E-mail interview with Alex Boylan

By R. GREER

AS part of Amazing Race 2 winner Alex Boylan’s “Around the World for Free” journey, Alex came to Koh Samui and had a wonderful time.

Samui Express e-mailed some questions asking Alex his impression of Samui and how he managed to get here.

Samui Express: In the article that we ran in the last edition, you mentioned that you wanted to come to Koh Samui but had not yet confirmed any solid plans. How did the plans finally come through for you to be able to come here? 

Alex Boylan: Well, we were in Bangkok with our host Ron and he kept saying there was no way we could leave Thailand without seeing the islands. So he shipped us off and we took an overnight train from Bangkok south and then a ferry brought us to Koh Samui. Although we have taken planes on this trip around the world...most of our travel is over land and it’s hard to get on a plane without any money. Also, we get to capture more of the country and the culture by going through all the local villages along the way.

SE: Was anyone waiting for you when you arrived?

AB: We really expected to be sleeping on the beach when we got to Koh Samui, but we put up an update on our website saying we were heading that way and that if anyone had suggestions or any hook-ups he or she should let us know.

To our surprise, when we got off the ferry there was a guy holding a sign reading “Alex Boylan.” He brought us to a small hotel on Big Buddha beach called “Secret Garden.” An expat by the name of John and his wife ran the place. They gave us a bungalow and fed us for a few days. Ninety-nine percent of the time we stay in locals’ homes so this was a real treat.

On our last night on Koh Samui we stayed with a gentleman named Frank who ran a dive shop called Infinity Diving.

SE: What were your first reactions to Samui?

AB: Samui is simply majestic. I was surprised to notice how built up the island was, but you can easily see why so many people come to the island and never leave. The fact that you have deserted beaches, quaint areas such as Fisherman’s Village as well as the extreme night life of Chaweng makes it very special. You guys have it all!

SE: What did you do while you were here?

AB: We slowed way down from our normal routine, but we did the zip lines in the interior of the island thanks to Canopy Adventures, and did a bit of sailing on a small catamaran, thanks to B1 Villas.

John took us out into Chaweng and Fisherman’s Village to get a taste of the night life and Frank showed us some local cuisine near his home.

SE: Was there anything surprising about Samui that you weren’t expecting?

AB: We were surprised at the diversity of the island. I definitely wasn’t expecting the night life to be as big as it was!

SE: How long did you stay?

AB: We where on the island for a total of 4 nights before we had to start moving on.

SE: Where did you go after you left the island?

AB: As I write this we are trying to make our way east toward Cambodia and Vietnam.

Follow the last leg of Boylan’s world journey at www.aroundtheworldforfree.com .