Wooden wobbly old bridge to the Reggae pub on Koh Samui.
It was the early 1990s and I was in Thailand for the umpteenth time and had made a choice that of this vacation one week was on Koh Samui. I flew from Don Muang Airport to the beautiful Thai island where we landed on a runway which was simultaneously a landing strip and a runway.
It was an impressive and amazing sight, no arrival hall and we had all the control just outside under the homemade bamboo huts. There I was in the shade, outside on a beautiful island submitting my travel documents and waiting for my suitcase.
Finally I was able to head to the luxury beachfront Chaweng resort and what was located on what they call Chaweng beach. You have to have experienced the journey there to properly tell and believe it. At least I didn't see any asphalt and Chaweng beach was a country road of hard sand and gravel.
Checked into the beautiful resort and immediately enjoyed the peace, white sand and blue water on the beach and at the beachfront pool. Through the resort we were able to rent a moped and explore the island the next day on the old thing, but at least it drove. It was a very beautiful island with several tropical spots where you could enjoy and relax incredibly.
Had heard a bit about the famous reggae pub, which was a well-known place to hang out in the evening, with music and socializing.
The only thing was that you could reach this pub over a shaky suspension bridge that went over the swampy murky water to the open pub, that was the only option to get to this nice joint.
In the afternoon I decided to have a drink there and it seemed no problem to take my old Honda moped over the suspension bridge, it had to be possible, at least I thought so. I rode up and without even inspecting this wobbly bridge made of loose planks and rope I just rode on with the moped.
About halfway and it was not so long, I estimate about sixty meters, I could no longer control my moped, the wheels could not handle the loose boards and by the many up and down the bridge I lost my balance and fell on the right side, right into the dirty water with all its swamp plants.
There I was up to my waist in a strange Asian dirty water with lots of vermin and from my moped I only saw a piece of handlebars protruding above the water. I walked as best I could to the shore and there were some people waiting for me with a towel and they advised me to quickly take a shower behind the store.
I returned with wet sports pants and a bare torso and watched as a couple of Thai boys pulled my rented motorbike to the shore. I had a big scratch on my calf that was bleeding a bit and I thought to myself that it would be better to have it cleaned at the local clinic down the road.
A good choice and they gave me a shot and a course of antibiotics. They also told me that I should be glad that I had not run into a water snake. It could have ended much worse, now I had a scratch on my shin, a visit to the doctor and probably a high bill for the bike, a special 'Foreigner's Bill'.
I am an experience richer and what a stupid asshole I was to just take the moped up that old wooden walkway. But fortunately it all ended well, my shin got a bit thicker, I finished the pill cure and fortunately did not get any nasty tropical infections.
After a few days it was over and I could still enjoy the sea. The only thing that hurt was the bill of over 30,000 Baht for that old moped, the crooks.
The suspension bridge to the reggae pub is long gone and replaced by a stone road that you can now ride over without any problems.
Most people will probably have experienced the suspension bridge, the gravel paths and the airport nut so but it was what say, an unforgettable time and what I enjoyed then despite this laughable incident.
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