Beyond Samui
I'm still on Samui at the moment, having endured a rather less than enjoyable case of food poisoning or similar a couple of days ago and now gradually getting over it. I've just relocated today from the peaceful but for the solo traveller rather uninteresting Maenam to the much busier and happening Chaweng Beach. I'm not going to be jumping into the fray just yet though, I still need a bit of time for things to right themselves, but there's a lot more people around here I can potentially chat to, which is the main thing.
The island pace is proving just fine. This place has it's quirks, such as the ubiquity of mopeds which I've even seen children driving about, the funny flatbed converts which comprise the island's privateer-style bus service and that nearly every travel agents doubles as an internet cafe, which suits me, and from one of which I'm industriously at work online right now.
While in developed Chaweng Beach the tourist and local businesses are very much separate, in the much smaller Maenam village they were side by side and it proved interesting to note the constrasts between similar services for locals and their equivalent for visitors. Nowhere is this more stark than in eating places. Throughout Asia locals can be found in austere white interiored places, unfiltered fluorescent strips glaring down upon them, wolfing down a bowl of whatever the local noodle or rice based meal might be on seating that features such an absence of ergonomic design that only a hardy posture could withstand anything more than a short stay. Not so the tourist venues though which just like at home clearly spend considerable time, money and effort on the appearance and ambience of the venue. Homely for the likes of me, but curious that such details are deemed unimportant in this part of the world.
Now it's time to look forward, and to be honest despite the semi-restful time I've been having here, I'm still feeling little increase in enthusiasm to tackle any more of Asia and am looking now to go one step beyond and head down under - I am in the neighbourhood after all. I'll see what I can see between now and Christmas and weigh up a the option of a full on downunder trip in the near future, as pricier than Asia they may be, the comments from fellow travellers couldn't have been more positive. Furthermore I think being in an altogether familiar sort of place after getting on for six months on the road in some very foreign climes could be an absolute joy and more the sort of change I've been hankering for.
This reminds me of an particularly un-PC joke told by the 7-or so year old daughter of an Aussie told to a group of us having dinner in Tibet. It goes along these lines: There's a Chinaman, an Aussie and an Irishman in a plane. The pilot calls out that the plane's in trouble and unless it loses some weight it might crash. The Chinaman says: I'll throw out the rice as we've plenty more of that back in China. The Irishman says I'll throw out the potatoes as we've plenty more of those in Ireland. The Australian goes and throws out the Chinaman.
Make of that what you will about contemporary Australia, lol!
The island pace is proving just fine. This place has it's quirks, such as the ubiquity of mopeds which I've even seen children driving about, the funny flatbed converts which comprise the island's privateer-style bus service and that nearly every travel agents doubles as an internet cafe, which suits me, and from one of which I'm industriously at work online right now.
While in developed Chaweng Beach the tourist and local businesses are very much separate, in the much smaller Maenam village they were side by side and it proved interesting to note the constrasts between similar services for locals and their equivalent for visitors. Nowhere is this more stark than in eating places. Throughout Asia locals can be found in austere white interiored places, unfiltered fluorescent strips glaring down upon them, wolfing down a bowl of whatever the local noodle or rice based meal might be on seating that features such an absence of ergonomic design that only a hardy posture could withstand anything more than a short stay. Not so the tourist venues though which just like at home clearly spend considerable time, money and effort on the appearance and ambience of the venue. Homely for the likes of me, but curious that such details are deemed unimportant in this part of the world.
Now it's time to look forward, and to be honest despite the semi-restful time I've been having here, I'm still feeling little increase in enthusiasm to tackle any more of Asia and am looking now to go one step beyond and head down under - I am in the neighbourhood after all. I'll see what I can see between now and Christmas and weigh up a the option of a full on downunder trip in the near future, as pricier than Asia they may be, the comments from fellow travellers couldn't have been more positive. Furthermore I think being in an altogether familiar sort of place after getting on for six months on the road in some very foreign climes could be an absolute joy and more the sort of change I've been hankering for.
This reminds me of an particularly un-PC joke told by the 7-or so year old daughter of an Aussie told to a group of us having dinner in Tibet. It goes along these lines: There's a Chinaman, an Aussie and an Irishman in a plane. The pilot calls out that the plane's in trouble and unless it loses some weight it might crash. The Chinaman says: I'll throw out the rice as we've plenty more of that back in China. The Irishman says I'll throw out the potatoes as we've plenty more of those in Ireland. The Australian goes and throws out the Chinaman.
Make of that what you will about contemporary Australia, lol!
posted by Daniel at 7:10 am
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