I woke up even earlier than usual this morning. The Love Kitchen hadn’t opened yet so I decided to go for a walk before breakfast. I thought I would head to the beach to watch the sun rise, but I wasn’t sure how to get there. I wandered down the road past lovely resorts – both open and under construction. About an hour later, I ended up in the town of Chaweng, where I had gone shopping my first night.
If Koh Samui has downsides, they are the shortage of water and the lack of a modern sewage system. The same overpoweringly disgusting smells that had assaulted my nostrils every few metres by night were doing so by morning. Fortunately, I didn’t notice the stench in other parts of the island, but in Chaweng, the pervasive odor was downright disgusting.
I continued walking until I reached the outskirts of town. By then, I had been on the road for a full two hours. I hailed a cab and returned to the Absolute Sanctuary, where I breakfasted. I then spent the rest of the day the same way I had been doing for the previous few days.
After dinner, I took the shuttle back into town. My one week’s rejuvenation programme was drawing to a close, and in a couple of days I would be heading to a private villa, where I would spend two nights. I wasn’t sure where this place was located so I decided to pick up a couple of bottles of wine – just in case.
The following morning, I followed a similar routine, except that I headed in the opposite direction for my morning constitutional. This time, I didn’t walk as far, turning around after one hour, and returning to the hotel. That evening, I headed to the activities room, where “Elizabeth” was showing.
There are nightly showings of videos at the Absolute Sanctuary. I thoroughly enjoyed it and wished that I hadn’t waited until my last night to give it a try. Had I known how enjoyable it would be, I would have been there every night.
Copyright: Michael Taylor
Pictured: Absolute Sanctuary at twilight
Photo Courtesy of Absolute Sanctuary, Koh Samui, Thailand