The Pageant - Choeng Mon Beach

Vendors along Choeng Mon Beach and "my" massage hut with my bungalow jutting out just behind it.

It’s a Pageant - Choeng Mon Beach Thailand

I’ve scored this marvelous bungalow right on the beach at Choeng Mon on the island of Koh Samui, not far in distance from Chaweng, but miles apart in appeal. I don’t know how he did it, but Jeffy from Chaweng seemed to read my mind and between his limited English (actually his English was quite good) and my non existent Thai, he managed to get the perfect spot for me.

He did promise me a quiet beach and it’s not. However the beach is very pretty, white sand like powder and the luke warm sea is the gorgeous green colour seen in all the best travel brochures. At night a very romantic scene unfolds. Restaurants set up tables to replace the sun loungers and as fairy lights twinkle in the still warm evening air, people relax over dinner and couples stroll the along beach.

Massage huts line the sea shore along the length of this lovely beach and all day long people wander up and down selling all manner of things; jewelry, clothing, belts, wraps, shorts sunglasses and hats. Then there are ice-cream, corn on the cob gently roasted over naked hot coals, donut and fruit vendors, plus those selling balls and floating devices of various descriptions. The list of vendors goes on and on. I think they must be sanctioned by some higher body because they all wear red vests with numbers on them.

Walking along this beach, especially in the morning, is a social event. By the time I get back to my room I’ve said good morning to about three dozen people.

The massage ladies interest me the most. They seem to have a “hustler” and her job is to get “bums on seats”. The conversation with me goes something like,
“Good morning ma-DAM…..how are yooou this morning? Ma-DAM, you want a mas-SAGE to-day?” all said in a lilting sing-a-long voice.
My reply is polite and stock standard. “No. But thank you VERY much.” They seem to like this and usually smile and sometimes give me that lovely Thai response of a thank you, hands placed just under a slightly bowed head in the prayer position. It’s very humbling. Other times the response is a regretful look as though there won’t be any redemption for me because my skin is in shocking condition and I really should get treatment with urgency.

Yesterday morning one particularly outgoing “hustler” dressed in a red tee shirt came rushing up to me and threw her arms around me for a big hug. Well, I’m an uptight (ever so slightly!) westerner and I was quite taken aback at this display of affection from a stranger. She proceeded to ask me, as they all do, “are you married?” (The other question is “excuse me ma-dam, how old are yooou?”)

But I digress I had a dilemma. How to choose who to favour for my various treatments?
The “problem” was solved easily enough. I’m slightly away from the teeming masses on the larger beach area just around the corner but on my smaller stretch, just outside my bungalow, there are three massage huts all in a row and to get to the beach I walk between two of them. The one closest to me changed the sales pitch to “When you wanna mas-SAGE, you come to me OK?” and I found myself saying OK. After all, it would have been disloyal to ignore my closest neighbors in favour of anyone else along this colourful stretch of beach.

So that’s how, yesterday, I ended up with a two hour pampering session (and that was just for my feet and hands!) administered by two lovely Thai ladies. I lay prostrate in an open sided hut, listening to the waves crashing two metres away while my feet, after uh-um decades of neglect, received the treat of their life.

I left feeling fantastic and with lovely pink varnished finger and toe nails.

Walking the beach this morning though, the affectionate “hustler” in the red tee shirt was there. Like an adultress after a delicious night, I tried to creep past without my indiscretions being uncovered. But she rushed up to me and immediately, her face fell as she saw my feet, the skin all lovely and glowing, like new, along with flash new nail polish on my fingers and toes. In a flash, she knew that I’d been a traitor.

Ah….such is the dilemma of a decadent traveler.

What I’m loving……sitting on my deck, listening to the surf gently rolling in and watching the pageant along the beach unfold before me.

Bargain of the moment……the price I’m paying for this great spot.

Best Coffee…….this is almost a story….here goes…..Honey’s Bar is right on the beach. I’m in heaven because, the coffee is properly espressed and as a consequence it has crema. Other coffee around here is Kona style and horrid muddy stuff, but not this. It is served it in a cute cup – rather like the old Temuka pottery cups but this cup has a soft sage coloured glaze on the inside and a Thai pattern around the cup is repeated on the saucer. The accompanying sugar spoon is tiny, cute and made of wood. It’s a complete experience. Yeah….I know it – I’m sick but that’s addiction for you!

Taste sensation……the cold watermelon juice I had for breakfast – freshly juiced.

What I’m missing…..just chatting to people who know me.

What I’m reading….actually I’ve just finished Elizabeth Gilberts book “Eat, Pray, Love” and I thoroughly enjoyed it. soon, I’ll download an item I wrote before I left NZ about some of my favorite travel books.

Not sure what my next report will be about – maybe something from Bo Phut beach which I’m hoping will be my “home” for a while, but then again, I might extend my stay here - again. Bo Phut is a fishing village short way around the island.