Pete and I had a great last day in Bangkok. We went fishing with a group of friends. The way it works is that you go out to a cabin, surrounding a lake that is filled with HUGE catfish. A Thai man then baits the hook, throws the line, and catches the fish, but allows you to reel it in. This is quite the challenge, as most of them weigh at least 50 pounds. The first time I almost had it and the line broke after a 20 minute fight. The second one put up so much of a struggle that I had to pass it over to Peter to finish the job. After 10 minutes more of reeling and pulling, Pete was able to bring it close enough to the dock for the Thai man to net it in. This baby was HUGE! We took the token photo with it and threw it back in.
After that we headed back to Bangkok to get ready for the World Cup Finals. We watched the first half of the game with friends, but were so unimpressed with the level of play that we watched (Pete watched and I slept) the second half at home.
We caught a taxi to the coastline the next morning and took a speedboat to the shore of Ao Pudsa on the island of Koh Samet. The speedboat picked us up with a group of five older Thai women who had obviously been girlfriends for a very long time. They had plastic bags filled with crabs, limes, sprouts, and noodles. They all had beach hats and sunglasses on and were giggling the whole ride. The boat pulled into a bay and anchored. Pete and I waited to see if the women would get off first, but after two minutes of them speaking in Thai, they all just started saying “Bye Bye.” We then realized, this was our stop and they way to get off is to grab your bags and jump into the water. It was like being washed up ashore on the most beautiful white sands beaches.
The island is a mere 6km x 2km. The East Coast is filled with different bays (Ao in Thai means bay), and you can walk from one beach to another quite easily. On the West Coast of the island, there is only one beach, which is quite isolated. For the first day, we decided just to stay on our beach, read in the shade and get Thai massages in the sand.
For dinner, we had heard of a place that has a live band on the beach and then a fire show. We walked 10 minutes north to a beautiful setting. The tables and cushions are on a mat going up to the edge of the water. There is a stage outside and a great cover band playing a dinner set that included Bill Withers and Alicia Keys. A big improvement from other Thai cover bands we had been exposed to. We shared grilled whole fish that they stuff with lemongrass and ginger, and vegetable broad noodles.
Then, the fire show started. Ten boys, ranging in age from 15-24, come out on the beach with fire sticks and fire balls. In front of them is a few cans of kerosene, and in the background they play hip hop. The guys light their sticks and start spinning them. It is really quite amazing. They spin it using their necks, while standing on each others shoulders, and throwing it up in the air and catching it. They are an interesting group and fun to watch.
After the fire show, we decided to listen to some more live music. The band had moved inside and Pete and I were the first ones to sit down indoors. We were hooting and hollering, so they asked us where we were from. Of course, when we replied “New York”, the female lead singer went into Jay-Z and Alicia Keys “Empire State of Mind”. We met a Swedish girl who is living on the island (she fell in love with one of the fire guys and cancelled her flight home a few weeks ago), and she told us of another fun bar.
We walked with her to a place that had pool tables and a happy hour special that you flip a coin for each drink and if correct, drink for free. We played some pool and lost miserably. We met a couple there (an Irishman and a Dutch woman) who were very nice. A local Thai woman kept asking me to dance, so I would dance with her a bit, then shoot pool before she was chasing me again. She told me she wanted to go sing karaoke, so Pete, our new friends, and I followed her to the karaoke bar. It is a cheesy, dingy bar with flashing neon lights. There was a group of 15-20 Thai people in the back of the bar and we took a table in front. I decided to serenade my new husband with the song “Kiss Me” by Six Pence. He loved it☺ , as well as my new Thai friend who danced and cheered the whole time. She then sang a song, and then our new friends sang. I decided to do “I Will Survive”, which was great fun. Then, the unthinkable happened. Peter said he wanted to sing a song! He chose “I Shot the Sheriff” so we did a pretty good duet to that. We ended with our foursome doing “La Bamba” before heading back to the live band.
At this point, the party was rocking and we came in and danced for the whole next set. We were jumping and spinning and having the time of our lives. We felt like teenagers again. On the walk home, I decided that we absolutely should get in the water, and everyone agreed. The four of us ran into the ocean, and under the stars played Marco Polo. After that, we parted ways and Pete and I held hands and walked along the beach to our bungalow. Now, this is what honeymoons are supposed to be like.
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