Getting Off the Beaten Track

Location: Koh Samui, Thailand

Sea|mester is all about getting off the beaten track, enjoying a semester or summer abroad in an unique kind of way. Day 21 started with early dinghy runs ashore in order to meet up with our taxi driver, Sutti, who would be shuttling us between the different onshore points of interests. From 9:30 to 14:00, the crew of Argo explored the island’s famous tourist and not so touristy spots. We saw temples with Buddhas three stories high, outlooks where Argo could be seen anchored off in the distance, huge boulders and rock formations peacefully sitting at the edge of the sea, and stunning waterfalls making a perfect midday fresh water dip. As stunning and interesting as they places are, they always seem to be on local tour guides’ lists, highlighting the one other spot in our minds. With absolutely no other tourists around, we arrived at a local temple well off the beaten track. The previous time a crew of Argo visited this temple hundreds of kids were running around enjoying the wide open courtyard at the center of the complex. This time though all was quiet, except for the lone dog and monk that hid amongst the shade of the buildings. We wandered around looking at the architecture of the buildings. Before climbing back into the taxi we made a small donation, in which the monk thanked us with delicious fruit and good luck bracelets. After the taxi dropped us off for a final time at Chaweng Beach, our tour was not yet over. Some further explored the local beach, while a few others got to see a different side of life aboard Argo and another cultural side of Thailand. With the help of Gary and Chelsey, we provisioned the boat for the next nine days. Wandering up and down the isles of the local grocery stories, we bought the stores out of bread, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and much more. Four overly stuffed grocery carts later, we made our way back to the dinghy with the help of a very nice local taxi driver and a truck. From the beached dinghy up to Argo’s deck down through the gopher hatch and finally into the fridge and fruit hammocks, Argo is once again ready to make her way south, this time as we head into Malaysia.