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Description
Another Hat Mae Nam sunset. Looking back after all this time it seems that's all I did on Ko Samui!

Day 48 - Friday 13 March

Hat Mae Nam

Today was the epitome of a lazy, relaxing day on an idyllic tropical island and I did absolutely nothing to alert the triskaidekaphobia gods into inflicting any unfortunate events upon me. I slept really well and woke up at about eight o’clock, not getting up until an hour later. It was already a glorious, sunny morning as I breakfasted on tomato and onion omelette with toast and a cup of coffee, after which I sat down in the sunshine to write quite a long letter home to Mum. Once I had finished I asked if my laundry was back yet, but was told that it would not be until this evening.

I returned briefly to my bungalow to put my boots on before setting off on a walk into Mae Nam town to post my letter. Having done that, I wandered all the way through the town and then back again to the crossroads. From there I took the road down to the beach, removed my boots and socks and walked back to the Friendly Bungalows along the beach. I then sat down in the sunshine once more to read until lunchtime.

For lunch I had a large and excellent tuna salad before sitting back down in the sun to read once more, giving myself plenty of time to properly digest my lunch before going for a swim. Because I had sent my proper trunks to the laundry I had to go swimming in my green shorts, which was no real problem as they were basically the same design in any case. There was a small sandy ledge just by the shoreline, followed by a narrow strip of large rocks, some of which were covered in slippery seaweed, before reverting back to a soft, sandy seabed once more. I only had to go about twenty feet from the shore before the water was up to the level of my neck. The sea was lovely and warm and I spent an hour or so swimming and floating around before returning to the beach. It had grown quite cloudy by this time so I lay down on the beach without worrying too much about getting sunburnt.

After a while I got bored with that and went back into the sea to wash the sand off and then returned to my bungalow for a shower. At first I stood under the water still wearing my T-shirt and shorts, giving them a good wash, before stripping off and having a thorough wash and shampoo to get rid of all the sand, followed by a shave. As I still didn’t have my towel or any other clothes I had no option but to dry myself as best as I could with just a flannel and then wrung out my shirt and shorts as well as I could before putting them back on and returning to sit in the sun to read some more and to dry off.

Once I was virtually dry I walked eastwards along the beach as far as Laem Sai, all the time trying to pick out the softest sand. It was strange because in some places the sand was wonderfully soft, in others really quite coarse, but with no seemingly logical pattern. Once I reached the sandy promontory that marks the eastern extent of Hat Mae Nam I could see all the way around to Laem Sum Rang, the most northerly point on Ko Samui, and its Big Buddha statue, at this distance looking no bigger than little fingernail sized. It was also apparent that the beach immediately to the east of Laem Sai was the haunt of the nudist sunbathers, for everywhere I looked there were male and female bodies lying on the beach, completely naked. Not wishing to be thought of as a Peeping Tom, I decided against continuing my walk and turned around to make my way back to Friendly Bungalows.

I retrieved my book, camera and lenses from the hut and sat down to read whilst waiting for the sun to set. There were fewer clouds about this evening but the sunset and its afterglow were even more spectacular than last night. My photography completed I asked again about my laundry. It was still not back but the pretty girl with the glasses, Mama’s daughter I think, and who had, incidentally, had her hair cut short today, told me it should be here in about ten minutes. As I sat waiting for it to turn up I got talking to a group of four fellow English travellers; three girls and a guy. Two of the girls were working in or around Bangkok, one as a nurse at a home for handicapped children and the other as an administrator on a one year project for a Christian charitable concern. The nurse was leaving tomorrow but the administrator, who had been asking me all the questions and who was quite attractive, was staying until Monday with her friend, the third girl. The guy didn’t really say very much but I got the impression that he also worked for the same charity. After twenty minutes my washing arrived, all present and correct and neatly pressed and folded. I gratefully returned to my bungalow, had another shower and then dressed in clean T-shirt and trousers, the latter necessary because the bugs seemed to be especially active this evening.

When I returned to the restaurant area the group of four were all together, eating dinner, so I didn’t feel that I should butt in on them and sat down at another table to decide on my own dinner. I ordered lemon soup with prawns and a bowl of plain rice. The soup was mildly spicy and absolutely delicious. The food here might be a bit on the expensive side but it was consistently very good. I finished off with a large plateful of fresh fruit - pineapple, papaya and banana - and a cup of tea. I then sat back and wrote my diary, which didn’t exactly take me very long considering the completely uneventful day I’d had. I read a little more and then retired to bed at ten-twenty, but as I was engrossed in my current book I continued reading, and didn’t settle down to sleep until twenty to one.

Description
Another Hat Mae Nam sunset. Looking back after all this time it seems that's all I did on Ko Samui!

Day 48 - Friday 13 March

Hat Mae Nam

Today was the epitome of a lazy, relaxing day on an idyllic tropical island and I did absolutely nothing to alert the triskaidekaphobia gods into inflicting any unfortunate events upon me. I slept really well and woke up at about eight o’clock, not getting up until an hour later. It was already a glorious, sunny morning as I breakfasted on tomato and onion omelette with toast and a cup of coffee, after which I sat down in the sunshine to write quite a long letter home to Mum. Once I had finished I asked if my laundry was back yet, but was told that it would not be until this evening.

I returned briefly to my bungalow to put my boots on before setting off on a walk into Mae Nam town to post my letter. Having done that, I wandered all the way through the town and then back again to the crossroads. From there I took the road down to the beach, removed my boots and socks and walked back to the Friendly Bungalows along the beach. I then sat down in the sunshine once more to read until lunchtime.

For lunch I had a large and excellent tuna salad before sitting back down in the sun to read once more, giving myself plenty of time to properly digest my lunch before going for a swim. Because I had sent my proper trunks to the laundry I had to go swimming in my green shorts, which was no real problem as they were basically the same design in any case. There was a small sandy ledge just by the shoreline, followed by a narrow strip of large rocks, some of which were covered in slippery seaweed, before reverting back to a soft, sandy seabed once more. I only had to go about twenty feet from the shore before the water was up to the level of my neck. The sea was lovely and warm and I spent an hour or so swimming and floating around before returning to the beach. It had grown quite cloudy by this time so I lay down on the beach without worrying too much about getting sunburnt.

After a while I got bored with that and went back into the sea to wash the sand off and then returned to my bungalow for a shower. At first I stood under the water still wearing my T-shirt and shorts, giving them a good wash, before stripping off and having a thorough wash and shampoo to get rid of all the sand, followed by a shave. As I still didn’t have my towel or any other clothes I had no option but to dry myself as best as I could with just a flannel and then wrung out my shirt and shorts as well as I could before putting them back on and returning to sit in the sun to read some more and to dry off.

Once I was virtually dry I walked eastwards along the beach as far as Laem Sai, all the time trying to pick out the softest sand. It was strange because in some places the sand was wonderfully soft, in others really quite coarse, but with no seemingly logical pattern. Once I reached the sandy promontory that marks the eastern extent of Hat Mae Nam I could see all the way around to Laem Sum Rang, the most northerly point on Ko Samui, and its Big Buddha statue, at this distance looking no bigger than little fingernail sized. It was also apparent that the beach immediately to the east of Laem Sai was the haunt of the nudist sunbathers, for everywhere I looked there were male and female bodies lying on the beach, completely naked. Not wishing to be thought of as a Peeping Tom, I decided against continuing my walk and turned around to make my way back to Friendly Bungalows.

I retrieved my book, camera and lenses from the hut and sat down to read whilst waiting for the sun to set. There were fewer clouds about this evening but the sunset and its afterglow were even more spectacular than last night. My photography completed I asked again about my laundry. It was still not back but the pretty girl with the glasses, Mama’s daughter I think, and who had, incidentally, had her hair cut short today, told me it should be here in about ten minutes. As I sat waiting for it to turn up I got talking to a group of four fellow English travellers; three girls and a guy. Two of the girls were working in or around Bangkok, one as a nurse at a home for handicapped children and the other as an administrator on a one year project for a Christian charitable concern. The nurse was leaving tomorrow but the administrator, who had been asking me all the questions and who was quite attractive, was staying until Monday with her friend, the third girl. The guy didn’t really say very much but I got the impression that he also worked for the same charity. After twenty minutes my washing arrived, all present and correct and neatly pressed and folded. I gratefully returned to my bungalow, had another shower and then dressed in clean T-shirt and trousers, the latter necessary because the bugs seemed to be especially active this evening.

When I returned to the restaurant area the group of four were all together, eating dinner, so I didn’t feel that I should butt in on them and sat down at another table to decide on my own dinner. I ordered lemon soup with prawns and a bowl of plain rice. The soup was mildly spicy and absolutely delicious. The food here might be a bit on the expensive side but it was consistently very good. I finished off with a large plateful of fresh fruit - pineapple, papaya and banana - and a cup of tea. I then sat back and wrote my diary, which didn’t exactly take me very long considering the completely uneventful day I’d had. I read a little more and then retired to bed at ten-twenty, but as I was engrossed in my current book I continued reading, and didn’t settle down to sleep until twenty to one.