We get down to the beach through some weird Monkey themed walkway. Things are preeeeety dead. Crazy. Koh Samui and the neighboring island Koh Pangan are some of Thailands infamous party islands. The latter hosts the much hyped half and full moon parties that backpackers worldwide flock towards to rave up and go bonkers. There is no sign of that vibe here currently, they are taking the mourning period of the king very very seriously it would seem.
The beach is gorgeous, soft white sand. The water is warm and relaxing. We take a nice stroll for a bit. Down the beach a ways we see a group of fire spinners doing their thing and like moths we head directly there.
The fire spinners are posted up outside of the non-esri themed Ark Bar. I’d looked up this place before the trip and it seems to have one of the craziest night life vibes around. It is also a hostel. I would say if your intentions are to hit Koh Samui after the King’s mourning period and blow it up on the party scene this would be the place to do it. Being directly on the beach and the proximity to the Green Mango night club make it the probably the primo spot for party going backpackers.
Here’s a shot heading into the bar area. Note the fire spinner in the background launching a massive vortex of sparks off in every direction. Pretty rad. The music was subdued downtempo house beats and things were fairly quiet which I would think is a large departure from the boots and pants dance parties that most likely go down here any other time.
We have a seat and order up a bucket of gin and tonic. It is super stiff, each sip is a pine forest to the liver. Our moods lighten accordingly.
We take in the fire spinning for a bit but we’re kind of tired still from the full days travel and so decide to just take it easy, grab a few beers from 7-11 and head back to the room. My itchiness seems to be spreading all over and it’s pretty uncomfortable so the room sounds perfect to me.
On the way back we spot this anti-durian sign which remind me of the hot sewage ice cream we had in Hong Kong. Durian is naaasty.
We grab some drinks at 7-11 and some I don’t even know what flavors of chips for a late night snack.
Looks like someone already took my bar idea for the island..
We watch this monkey hump a pole for a bit but a lightning storm is rolling in so we fast track it back to our room.
As soon as we get in a massive thunder storm erupts and torrential rains kick in with high winds to match. Damn, it is really coming down. We have a few beers and take it in but the sleepiness is for real and we hit the hay after our first round.
Just before hitting the sack my itchiness is now unbearable. No one else has a single bug bite. I roll up my shorts to look at my thigh. It’s covered in massive welts and I’m struck by a harrowing epiphany, “Holy fuck Queenie, I think I have what you have!”