Weekend on Koh Samet

The beach!

Our first weekend of BIOCEP was a planned trip to Koh Samet, a tropical island off Thailand's (north-) eastern coast, in the Gulf of Thailand. It was intended as a time for us to decompress, sleep off our jet lag, and get to know each other in a beautiful setting before we began our rigorous two weeks of coursework and site visits.

The boat ride to Koh Samet!
From left to right: Risa, Alex,
Bao (awesome Thai student), boatman.

It was all that and more. Our journey began Friday morning, as we loaded up a big bus and began the five-hour trip to the coast. We boarded a small ship under stormy skies, and shrieked and giggled our way through one of the choppiest boat rides I've ever taken. The real surprise, however, was waiting for us at the end of this trip. As we pulled nearer into shore, I leaned out into the salty spray, unable to locate the dock. We drew nearer and nearer, and no place to disembark appeared. Finally, the motor cut out and we glided the last few feet forward until the bottom of the boat struck the sandy sea floor. Had we beached the boat?

Apparently the polite term for it is "wet landing."
Foreground: Shirin.

To my shock, two of the boatmen suddenly hopped out of the boat into the knee-deep froth, then turned expectantly back to the boatload of people, some of whom began gathering their belongings, removing their shoes, and hopping off the side of the boat into the choppy Gulf waters! Attired in a knee-length dress and ballet flats, and lugging a large duffel bag and a small purse with my camera and ipod inside, I was not well-prepared for a dip in the sea, but there didn't seem any other way to reach the island, so I dutifully pulled off my shoes, hiked up my skirt, and prayed that my electronics would make it ashore without disaster. They did, though I got pretty well soaked along the hem of my favorite dress.

The view from Jeb's.

We stayed at a place called Jeb's Bungalows, a sprawling complex with accommodations, food, and entertainment all mingling and eventually spreading right out onto the white sand at the water's edge. Jeb's is located near the junction of two of Koh Samet's most popular beaches: Hai Sai Kaeo, famous for its crystal white sands, and Ao Hin Khok, which is apparently well-known for its oddly-shaped rock formations (see photos below).

Some of the cabins.

Our cabins were nestled in amongst the island's thick tropical foliage, on a hill rising up above the shoreline.

Our cabin!

We shared cabins with our assigned roommates: mine is Jen from Columbia, a total sweetheart on her first trip abroad! She rows for Barnard, so I was able to draw on my old roommate's rowing experience to talk about races and whatnot. We had a great time together... a good thing, since there was only one bed in the tiny cabin! Our neighbors were Janice and Risa, whose departure we could always detect via the telltale bang of the door followed by long fits of hissing noise as they coated themselves in mosquito repellent.

Me with Risa in our almost-matching black bathing suits!

The first day dawned bright and early, although I missed sunrise, having slept (albeit discontinuously) for nearly 12 hours straight since 7pm the night before. This is the first time I have ever managed to sleep off jet lag like this, and I hope it is a harbinger of future events, because it was wonderful! We set off early for the beach after a huge buffet breakfast, armed with sunscreen and mosquito repellent and decked out in bikinis.

A bunch of us on the beach!
From left to right: Janice, Mickey, Risa,
Ana, Gwen, Ariana, me, Jen (my roommate).

I kept joking that I liked the white sand at the beach because it made me look tan, but now that I'm looking at this picture, I'm not sure any more. I do seem to be the same pearly hue as the beach. Sigh. At any rate, we floated in the water for quite some time, bobbing in waves that were much gentler and more serene than yesterday's. We were disturbed only once, by a figure attired from head to foot in dark rags, sweeping the shore with a metal detector. Only his eyes were visible, and those only slightly so. The really weird thing was that after passing us in one direction on the shore, he passed back walking almost shoulder-high in the water, quite near to our group! The Thai student, Pao, with whom we were swimming, told us that the man was likely covered as he was to avoid too much sun exposure since in Thailand as in much of Asia, white skin is greatly valued. I thought it was probably because he was a ninja, though no one seemed to think much of this hypothesis.

The metal detector ninja!

Eventually, we made our way back to shore and lounged on the beach. After reading and chatting for a while, being approached several times by vendors offering Thai massages and henna tattoos, I spotted the type of vendor I had been hoping for: fruit vendors! Laden with heavy baskets overflowing with tropical fruits, or sometimes with grills holding legs of roast chicken and cooked crabs, these men and women patrol the beach, bringing sustenance to lazy sunbathers. It was exactly what we wanted.

One of the fruit vendors.

I realized on the plane to Hong Kong that Thailand is famed for three of my most favorite things in the whole world: beautiful flowers, oil massages, and delicious tropical fruit. I'd like to think that I was partly the motivating force behind the enormous fruit feast we all shared for lunch that day on the beach, since I nearly tackled the first fruit-seller I saw and purchased an insane amount of fruit: thai coconut, guava, pineapple, and mini-bananas (note coconut and bananas in picture below). Others, inspired by the wealth of gorgeous fruit the seller revealed in his baskets, added to this abundance with pomelo slices and watermelon. Shirin turned up just a bit later, laden with green custard apples, jackfruit, and other exotic fare, which added to the big bags of santol and salaks which Gwen had earlier purchased and taken to the beach with us. I couldn't believe how few in our group had ever eaten guava (which I ate almost daily last summer in Taiwan), and I was thrilled to pass around slices of the firm green fruit and its little packet of chili dipping powder for all to try.

Thai coconut woohoo!

Later that day, Janice, Jen, Risa and I went exploring down the shore. The path along the coast wound through sand, mud, and water (thank goodness I brought my flip-flops!) and eventually delivered us to a semi-secluded stretch of shoreline I came to think of as "our cove."

The path along the beach.

For some reason I always seem to take many photos of paths when I travel... not too sure why I like them so much, but I do. Anyway, while traveling this particular path, we passed some other interesting sights along the way...

Typical small Buddhist shrine.

These mini-shrines seem to be quite prevalent in Thailand -- most of the houses in our neighborhood in Bangkok have one, and communal ones are often to be found on the side of the street between shops, or on the beach, like this one. They are always colorfully decorated with ribbons, garlands, and flowers, and nearly always house small offerings of water, fruit, and flowers in their center. I can't wait to learn more about how Thai Buddhist practices differ from those in China and Taiwan.

Crab hole.

The crabs would scuttle up along the beach and then disappear into tiny holes surrounded by perfectly cylindrical pellets of dug-out sand.

Obligatory shot of gorgeous flowers.

Come on, could you resist taking a picture of flowers as beautiful as these? Click on the picture to see the drops of water glistening on the petals... amazing.

We found a giant jellyfish stranded on the sand.

Finally...

Our cove!

Jen and I splashed around in the water while Janice and Risa re-applied bug spray and sunscreen.

Looking to sea from our cove.

Eventually, we decided to return, making plans for the evening and following morning. No sooner had discussion turned toward a common longing for one of the famous Thai massages available on the beach, than a group of four masseuses approached us and began offering their services! It was perfect. As I lay there in the sun, with the sound of the waves in my ears and the sweet smell of eucalyptus oil hanging in the air above me, I would have pinched myself to make sure it was all real -- if I hadn't been so blissfully comfortable!

Glowing lights at the Silver Sands cafe.

Later that night, the crew convened at the nearby Silver Sands cafe for dinner with Brian (one of the Mahidol University organizers) and the Thai students. The trees were strung with glowing lanterns that reminded me strongly of a certain series of chandeliers from the 2008 Ikea catalogue. After that, Jen, Risa, Janice and I set off with Yuji and Henni, two of the Mahidol University students, to a nearby nighttime festival. We played carnival games and ate the Thai version of a sweet Indian bread called roti as firecrackers dazzled the air overhead. Thai fire dancers twirled flaming orbs and sparklers on the sand, the dark waves seeming to catch glittering bits of fire on their surface.

At the carnival.

All too soon, it was time for bed and then the dawn of our last morning on the island. After another luxurious buffet breakfast, the girls and I headed back towards "our cove" for one last massage (this time, head and foot) before departure. It was time to head back to Bangkok to let the real business of BIOCEP begin.