koh samui.

searching for monkeys in krabi.

koh samui, the biggest of the three coastal islands in the gulf of thailand, beckoned bryn, india & their friend zach for a few reasons. first, they had been promised elephants. secondly, bryn & india were excited to reconnect with their friends tracey and aric whom they had met a few weeks before in krabi. and thirdly, koh samui would be the groups base camp for the epic journey to the island of koh pha ngan for the full moon party at the end of the month.

bryn, india & zach rode a large ferry into the port of koh samui, playing card games and drinking coconut water. after finding a map and reorienting themselves, the group strapped their backpacks to the top of a pick up truck and hopped in the back, speeding along to the hotel that they had previously booked. walking into the lobby of the chaweng lakeview condotel, the three whirled. a sky blue pool surrounded by flowering trees. a collection of couches overlooking the nearby lake. when they were shown to their room, the three knew they had found the best deal on the island. the apartment was gigantic; a full kitchen, a large balcony, towels folded like swans on the bed. the owners were bubbly, fussing over the group, bringing up an extra bed and chair for zach, making sure we felt as at home as possible. india blushed over all the attention. the three felt like movie stars.

that night, the three explored their neighborhood, a stretch of road that curved around the lake. they stopped in the sole second hand shoe shop on the island; rows and rows of leather cowboy boots and dusty adidas charmed them. they ate at a korean grill, where vegetables were thrown into a pot of boiling savory liquid and cooked fresh soup at their table. and they found a bowling alley, where they bought a tower of chang beer and india beat both the boys. (that's... a lie.)

        

great form, sir.

india upon defeat.

the next morning, bryn, india and zach took a long stroll towards chaweng, the long stretch of white sand beach, to find a rent-a-scooter shop. when they found one, bryn was reminded of renting a scooter in goa in india: no drivers license check, no 'have you driven one of these before?' unfortunately, the group learned the importance of practice as, minutes later, vroom vrooming down the street, zach's wheels got caught in a rut and he was thrown from the scooter.

here was a moment in which everything could have gone wrong - and the thai people made everything right. immediately swooping around to tend to their friend, bryn & india were already moments too late as a group of shopkeepers had come rushing into the street as soon as they saw zach fall, roll his scooter up into their shops, assist him into a chair, tend to his cuts with neosporin and band aids, and forced two bottles of water in him. so often these guys must see tourists without the proper skills renting scooters and jumping on, you would think they would be sick of saving them! but these study and sweet thai men took such good care of zach, the group left them feeling relieved.

the traveling trio poses on a break from the scooters.

india took over the scooter and the three zoomed around all day, discovering rolling hills dotted with palm trees and shops set up along the deserted dirt roads selling fresh tropical produce. india grabbed some mushrooms, peppers, and spices and the three went back to their hotel where they cooked up a delicious noodle soup in the kitchen in their room.

that night, bryn & india's friends tracey and aric (from toronto, who they met in krabi) showed up and the group headed off on their scooters in search of an interesting bar. down a sketchy alley in a dark area of koh samui, the group found an open air bar owned by a sweet british guy and his thai wife, who served them cold beers and rolled them harsh cigarettes and talked with the group over pool for hours.

the next few days with the five friends on koh samui were spent on the scooters. zach quickly gained his confidence back and tackled the rough road. the group rode a gigantic elephant, through the jungle of palm trees, taking turns riding the elephant's neck. after their ride, they fed her gigantic sugar cane stalks and whole bananas and pet her trunk and gushed over how gorgeous the 47 year old elephant was. the group hiked some lush mountains alongside beautiful crisp cold creeks, perfect for swimming. they visited big buddah, a giantic gold homage to the god, surrounded entirely by water, where they got caught in a rainstorm and was forced to wait it out in a rickety cafe with wooden shutters. they lounged on the beach, populated with henna artists and volley ball courts. they ate bowls thick with spicy noodles and drank snowy glasses filled with cold thai beer.

channeling the jungle book.

our elephant was as old as the hills.

warm hikes and waterbugs.

after a few days in the very modern jungle island, the group began to prepare for their next big adventure: the full moon party on koh phangan.