A perfect little miniature birthday cake, decorated with five delicate plumerias, sits at the center of a low oriental table. Bunches of white and purple orchids droop over the confection like a blessing. Kavita is seated on a tatami mat covering the floor of the pagoda shaped pavilion set in the heart of pond filled with blooming lotuses. She waits, with a swiss army knife in hand, to cut her birthday cake at the stroke of midnight. Nagesh softly sings her a very happy birthday, camera in hand, leaning on one of the pyramid-shaped pillows marking the four corners of the pavilion. What an exotic birthday this is!
Our Ayuthayan style cottage built on stilts leaves no doubt in our heads that we’re in exotic Thailand. Set in the midst of lush palm trees, orchids, plumerias, and lotus ponds, our cottage at the Princess Village is a stone’s throw away from the turquoise waters of Chaweng beach. The weather is hot and humid. But not inside our fully air-conditioned luxury cottage decorated with silk drapes in rich weavings of brown, rust, and gold. Our extra large bed is prepared with pure white sheets and decorated with complimenting pillows in orange paisleys. Ancient wooden double doors lead into a step down bathroom complete with a closet and all modern amenities.
Our routine during those three romantic days at this small island is quite simple. We spend most of the morning swimming in the warm clear waters. This is followed by an utterly relaxing, and most inexpensive, hour-long massage on the beach. The ocean view massage pavilions are set up right along the waves. Somewhere in between we make time for some aromatic Thai curry generously infused with lemon grass, fresh ginger, corianders, capers, and spicy red peppers. When in Thailand, think twice before ever ordering your meals "spicy". Ever since our first fire-in-the-brain experience where we were ready to bolt to the ocean to quell the heat, we’ve safely stuck to ordering our food "mild" or "medium". Yes, this is a bunch of cast-iron-stomach-hot-spice-loving Indians talking!
A torrential downpour marks every one of our afternoons. The rains always arrive around the same time without fail, just like a postman doing his rounds. The message is to enjoy the lush surroundings from the open balcony of our cottage where a tea service awaits us. A wicker basket lined with cloth compartments containing a pot of jasmine tea and two little cups left on the table outside. We sit there watching the rain, eating our cookies, and talking about our lives. This is the first time Kavita has come to appreciate rain. In certain places, a downpour is so complimentary. Koh Samui is one of those places.
We spend our last evening celebrating the rain and soaking it in while running on the beach and frolicking in the waters. The sea transforms itself continually during a storm changing from shimmering blues to unreal aquamarine contrasting deeply against the dark gray-black sky. The sand alone remains unfazed as it silently soaks in all the water, barely turning a shade darker, hardly perturbed at all.
The markets along Chaweng beach are nothing to write home about. They overflow with fake brands of clothes, watches, sunglasses, bags, and everything else. We hate to think what Bangkok will be like. Although most of the street food promises instant death, we’re daring enough to try desert pancakes (thai crepes) with different fruit fillings from a street vendor. Fried as deeply as it is in butter and oil, we figure the germs would be long dead. Talk about four servings of desserts for under $2!
The only notable sights on the streets in the evening are groups of brightly dressed transvestites openly soliciting all "innocent" tourists that dare to cross their path. By the way, it is Nagesh who thinks they’re transvestites, while Kavita still maintains that they’re beautiful ladies going about their "business". We should also mention the Pink Lady bar showcasing "fine" ladies who offer excellent thai massages amongst other services.
The only reluctant bit of sightseeing we do is on the last morning, just a couple of hours before our flight to Phuket. We find a pair of scooter taxis and go pinion riding to see the Big Buddha. Probably the most unimpressive of all the Buddha statues that await us, or so we hope. With that we make our way to the "boutique" airport in Koh Samui which is to say a collection of scattered non-air conditioned huts one each for check-in, arrival, departure, gift shop, and café. Later, we board our "boutique" airline (Bangkok Airways) for our "boutique" flight by propellor plane to Phuket that almost gives us a "boutique" heart attack during landing.
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