd times during the day, and a diving course in the afternoon for three young Chinese, but apart from that, we have seen very few people here, or even in the village. I am sure we will be much more energetic once Juz arrives!