Arrived in Koh Samui

Yesterday I left Bangkok and flew to Koh Samui.....

It all went quite smoothly and my fear of flying is almost gone (except for takeoff and landing, I still have a little panic). When I arrived in Koh Samui, I immediately noticed that the air here is much better.

I took a 'shared taxi' to my hotel, the Rich Resort Beachside, for 170 Baht.... On the way there, we had to pass through Chaweng and we were stuck in traffic for about 1.5 hours.... The traffic here was incredible too...

The hotel where I'm staying is located in Lamai. When I arrived, it was already dark. The staff was very friendly, but I had to pay the full rent for 22 nights immediately. Since it said on the internet that I could pay with a Visa card, I was shocked to find out that they wanted 5 percent for credit card payment... Since that was too much for me, I left my suitcase and went to the ATM. The fee for this was only about 5€ instead of 20€...

The first room I checked into had a balcony, but it was very old... The safe was almost falling off the wall, and the balcony was right next to the smoking area, which was only separated from my balcony by a knee-high wall... In addition, the balcony door was so unstable that all it would take is one strong pull to enter the room... To make matters worse, the huge balcony led straight to the bar where loud music was playing...

So I was concerned about my safety and the safety of my belongings, and asked for a different room. Now I have a room without a balcony, but it is huge and has a very nice view of the palm trees. Plus, it's quiet here.. I'm still doubting whether the safe is really safe, but I guess I'll have to take the risk now...

Since it was very late yesterday, I only went to the beach bar right across the street... There was a fire show going on, and everything seemed very touristy... But the air is nice, the room is great..

This morning I went to have breakfast... After that, I went shopping. Since I have a fridge in my room, I stocked up on breakfast for the next few days, as I can't afford to eat out for breakfast every day...

The weather doesn't look so great today... It's supposed to rain too... But I'm still going to go to the beach and test the water...

I kind of regret not having an international driver's license now. I would have liked to rent a scooter... Oh well... Now I'll see how I can get around the island cost-effectively to explore the whole island... I have enough time...