A Very Lazy Sunday

Sunday 3 September

When we awoke the sky was blue, the sun shining and the temperature was already up to the top 20s – this despite the forecast of clouds and showers for today (these never materialized).

Our first task was to sample the pool, so by 07.30 we were taking a dip – just the two of us swimming around in lovely warm water. This gave us an appetite for breakfast, across the road, in a large thatched building with open sides, going straight on to the beach. Needless to say, we chose a table where we could watch the sea lapping the beach in gentle wavelets. The breakfast was typical of most of the hotels we have stayed in during our tour, and this was as good as any of the others.

Back at the bungalow, Colin decided it was time to download his movie camera, using those disks he purchased in Hong Kong. I sat outside in the sun and read for a while, to keep out of the way. I understand it didn’t go too well to start with, some of the big files upset the loading system and a couple of disks had to be thrown away – he’s such a wastrel. But later David Colin Bailey mastered the downloading and seems to have managed to put most of the piccys and videos on to disks now for sending home with Juz. We will try and put some on the blog in the next day or so, I promise.

Our bungalow was right opposite the pool and next to the Reception area, and although not terribly intrusive, we were closest to the road, and obviously other people would use the pool at some time. So we decided to ask for a move. The girls in Reception were only too pleased to help and offered us a choice of a couple of other bungalows. The one we chose is only 4 doors from our original one, but away from the pool and the road. We now have a banana tree outside our verandah with large bunches of fruit ripening. Perhaps we will be able to pick some before we leave. I don’t think the original room was a problem, but we are definitely more secluded here. We have also discovered a small second pool, near the back of the property, which might afford more shade.

The day just got hotter and hotter, so we dipped into the pool to cool down on numerous occasions. There were a couple of other people around, but generally we had the area to ourselves.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen again – early in the afternoon we decided that we needed a drink and then we should go for a walk through the village to buy some stamps, a box of teabags (yes I am really into tea – although I only like the Chinesey ones) and some biscuits and crisps to nibble. We went to the Frog and Gecko again (not “Geek” as reported yesterday, its just the “o” seems to have disappeared from the sign) for a couple of beers and they treated us like old friends already – on only our second visit. We then explored up to the main road, leading to Chaweng Beach (one of the larger beaches on the island) and the small road through the village that we came in on yesterday from the airport. We didn’t actually find a shop selling stamps so we couldn’t post the cards to the grandchildren, but we will try again tomorrow.

Our end of the village definitely has more shops to explore and more appealing restaurants, so I am glad we chose Smile. Several of the hotels and shops have changed since we were here last year – some have moved locations to make way for redevelopment (lots of new properties are already being built, but everything is done manually here and there are no signs of health and safety) and others, like the Crystal Shop, have disappeared altogether. There is an Indian Restaurant here now – and from the boards outside, it looks as if it offers seafood and meats cooked in much the same way as the other restaurants – as well chicken tikka massala, meat dhansak and all our other favourite Indian dishes – I think we might well trying it one night for something different. There is also a “Pie and Mash” shop offering steak and kidney or chicken and mushroom pies and minced beef and onion patties, all with onion gravy, as well as liver and bacon and fish and chips. An English bar offers “roast lamb, 4 veg and all the trimmings” and advertises all the English football matches to be screened - we shall definitely be giving this one a miss. Luckily our favourite restaurant last time – Starfish and Coffee – is not only still going strong, but has been extended too, so we will no doubt be returning there for some local fare when Juz and Dave arrive. There are some tasty sounding menus to try at several interesting looking eateries, so we wont go hungry while we are here.

On our return to the bungalow, we were exceeding hot and sticky so more dips in the pool were called for.

We decided to try a different bar tonight – “The Crows Nest” – where we went with Juz and Dave last year. Although we had a lovely view of the sea and the darkening sky over the bay – its dark here by 19.00 - I don’t think the cocktails were as good as last night, so guess we will be sticking with the Frog and Gecko.

The restaurant we chose was called La Sirene, a little way further down the road than The Happy Elephant. I had spied ‘moules and frittes’ on the menu, which is one of my favourites. The waiter – not sure if he was either Orn or Gerard who jointly own the place – thought this dish was only for starters. After last night’s huge helpings, I managed to convince him that I would be happy to have the dish as a main course, after some large prawns and mayonnaise as a starter. Colin chose calarmari with a tangy hot Thai sauce, followed by a compendium of barbequed shellfish, including a whole crab, stuffed squid, mussels, butterflied tiger prawns and some meaty white fish all served with rice. The food was again delicious and more than enough – a French family came and sat near us and had the moules and frittes as starters with French bread and then huge plates of Thai food and steaks – much too much for us.

We’ve wandered home and Colin is still singing Elvis songs – I think he may have withdrawal symptoms from the Happy Elephant.

We are very pleased with Smile Bungalows. When we were booking this part of the holiday way back in October last year, we made a conscious decision that we would not stay in an expensive hotel here, like the Imperial, if we were going to stay for so long, but make do with more basic accommodation and spend the difference on food, drink and enjoying ourselves. I think our decision was right – the bungalows are clean and spacious, they are equipped with everything we need – hairdryer, television with English channels, kettle and cups for making tea and coffee, hot shower, toiletries, and air con (I think we might have melted now without this) and we have a maid in every day to change the beds and towels, clean and generally “do” for us. I think we can survive here very happily for the next few weeks.

MORE COLIN’S COMMENTS

A word to the wise. I have traveled across Europe, the vastness of Russia and the extensive lands of China which one would have thought would have conditioned me to the ‘rigours’ that I was to face here at Bophut on Koh Samui in Thailand. I am sure, had I received “advice” from Jim, who is an expert on the colonies and the conditions one could expect to encounter, it would not have come as such a shock. However, Jim returned home to the USA after the travels in Russia and I have therefore, had to devise my own training programme in order to get me fit for the next few weeks.

I decided upon a liquid (Frog and Gecko waterfront bar) and seafood (Happy Elephant Restaurant) diet. The Happy Elephant, however, worries me about my cultural development due to the live guitarist playing Elvis Presley and Johnny Cash – no Shostakovitch or Mozart in sight. I feared this training programme was insufficient and I therefore stepped up my regime and I am now not shaving, thus saving the strain on my muscles in my right arm for later-in-the-day activities and have given up wearing lace-up shoes to save bending and thus straining my back muscles. I did try flip flops, but this presented a problem in getting that bit at the front between the right set of toes, so I have therefore now resorted to my Birkenstock slip-ons.

Also, according to Steffi, I have resorted to wearing cut-offs. However, on closer examination they bear a strong resemblance to a previous pair of trouser I wore, but since taking a wrong turn, out of the Frog and Gecko, the seawater I am sure has played havoc with the material. Despite all these set backs I remain resolute in my training programme and hope to be able to obtain the fitness required to see me through to the end of my sojourn in Bophut.

May the Frog and Grecko and Happy Elephant go with you all . . . . . .