Invitation to Ko Samui

January 10, 2019

Invitation to Ko Samui

A couple of nights ago I couldn't sleep. Joshua, my first couchsurfer of 2019, was already sleeping so we had the lights turned off. So I got on my phone to mess around a little. That's when I saw the invitation to go to Ko Samui from Yura! Yura and Kate were my last couchsurfers of 2018. They were hitchhiking through Hatyai on their way to Penang for a visa run. At that time I was sick and they brought me some food and medicine. That made my life easier.

When they were here they had asked me to come visit them on their sunny island of Samui. I just smiled and said that I would like that. But when I saw Yura's invitation the other night, it turned it into a reality that seemed much closer at hand.

Yura produces music as well. He performs music too and I failed to get a snapshot of his live performance set up as he demonstrated for me in my room. Basically he has multiple instruments going on at the same time. A drum in between his knees, and a melodica in his mouth keeps him rocking. And with percussive shakers on his ankles, he's quite the solo band. But during their only night here, they went out to scope out spots to display his sound. I had written them a message in Thai on cardboard about where they were from and what they were doing. By the way, they come from Siberia.

So I am currently planning a trip to the island where Yura and I will collaborate on music projects and we will continue our dialogue where we left off. He said I should bring my laptop so we can use it for the production part of our collaboration. He will provide a sound recorder. Here is a link to his music on soundcloud. I'm listening to it right now as I write this.

These are the skies and waters on the way to the island.

That photo was taken on my previous trip to Ko Samui. That was in April of 2017, just weeks before moving to my new home in Hatyai. That time I went to the island for the weekend. There was a music festival called Paradise Island Music Festival. I went to volunteer at the festival and had a fantastic time!

I used Couchsurfing to find a host. He was a Polish guy my age doing business on the island. Piotr owns a restaurant called The Hungry Wolf. I slept upstairs back-to-back with his Burmese server boys. He always provided delicious pizzas. Yum. I would like to revisit his restaurant on my upcoming trip.

This is inside The Hungry Wolf restaurant.

And this is me with the hungry wolf himself!

One point along the mountainous trail with the falls running down.

The view at the top.

The viewer.

It was a wet climb!

The Festival was put on by a gang of internationals. I really enjoyed meeting new people and listening to the live music. Some of the big names that I recognized included Goldie, The Pharcyde, and The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band. My duties included following the organizers around and doing what they asked for which was usually carrying things around. I got to hear their stories from their years of having put festivals on. At one point my duties expanded to translator when they needed to get some messages across to the Thai helpers at the venue in which the festival was held.

I met an artist called Karma from Bangkok. We were both wearing rainbow coloured clothing so it was only natural that we became friends. She was performing visual art at the festival. She had Indian descent. And at one point when I was sitting with her, a guy in his 40s came, sat down next to us, and introduced himself by saying that he felt guided to come say hi to us two. We soon found out that this guy, Murat, was Turkish who had just spent the last three years learning Pranayama techniques in India. And to add to the synchronicity of us three coming together, all three of us play flute. I should note that I am a complete beginner. Later on, Karma ended up inviting the two of us to visit some good friends of hers living on the island.

The stage at the venue.

Another look at the stage.

These decks certainly got my attention.

Karma photographing her own work.

Karma and I.

I like this DJ's swift reaction to my photographing him.

The Paradise Bangkok Molam International Band.

On my first day on the island, Piotr had brought me to Na Mueang Waterfalls (น้ำตกหน้าเมือง). And on my last day there, we went to visit Hin Lad Waterfalls (น้ำตกหินลาด) just before I got on the ferry to take me to mainland. On our way to the waterfalls on the last day, Piotr got a flat tire on his motorcycle and we had to push it up the road to a mechanic. It was fixed in about 20-30 minutes. So I didn't get a chance to see many places on the island. I just saw these two waterfalls due to my short time there and spending two full days volunteering at the festival. I remember thinking that one needed to spend more time on this island. And it's great that I have another chance to revisit!