Kevin Roberts (aka Marco Polo)

From Kevin Roberts world Traveler

Ko Samui, Thailand. An island in Thailand. I think Ko means island, like Cay. Samui Island. The Garden of Eden couldn't have been much more lush than this one. I had a great day here. My goal today was to take some pictures, get wet, and not spend much money. I accomplished all three plus I had a lot of fun. We tendered in here. First time I've been on a tender boat since Dubrovnik, Croatia right before I signed off of Journey. I hadn't even thought about the fact that we haven't had to tender. But this is more like what I'm used to in terms of cruising. It is a tropical paradise. Like I said, I'm not much of a beach person anymore. I would have loved to go diving here. I saw lots of dive shops. But I found something even more exciting than that. When I stepped off he end of the pier, I saw a scooter rental stand. The guy said it cost 150 Baht for all day. I pulled out a five dollar bill before he could change his mind. :) And didn't ask for change! Nice little motor scooter. $2 worth of gas, and I was off. Then I realized that, wouldn't you know it, the first place I've rented a scooter is in a country that drives on the left side of the road! (Well, I guess we had to fight a war to be able to drive on the right side of the road). I'll be honest with you, it probably was not a good idea. But I haven't been on a bike in a while and I needed it. I figure it was quite a bit more dangerous than hang gliding. So I had to be careful. Even though it is a fairly small island (I'd say similar to Cozumel), in any of the larger towns, there was quite a bit of traffic. And although there was a dedicated scooter lane on the left, they darted in and out of traffic everywhere. And I couldn't get used to people passing me on the right. I had to train myself to constantly watch my mirrors. Riding the scooter was not difficult once I got used to the gears being backwards from what I'm accustomed to. Instead of one-down and four-up like motorcycles, it was four-down. I did screech the tires a few times up-shifting when I should have been down-shifting. But it was automatic so I didn't have to use a clutch. And it was pretty idiot-proof. You could start it and run in any gear as long as you didn't try to accelerate too fast. Now on top of all this, add to the mix that everywhere you turn, there is something beautiful to take a picture of. I even turned off main road several times and found smaller pieces of paradise. And people living there farming and doing their thing. I finally decided I had better quit taking pictures and concentrate on riding that scooter. Eventually, I found out that the best way to make time was to stay out of the scooter lane. Most people ride them really slow and turn on and off the road. If you stay to the right with the cars, and keep going as fast as they are, you can make some time. So I scouted a few places on the map to stop and see, let me hair down, and zoomed off. :) I drove a lot faster but I figure it was safer as I stayed away from the other scooters and the cars knew exactly where I was. And it was more fun than any one man ought to be allowed to have! I got a picture of the big Buddha. They built one right by the water here. I first saw it when I stopped to photograph the beach at a little park. I saw this big gold-looking thing on the horizon and realized that it had to be the Buddha. I had heard about it. I also found a really nice waterfall. That was right next to the eco park. Most of the island is a big nature preserve but there was a crew tour to this park and it offered an elephant trek, playing with the monkeys, etc. I really want to ride an elephant but they wanted too much money. Anyhow, I had a blast today. I almost feel sorry for the rest of humanity today. Almost. :) And I topped it off with a Thai coffee. I never drink iced coffee. But it turned out to be one of the most refreshing drinks ever. Oh yeah, I did get wet. For a while, it rained. Hard! Which added to the excitement of riding the scooter. But I knew it wouldn't last long and it didn't. It rains a little every day in the tropics. That's why it is so lush. Anyway, I missed enough pictures and activities that I've got a good excuse to come back. If I ever get a Round Tuit. Might just stay the next time. Ciao....KR