Welcome to Ko Samui!

So, we are backpackers you know. And we rough it most of the time. In order for us to be on sabbatical this long, it's a delicate balance of knowing where to skimp and knowing where to invest. Transport= invest. We NEED to get places safely. HOWEVER, we did experience a travel day from hell that almost sent us into a meltdown. If a yoga retreat wasn't on the receiving end of the day, we would have been crying! I'll sum it up: a 40 minute ride in the back of a pickup truck stuffed with other backpackers and of course, backpacks. Another pick-up truck ride to the bus station. (which is utterly insane, btw). A nice bus ride for the next 4 hours, it was air conditioned, which was awesome. BUT, the driver & his "assistant" decided that it would be a great idea to blast really awful Thai boy-band music on full blast. Now, one thing that I've learned is that the Thai's really enjoy their music LOUD, and even distorted. It doesn't matter. It just has to be loud. I took about as much as I could handle (having a flashblack from another bus ride when we were subjected to the Scorpions LOUD for 2 solid hours) and asked the "assistant" if he wouldn't mind turning it down "just a little". If looks could kill, I would have been dead, dead, dead. But, silver lining is that he turned it completely OFF. (happy girls!)Basically thrown off the bus at the next stop, shuffled to a waiting area, then shuffled off to another bus for another hour or so....Then we took a ferry for about an hour and 1/2....then a taxi ride to our resting place for an eve. When we landed we were greeted with coconuts with straws and a gorgeous little bungalow called "Easy Times". Yes, we'll take it! Thank you very much. We're NOT complaining, at all. Just appreciative of our destination!