Location: Koh Samui, Thailand

We all woke up early enough this morning to grab a quick breakfast and SADLY say our goodbyes. Annie, Sean and Orlagh are heading to Koh Tao today and if I had more time I would absolutely have gone with them. I’m not emotional about it at all, why do you ASK!? They’re all so easy to be around and quick witted, which makes for a constantly fun time. Annie was still telling jokes through her tears, of course. Unfortunately I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye to Moss this morning but I made sure Annie told him goodbye for me! He definitely helped me appreciate Koh Pha Ngan in a way that I wasn’t expecting. All you ever hear about the island is ‘party party party’ but it’s beautiful and lively in a way that has nothing to do with parties at all.

After giving out some teary-eyed hugs I taxied off to the pier with Jacob, who is also heading to Koh Samui and thank god we agreed to meet up for dinner because we had separate boats and I just don’t think I can handle saying goodbye to everybody in one morning. I ran into Ethan and Nina on the boat for about one minute on my way off and I was just a disaster trying to keep myself together emotionally after seeing more people that I hated saying bye to. I find it difficult to continuously leave to people I really like, but I suppose that’s just part of the experience.

It was windy and rainy when we docked into Koh Samui and it was just such a pathetic fallacy I almost had to laugh. Of course this is the first day I’ve seen proper rain in awhile!

I wasn’t going to let the weather (or my mood!) stop me from exploring my last island so after checking into my hostel and grabbing a quick bite to eat I headed up to Wat Phra Yai. A large golden Buddha sat on a teeny tiny island north of Koh Samui, bridged by a causeway lined with little shops. Bells behind the Buddha rang in the wind and looked out over the sea towards Koh Pha Ngan.

I walked along the side of the road back towards the main island, intent on grabbing a taxi or a tuk tuk but every time one beeped at me asking if I wanted a ride I waved it by. I ended up walking for two and a half hours along the coast, thinking about the time I’ve spent in Thailand now that it’s coming to a close. It’s been so wonderful to explore a country so thoroughly. Usually when I travel to a new country there’s like three or four places I want to see… but here? Dozens.

And it’s not quite over yet! I found a beautiful relaxing massage parlour overlooking the ocean and decided to treat myself to a really good foot massage. All the dancing on Koh Pha Ngan had left my feet a bit swollen and sore, and after almost three hours of walking my legs were feeling a little wobbly too. Foot massages should really be called leg massages here because they only spend like a third of the time actually touching your feet and the rest of the time on your calves and shins, which is pretty perfect for a backpacker! I’ve been so spoiled being able to get massages constantly that I’m not sure how I’m going to travel without them.

The historical Fisherman’s Village night market was right around the corner, so Jacob came to meet me for a little perusing and some dinner. The low rustic houses had been turned into boutique shops, hipster cafés and trendy restaurants with side alleys containing market stalls and outdoor seating areas. Lights strung across the alleys gave everything a warm glow and you could hear the ocean lapping onto Bophat Beach nearby. The main section of the market is apparently only open on Fridays so we ended up walking pretty far as we swapped travel stories, eventually stopping at a nondescript Thai restaurant for some green curry. Jacob flies out in the morning to Chiang Mai, so we parted ways with a hug and I just CAN’T SAY ANYMORE GOODBYES TODAY.

I walked towards the hostel bar thinking maybe a little glass of wine on the beach side would help me wind down from an emotional day. As I padded down the lane I saw that the hostel was hosting a party at the bar that was wild enough it apparently warranted them purposefully lighting the bar on fire.

Yeah that’s gonna be a no for me tonight! I literally saw the fire and turned on my heel in one smooth motion. Instead I crawled into my cubby bed and resolved to find a relaxing spot to spend some time tomorrow.

Sav