Day trip around Ko Samui

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We woke up early today for a big day touring around Koh Samui. We got up around 7AM and already it was hot enough for a swim. We had some breakfast, which was pretty terrible and got picked up from reception just after 8AM. We had a bit of a drive picking up other people who were also doing the tour then we headed for our first stop. We arrived at a strange area with a statue of a giant happy Buddha, a statue of a woman with 14 arms and a few temples. Our tour guide introduced himself and told us to have a look around. We took some photos of the Buddha then took our shoes off and entered the impressive temple. The inside on the temple was beautifully painted in stories of the past, there were also a few people praying to a monk. When they left the monk wanted us to get a photo with him, so Hannah and I took turns in a photo with the monk.

We left and went to have a look at the statue of the woman with 14 arms. It was a strange statue and had load of information at the base but since none of us understood Thai, we had no idea what it stood for. By now it was time to get going, we put our shoes back on and headed back to the van. But not before having a good look around the gift shop there. Our next stop was the most visited attraction on Koh Samui, the Golden Buddha. Covered in gold he sat atop a short climb of stairs overlooking this part of Koh Samui. Before we went up the stairs we took our shoes off, the ground was so hot that trying to avoid the dark tiles and stepping on the white ones was the easiest way to go up. Hannah was too hot and waited at the bottom while I went up and got some photos. It was a great view from up the top though, and from this point you could also see Koh Phangan, another island which we were going to in a few days. We came back down and got back in the van to the next stop on the tour.

We stopped at a viewpoint of Chaweng Beach, from here we had incredible view of the beach. While looking for our hotel we took some photos and bought an icy-pole before it was time to move on again. The place we went to was another famous tourist attraction, grandfather and grandmother rocks. We got out of the van and walked down a small street full of stores. We came to these two strange rock formations very similar to the male and female sex organs. We took some photos of these weird rocks then made back for the van. Next was a short drive and we came to see a monkey show, which at first Hannah and I were a little skeptical about. They showed us how the monkey ran up into the tree and threw down coconuts then came back down, it was very impressive. We then each got a photo with the monkey on our arm and sat around drinking fresh coconut milk straight out of the coconut.

After we finished our coconut milk (Hannah drank most of ours) we went back to the van and continued on. We stopped at the temple of the mummified monk where mummified human remains were kept in an air tight container. Many people came to pray while we were there so we quickly got in a couple of photos and went to check out the other temple around the corner. Another quick look around before we had to move on. We went to have a look at some waterfalls which many locals came to swim in. Coincidently they did elephant treks here and as soon as we arrived they were all over us, persuading us to go. We wouldn’t have done but it was something that I wanted to do while in Thailand so we did. We jumped on the elephant and had a guy take us around this small track and back. Then whole way he took photos with my camera which I was a bit worried about but at the end he gave it back, and asked for a tip, he suggested 500B. I couldn’t believe he wanted so much, we gave him 20B, got off and headed down to check out the waterfall. It was quite impressive, there were plenty of locals swimming around, jumping into this dark rocky water, but it looked kind of dangerous to me. Some of the other tourists were swimming around but we dipped our feet in and that was enough. We went back to the van and continued on.

Our last stop for the day was at Nathon Town which was the main town on Koh Samui. By this time it was mid-afternoon and we were extremely hot and just wanted to go back for a swim. We had a little look around, Hannah bought a skirt then we went back to the van and waited for the others. They eventually came and we started the long drive back to Chaweng Beach. We got back to the resort and had a swim and relax around the pool before thinking about what we would do for dinner. The answer was Prego, yes it was that good, we were heading back for a third time, and couldn’t wait. After another delicious meal we walked along the beach back to Montien House. It started pouring on the way back and all the restaurants were frantically bringing the tables, including customers inside. Once we got back to the room we went straight to sleep.

Accommodation:
Montien House

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Photos

Around Ko Saumi
An impressive temple on our tour around Ko Samui.

Around Ko Samui
Peaceful temple grounds around Ko Samui

Around Ko Samui
A massive 'Happy Budda' around the temple grounds

Around Ko Samui
A 14 armed statue at the temple grounds.

Around Ko Samui
The incredible Golden Budda, up close.

Around Ko Samui
The Golden Budda, the most visited attraction of Ko Samui

Around Ko Samui
The lookout point and amazing view of Chaweng Beach.

Around Ko Samui
Our view while elephant trekking through the rainforest.

Around Ko Samui
Locals swimming at the base of a huge waterfall