Ban Phe - Ko Samet
After New Year's Eve we had two options. Number one was to continue cycling along the coast to Pattaya, a city famous for its sex-tourism. Number two was Ko Samet, a little island and national park with beautiful beaches. Well, guess what we picked. Our only concern was that we wouldn't find any bungalow on Ko Samet as we were in the middle of the new year weekend and the island was packed for sure. Anyway, we have our tent with us and camping is possible on the island.
From Ban Phe the public ferry took us and our bicycles to Ko Samet. When we arrived we had to pay the national park admission fee that was - to our surprise - negotiable. "2 persons, 400 Baht please." "Is there no discount? We don't pollute the island on our bicycles." "OK, 200 Baht for you." Nice! Most of the island's roads are dirt roads. Normally no problem, but the island is very hilly and it was extremely hot that day. The ridiculous 10 km that we pedaled on the island were hard. And against our hope it wasn't easy to find a cheap bungalow.
But there was Walter, a regular guest at one of the many resorts! He helped us to get a bungalow by pretending that we were his students. He doesn't look like that but he is a master in martial arts and has his own school in Bavaria. He told us that his outer appearance had made some trouble in Malaysia. When he entered the country the Malay immigration officials denounced him as "S.H.I.T." So did the stamp read in his passport. "Suspected Hippie In Transit" and he had to leave the country within 24 hours time.
Time on Ko Samet was great. Like on Koh Rong in Cambodia water and sand were crystal-clear and we knew that more of such beaches were yet to come.
