Ko Samui

We have made it to Ko Samui!

It took an 11 hour train journey, plus bus, and ferry ride to get here, but it seems all worth it. The train itself was not as bad as it may sound, it actually left and arrived on time, which is always good, plus the staff turn your seat into a full bed, so its easy enough to get some sleep.

When we arrived a local took us over to one side of the island, and showed us around his complex, which in fairness was one of the most perfect locations you can imagine, but it happened to be away from most of the tourist action - bars, places to eat etc. So with that in mind we moved across to Cheweng beach, which is on the other side of the island. As you can see from the pictures the beach here is fantastic, perfect white sands and the sea is baking hot!

We decided to book a beach bungalow which is actually on the beach itself, costing us about 800 baht a night, so 8 pounds each roughly. In the last couple of days we have rented some scooters to get around the island on, which are great fun. We did a tour of all the main temples, buddhas etc, which i have put some photos up of. The 'big buddha' is quite something, and some of the temples are set right on the coast, so have some amazing views.

Yesterday we took the scooters across the island, to take an elephant trek through the forest. Its not something you get to do everyday at home, so on that note it was a good experience. Its pretty high up so you get a good view, and a few branches in the head if you don't look where your going!

The elephant takes you from one waterfall up to the other, which you can then swim in before coming back. We decided to climb up the mountain to swim higher up the fall, which we were told would take 5 mins. It didnt, it took about 30mins, we got lost, found a tour guide in the middle of the forest, along with some american and thai girl, and managed to find our way eventually. The water at the top was fantastic, and welcome after the walk, as you can see in the picture.

The town here at Cheweng beach seems to have a fair bit going on too. There are lots of markets to explore and beach bars to try. The bars/hotels turn the beach into a dining room at about 5pm, so we have eaten most nights right on the beach itself, with the water on our feet!

Speaking of right on the beach, I could not resist getting a thai massage by the water. It was very relaxing, and lasted an hour- for about 4 pounds, so decent value for money too!

Were planning on going across to Ko Phangan, which is a smaller island about 20mins away from here in the next couple of days, so i will put up some news when i have some... untill then im off back to the beach!

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Part of trip: Asia

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