Asia 2017 Departure… and Arrival

It seems so long ago when last Tuesday I boarded the first of four flights bound for Koh Samui, Thailand. Once again aboard First Class on Cathay Pacific and with a first class book to read on the flight. An Introduction to Stories I Tell on Dates by Paul Shirley. Shortly after departure from LAX I was all smiles with a sweet spread of caviar, champagne and all the trimmings. It bought back memories of a previous girlfriend Rebecca who introduced me to the pleasures of caviar. The personal note card from the flight crew was an added touch and something you won’t find on the American Airlines flight to Hong Kong.

Speaking of Hong Kong, the Cathay First Class lounge rejuvenated my body and soul for the next two legs of my journey. Nothing like a hot relaxing bath and shower in your own private cabana at the airport.

On this trip I decided to push on all the way to my final destination without staying the night in Bangkok. When I finally arrived at my hotel, The Library at Koh Samui’s Chaweng Beach, I had a pleasant surprise. The irony was when the driver pulled into the hotel off the busy Chaweng Beach road, I realized I had been here before and taken a photo of the exterior before it was built. Back then it was only a bamboo cube that caught my eye nine years before.

The property is very small and intimate. There is a library, of course, full of architecture and design books. It was a nice way to begin my three week vacation in the tropics of southeast Asia. It rained every morning to cool the air and this suited me just fine. Swimming in the blood red pool was unusual. The first time I went for a swim was at night and when I dove into the deep red pool it gave me chilling flashbacks of the Stanley Kubrick film “The Shining.” Remember when the elevator doors open and flood the hallways with a tidal wave of blood?! (Ha-ha, yes, I was a bit sleep-deprived and my brain not yet firing on all cylinders!)