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Published: April 10th 2009
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The day after our snorkelling trip on Koh Tao we boarded another ferry, this time to Koh Samui, the largest and most developed of the three main islands off the south east coast. Koh Samui seems to divide opinions with some backpackers turning their noses up at it's chain shops and restaurants with others waxing lyrical about it's gorgeous beaches and full-on nightlife. As we were nearby and had very little timetable to stick to we thought we'd check it out for ourselves. The lonely planet, (which we have nicknamed either The Yellow Bible or the Lying Planet, depending on how accurate it is at any given time) seemed to sit on the fence and said that both groups have a point.
Upon arrival the ferry company offered a free transfer to the guesthouse of your choice so we asked them to take them to one of the lonely planet recommendations, Matlang Bungalows on the north end of the main beach Hat Chaweng. In this case it was definitely the yellow bible because when we arrived we paid 400 baht (8 pounds) for a room and were shown to a cute little bungalow in gardens that were attractively overgrown with
gorgeous flowers. The bungalow was also only a few seconds from the beach and a beach bar. Lovely!
Because we were still quite sunburnt the first couple of days were spent chilling at the beach front bar in our resort and avoiding the sun. Then we found out that the island has a football golf course. Yes, football golf. Golf but with footballs. Simple. We went for a game and, although we were both fairly rubbish it was great fun. As I'm a keeper and Amy is a girl we are both, by definition, hopeless at kicking footballs so we spent ages getting round the course but reasoned that we got more value for money than people who were good and went round quickly!
The main beach on Koh Samui is called Hat Chaweng and is massive. It's 6km long and is a gorgreous sweeping crescent of white sand and crystal clear emerald water that stays knee deep for a good few hundred metres out to sea. We could see people in the distance still standing at waist level. The downside of the beach is that it is very very crowded. There is barely an inch of sand
that isn't taken up by a resort, restaurant or massage parlour cashing in on the beautful stretch of sand. The main strip runs behind the beach and is full of large chain shops and restaurants, with a couple of smaller independent ones thrown in for good measure. It is a good night out but, if it weren't for the heat you could believe you were anywhere. It certainly doesn't feel very Thai. We had a couple of nights out in the strip but as we were at the very northern end of Hat Chaweng getting a cab to the main part cost the equivalent of 4 beers or our whole dinner fund so we stayed in our resort or the restaurants nearby quite a few nights too.
Near the end of our 5 days in Koh Samui we decided to treat ourselves to a Thai massage. Our resort was offering them in the beach bar for only 200 baht (4 pounds) so we went down one afternoon for an hour of being pulled into unnatural shapes and being walked on by a Thai lady. The best description we have come up with so far is "brutually pleasurable". We both
walked away feeling like jelly.
During our travels in SE Asia we have become used to the open and partially covered drains giving off odd pongs in the heat and have almost stopped noticing. However, for some reason, even thought it is one of the most developed places we have been so far, Koh Samui seems to have a real problem with it and we have started calling it Koh Smelly.
Even though I can see why people dislike Koh Smelly with its chain restaurants and over-crowded beach, it is still a lovely place to visit and Hat Chaweng road is a good night out if you don't mind Irish theme pubs and have brought some nose pegs. Also, although we only saw glimpses of it from the back of a pickup truck on the way to the pier, the other side of the island is apparently much more Thai and some small beaches still have the "island getaway" feel that Hat Chaweng lacks.
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Dil
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Football-Golf?
Hi guys Just catching on most of your entries. How hilarious is football-Golf!? Hugs Dil