There’s nothing to see. Its not a great place for tourist spots. And yet we want to be back. May be for good.

Ko Samui makes you the vagabond, the wanderer, the back-packer, even the hippy Mum always warned you about.

Ko Samui makes you want to keep walking ….the narrow streets, lined with shops, the overbearing smell of food, the splash of colours, the drunk crowd milling around, the cycles going in circles, the bikes that make a statement…

Ko Samui is not your pristine Maldives or Cairns, it’s a poorer, shabbier, gawky cousin. But isn’t dusky Draupadi always more attractive than the ivory Sita? Don’t you just love the not so perfect?

Everything happens in slow motion in Ko Samui. The town wakes up late, never goes to work, eats breakfast, opens shops, sits and talks with neighbours, drinks some, eats some more, keeps talking, a few smokes and some more food, customers, some sales, a lot of bargaining…”Swadika” …”whe a you fo” (where are you from) type of conversation with guests, music on the roadside, laughter , clapping, artificial lights on till dead of night, sleep late and yes, you guessed it, wake up late to start a lazy Ko Samui day all over.

The painting shops, they are like orchids, colourful and growing in clusters. All kinds of paintings for the discerning. Even the comics style.

I loved the painting shops. The sweaty artists who barely communicate in English. They talk well in art. Their paintings say all Ko Samui wants expressed. Dingy shops, stench of fresh paints, canvas behind canvas, hands quickly wiped on towels, one furtive look, a calculator and the deal is done. All and sundry are art lovers in Ko Samui. Shacks like Goa, like Mahabalipuram. Open, dirty, local crowd, cheap liquor, but the girls?

O yes the girls, lovely, petite fairies that serve you food, bring you drinks. You will love the girls, they exist only to please your every hunger, fulfill your every appetite, the women of the night in Ko Samui are virginal. Even their grotesque make-up cannot conceal the subcutaneous purity. They are beautiful. The beach is incidental, the big Buddha an apology, the waterfall non-existent, the shopping phenomenal, the city?

LIVING.

Don’t look to see in Ko Samui, absorb. The atmosphere. Only watch what cannot be seen, only feel what cannot be touched. Ka Samui is all in the space between the ears, know it there and you will want to be back like us. May be for good.

Draupadi – The principle female character on Mahabharat, the great Indian Epic. She had 5 husbands, could be resentful and bitter if the situation demanded.

Sita – The archetypal Indian wife. The principal character of Ramayan, the other great Indian epic. A long suffering, forever miserable soul who tolerated misfortunes with protest.

The Lotus that I want to Eat – The name of my entry is inspired by Lotus Eaters, by Somerset Maugham. It’s a story about a gentleman who visited Capri as a banker, left all, settled there and died a pauper in the Island.Its almost as if the beauty of the island killed him.

I have seen Cairn too, but that’s a story for another day.