We left Bangkok on a 6AM flight to the island of Koh Samui. The only way to get to Koh Phangan is by boat hence we had to fly to the closest boat-departing point. Our 1 hour flight with Bangkok Air was quite pleasant and we even got fed a hot breakfast. As we were beginning to descend, Jack and myself were already talking about how in just a few hours we will be lying in a hammock and sipping something alcoholic and listening to the sound of waves nearby. And as we're having this conversation the plane which almost descended enough to land suddenly gained momentum and speedily started going up and up and up... and then there was an announcement - "Ladies and Gentlemen due to bad weather conditions we're unable to land in Koh Samui and are going to be landing in Phuket International Airport instead"... And so we spent about 2 hours in Phuket waiting for weather conditions to improve in Samui so we could land. And at about 10:30AM (instead of the scheduled 7:00AM) we did indeed land in rainy and cloudy Koh Samui. After which we caught a speed boat to Koh Phangan.
The island is relatively small and the tourist population here is mainly budget travellers and backpackers... so there are a number of parts in the roads that are just mud. And considering the fact that it's been raining for a good part of the last couple of months the mud is quite thick and in places there are trenches that the water made and these are a couple of meters deep. Right at the pier we got surrounded by people offering accomodation, and so we went to look at a couple of those but most of them were a bit scary. Now whoever was telling me that Thailand only has drop box toilets - it's not true. Even the shabiest bungalows have normal western style toilets, however the water level is these is quite high as Jack pointed out on a number of occasions.
We spent most of the day looking for a place and even got driven around for free by a german guy Stephan in his suzuki jeep (there's heaps of hitchhiking going on here and the deal is that you jump in the back of a ute type arrangement, which is just too cool for school). Stephan has a Thai girlfriend and spent 3 years here operating a restaurant. From our very short time here it seems that there are quite a few people who come here and just decide to stay since it's so temping. Finally we found the place where we're now... it's called Sea Scene and for a reasonably expensive here 550 Baht a night (which is about $18.3 AUD) we have a pretty big bungalow with a separate toilet and shower (and unlike Bangkok the shower is actually not over the toilet which is pleasant). There are coconut palm trees in the very close vicinity and the beach is only a couple of steps away.
Our days are very difficult here from such a large variety of things we need to get done. Yesterday for example we got up at about 11AM, walked about 27 steps to the restaurant to have breakfast, had a swim and a lie down on the beach reading, then had a nap in the bungalow, then got up to eat again, followed by a screening of 'The Good, The Bad and The Ugly' - briefly interrupted by another trip to the restaurant for an evening snack, and finally went to sleep again. It's a hard life this life on a tropical island!
Yes, the excess water in the toilet thing is something Australians have trouble adapting to in tropical/island climates. They actually have more rain than they need - something very foreign to Aussies.
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Oh and i also find it disconcerting with the shear quantity of water and how close you are to said water when sitting. US toilets are even weirder, combining extra water, strange shape and weird suctiony thing they do due to above-said strange shape.