It took us a full day to go to Ko Samui from Phang Nga. We started our journey by a 3 hours trip from Phang Nga to Surat Thani. As the bus was packed we ended up sitting on the stairs next to the driver...this was an interesting but scary experience. On one hand we got to see better the landscapes and the road. We were amazed by what the Thai can do with their scooters, they can fit up to 3 adults and a kid on the same scooter, can carry tables, big bags, and all sorts of things...rarely wearing a helmet! On the other hand it was very scary to see how our driver was speeding, overtaking vehicles in curves, etc ... Overall it was a good experience, the bus was full of locals and it stopped often, too often (!), to drop or pick up people on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere! The bus cost 150Bh each to Surat Thani. In Surat Thani the bus stopped in one street next to a bus departing to Ko Samui for us to jump on it. They tried to make us pay 350Bh but we ended up paying the right price of 200Bh each. The bus got onto the Rajan ferry departing from Donsak, an hour drive from Surat Thani. The ferry was very old but the trip went fine. The Rajan ferries arrive in the middle of nowhere, there is the pier and nothing else. The taxi to Lamai were 400Bh and the songthaews (pick ups that are the local buses) wanted Bh100 per person when the normal price in Ko Samui is Bh50 per person...a rip off! So we decided to walk to the main road to pay the normal Bh50 per person. But it started raining so we waited a bit and when the rain stopped we started walking again trying to hitchhike this time. A guy stopped and said he will take us to the main road for the price we want...a good man! From the main road we easily caught a songthaew for Bh50 each to reach Lamai where is staying our ex-flatmate Rica for a few weeks. After meeting up with our friend we looked for a room and found a great bungalow for Bh400 with hot water (!).. we only stayed at places with cold water since Malaysia ! Happy day!
