I made it.  Finally after 29 straight hours of traveling I have made it to my destination.  I am on Ko Samui.  Ko means island in Thai.  So I am on an island of the east coast of southern Thailand.  The plan was to go to Bangkok for a few days and then up north to Chiang Mai.  Back to Bangkok for a few more days and then down south to the beaches and islands to relax.  So how did I end up here?  Well it is easy.  I was only givena 15 visa and not a 30 visa like I thought (because I came by land and not air).  So with only half the time I expected what to do.  Well one thing I have learned is that you should always do what you really want first because you may not see that opportunity again and then you will miss out.  So I really wanted to relax at the beaches south it was.  Plus after arriving in Bangkok I knew I wasn't ready for another big city yet so that only helped me confirm my idea of heading south.  So how did I get from Cambodia to an island off of southern Thailand?  Why did it take 29 hours?  Well lets look at the trip.  First, I got up and left my hotel in Cambodia at 7am.  A bus took me from Cambodia to the Poipet, which is the Cambodian border town.  That took about 6 hours with all the stops and waits.  From there I walked across the Cambodian/Thai border into Thailand.  The Thai immigration took about an hour before we got into the country.  Once in Thailand I took a minibus (14 person van) to Bangkok.  That took about 4 hours with all the waits.  Next I had to take a taxi from somewhere in Bangkok to the train station.  Of course the taxi driver took me to his friends travel agency to buy my train ticket, but I wouldn't have it because I knew exactly how much it should cost.  They wanted to charge me double the price and it was for a bus not the train.  They tried to say there was no more room on the train.  I called their bluff and told the taxi driver to take me to the train station.  Once at the train station I bought a sleeper for the overnight train to Surat Thani.  Here is my bunk.



This was the best train ride I have had yet.  I am using sleepers when I book long train rides.  I sleep like a baby and the ride went so fast.  You just have to be careful to not oversleep or you might miss your stop.  The train got me to Surat Thani about 12 hours later at 7:30am.  I then hoped on a bus to the pier, which took about 1 hour.  Once I got to the pier I got onto the ferry to Ko Samui.  The ferry took about 1 hour, but I got some nice pictures along the way and I got to sit on deck so it was like a free boat tour.  Here are some pictures I took from the ferry.  You can see how beautiful the local landscape is.



Did you notice the tip of a temple sticking out on the left side?  Here are some local fishermen.



And here is the town of Nathon where the dock is located.



From the dock I went to an ATM as I did all of this travel with very little cash in my pocket.  I was on a limited time schedule and gambled that I would have enough money.  I was actually $5 short for the tickets and had to get into my emergency hidden stash.  But that is why you keep a hidden stash of cash.  Then I went to an internet cafe and booked a hotel because I didn't feel lke dealing with all the local hawkers trying to sell you their hotel.  I thought I would be better off with the internet.  Well so far the hotel I booked has not lived up to the internet ad on expedia, but it will do.  Actually my first impression of the entire island is that it is not that great.  Maybe I am bias since I used to live on an island, but hopefully I find the island to be better than my first impression.  Anyways, from the ferry I took a 20 minute cab to my hotel and there you have it.  29 hours from hotel to hotel.  Well after I got to my hotel, which I must admit does look exotic and nice.  Here is my bungalow.



The problem is that there are no beaches within short walking distance or anything for that matter really.  So I will have to take a taxi everywhere, which I was hoping to avoid.  That is why I wanted to come to an island.  So I could be at a place where everything you need is nearby (which is part of the reason why I liked Yangshuo in China so much).  After checking in I walked down the main road a little bit and find a small local place to eat.  I had Pad Thai Noodles.



It was okay.  It had these tiny little almost microscopic shrimp in the noodles.  Well I am hoping that in the next few days I find this place to be better than I think it will be.  If not I know my next island will be better.