Ko Samui
Almost everything was more expensive on Samui. Diving courses cost maybe 30% more on Samui than on Ko Tao and renting a scooter was typically 200 bahts instead of 150 bahts. We were able to find one ugly 110 cc bike with manual transmission for 150 bahts though, and of course we took it! With our new vehicle we cruised the streets of Samui and mile after mile we saw just buildings and buildings and buildings. It felt like there was nothing original left.
The only sight for the day was the grandfather rock, a rock formation which looks like a penis. There was supposed to be a grandmother rock too but we didn't find it. The place swarmed with Japanese tourists so we left pretty quickly. While we walked back to the scooter we saw a man selling ice cream in coconut shells. The price was quite high but we wanted to try anyway and I'm glad we did. The ice cream tasted really great and I could have easily eaten two or three more :).
Before going back we wanted to see a big Buddha statue but never found it. But we found something else: the first supermarket in Thailand! We were curious to see what they sold because before this the only shops we had seen had been seven elevens. It turned out to be just like the supermarkets we have in Finland and inside we found an Aeon ATM, something we had been looking for a long time. Normally ATMs in Thailand take an extra 150 baht for any withdrawal you make, but Aeon ATMs do not.
While we were checking the wonders of the supermarket a storm hit the island outside. The palm trees bent to almost horizontal and it was raining heavily. We waited out the rain for a while but eventually decided to start driving as we had no idea how long the storm would last. Inna was wearing my waterproof jacket and protecting everything we had in our backpack while I drove wearing a sleeveless shirt. The rain felt like small rocks but it was fun anyway :).
There was something cheap on Samui too and that was Internet. At least in the Internet café we found. The normal price in Thailand was 1 baht per minute but in this one an hour cost 40 bahts. We stayed there for an hour, making plans for Malaysia and sending emails.
Two days was enough on Samui and we bought tickets to Krabi for 450 bahts before sleeping. We would have to wake up at 5:30 so the sleep was needed indeed.
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