Advertisement
Published: March 2nd 2011
Of course were still together
but possibly in need of some companyWe last spoke after a very comfortable bus journey, then we had a quick overnight in Bangkok. Although there was enough time to visit one of the most magnificent sights in the capital, the Baumraungrad Hospital. Now we’ve stayed in some magnificent hotels in our time but this blows them away, and it’s a hospital!!!!! Opulence everywhere, staff catering to your every need and patients from every corner of the world being well looked after, well every corner that has money that is. It really is beyond comparison with anything, if this is the shape of privately run healthcare, bring it on. We were here to get Lisa’s dressing checked and changed and remembering to put a credit card in the wallet this time Chris thought that maybe the gold card would be needed (just got to hope the insurance is good), but actually the prices were the same as we paid in Chiang Mai so I guess there’s a sort of national rate for the job. About £25 for half an hour with a consultant, nurses, a health check and wound cleaning and dressing, seems OK to us.
We then had our next new experience, train travel in
Thai Delight
One of Samui's many hidden beaches Thailand. We’d decided to try the overnight train down to the south but had played safe and booked into a 1st class, therefore 2 berth cabin. A surprisingly good night’s sleep was had and for once arriving late was a bonus because it meant a lie in. We were heading south to hook up with our friends from Australia, Diane and Richard, for a 10 day holiday within our extended holiday and were looking forward to it very much as it meant, apart from anything else, we would have other people to talk to!! Funny how things go isn’t it, we hardly found the time to meet when they lived 15 miles away (admittedly that would have required a visa and injections because they were on Portland) but since they moved to the other side of the world we’re practically living in each other’s pockets.
We made our way to Samui the day before they arrived so we could get everything ready for their arrival. Samui now takes the prize as the place with the biggest rip off merchants running the transport. We had to meet our buddies at the airport, about 20Km away on the other side of
Don't fall in ladies
that would be a shame!! the Island, quotes ranged from $40 to somewhere north of $100, and they said it with straight faces!! In the end we hired a crappy old jeep with AC50 air con, that is the air con is wind the windows down and accelerate to 50. We gave ourselves a lot of time to make it to the airport so stopped off at the Fisherman’s Village in Bophut for a spot of roadside tea and then started on the last part of the trip still with lots of time to spare and having to kill time at the end – or so we thought. But for some bizarre reason the road signs to the airport are almost non-existent until you are actually there, so after a few wrong turns and basically driving along not really knowing where we were and getting out looking at the map a very kind motorcyclist came to our rescue and pointed us in the right direction. Now whether this is to deter people from making the trip on their own, or whether other sensible people just don’t bother, we don’t know but it was lucky we left more than enough time because by the time we
Di's bad influence?
back on the cocktails again got there it was just as Diane and Richard arrived. Hugs all round and absolutely lovely to see them.
We showed them the highlights of Nathon, the capital of Samui, Tescos, then retired after a welcome Chang. They seemed keen on experiencing a bit of backpacking so a bit of Island hopping seemed to fit the bill. We headed off to our first destination, Koh Tao. Unfortuunately, Lisa’s leg has stopped her from doing any swimming, yep this is where the Chiang Mai doctor’s instructions were beginning to hit home, and Richard’s dodgy ears meant a dive course was off, so the girls had to content themselves with the beach, shopping and alcohol. Now for those of you that know Di (or have read our WA blog from last year) will realise that this was a real struggle but she manned up and took on the challenge. Meantime the boys decided that a day snorkelling on a round the island boat trip was called for. The waters around Koh Tao are beautifully clear so lovely for snorkelling and diving. Our first stop was the same as when we did this trip last year, a pretty rubbish stop, no coral,
Showing off again
snorkelling off of Koh Tao not too many fish, but suddenly we realised why all the boats stopped here when, while swimming along, a 6ft Reef Shark swam right beneath. Trying to follow was impossible and I guess the name Shark Bay should have given the game away. The kind guide from the boat even made sure that Rich didn’t miss out and took him off on a private excursion to view those beautiful creatures. We then headed off round to Ao Thian Ok where there is some of Koh Tao’s loveliest coral and fish on show and time just flies by. Unfortunately the weather intervened in the itinerary and meant we had to head back to the west of the island but the substituted lunch stop still offered myriads of colourful fish and then onto one of the most beautiful spots in the region; Ko Nang Yuan. I had waxed lyrical about the stretches of soft white sand between the two island in this national park but when we got there nature had other ideas, the tide was one of the highest of the year and all that was left was a thin strip of sand and the only spot for our towels and
Cutie or Cute He
Yep, sorry fellas, it really is a boy named Sue. a bit of sun worshiping was next to a couple of young topless French ladies. I was glad Richard was seeing how tough backpacking can be ;-) Apart from the beach neighbours the tide being in meant that a snorkelling out around the tip of the southern island was now possible and wow, it was beautiful. On returning to the island the ladies were so exhausted from their efforts they were asleep, I never realised shopping and sunbathing was so tiring.
A day on the beach for all of us was capped by a trip to see the Queens’ Cabaret, a Sairee institution and every bit as awful/wonderful/funny/sad as last time we went. Some of the ugliest ladyboys around but a few with bodies that most ladies would die for. Packs on, time to move.
The next destination was Koh Pha Ngan, yep Full Moon Party island, but we had checked the phase and made sure we weren’t likely to be on a ferry with 10,000 drunken, stoned teens; that was 2 weeks away. (I’m not sure why Rich was disappointed when I told him). We made our way to Had Rin, party central in a fortnight, and
A little gem
on Koh Phanang in true backpacker fashion hadn’t booked any digs, how daring were we. So the girls plonked themselves in a café and offered to guard the bags while the boys traipsed around looking for some rooms. A few places seemed overpriced considering they were empty and after looking at 3 or 4 we nearly chose the best of a bad lot then remembered the rough guide rec and checked out a place on the hillside overlooking the beach and yes, every now and then you find a gem. OK the rooms were nothing to write home about but they were only $8, but when you headed over to reception there was a lovely infinity pool built on the cliffs, looking out to the west . This will do. We collected the girls and showed them the pool, the sun loungers, the bar all within 10 paces of each other and that was it, Nirvana.
After a bit of hard bargaining the following day we secured a couple of newish scooters for the day, but the girls decided that the sun/pool/cocktails thing trumped a bumpy journey to the north of the island. Richard had heard the best snorkelling was at the
Koh Ma Coral
lovely reef, shame it took us ages to find it north west corner of the island so we headed off to Mae Hat, passing a curious building, the Masons Arms on the outskirts of Thongsala, the tiny capital. Curious because it’s a British pub, lots of those out here but this one actually looks like one, fake Elizabethan exterior and all. It’s also curious because its location is in the heart of where the locals live not the tourists? Oh well a mystery for another day. We ended a nice ride, after some steep hills at the hamlet of Mae Hat and oh how Lisa would want to be here. It was her perfect idea of a Thai Island beach, palm fringed golden sands, a gently curving bay, clear blue water and not a sun lounger in sight, lovely. After a bit of a dip and not having found any coral we decided to take a swim around the rocky Ko Maa island. This seemed like a good idea when we set out but an hour later when we were still only ½ way round and the rocks were too sharp to allow any rest we both thought we’d had better ideas. 50 minutes later we rounded the last headland
The intrepid explorers
but the lungs will soon be hurting and saw the beach again when all of a sudden the water cleared, myriads of beautiful fish appeared and stretched out below us was the loveliest coral that we had seen in Thailand (now why didn’t we go this way first!!!). Seeing this made the trip up here all worth while, tired limbs forgotten as we dived, photographed and simply watched another stunning undersea paradise living breathing and teeming with life. After a quick rest on the lovely beach we regrettably left this quite corner of the island. In future when Ko Pha Ngan is mentioned this is what I’ll think off, not 10,000 drunken revellers, in fact we might even pop back to visit, Lisa will love it.
We mounted our trusty Yamahas and decided to take the middle road back across the Island, the ‘Centre Way’ passes through a valley between two sets of hills and with the road pretty empty, makes a nice ride. We decided to stop so Richard could satisfy his waterfall wish. We trekked up the 500m to see the Pang Waterfall, not too bad, and then down 300m and up another 400m to the viewpoint. We hoped it was the altitude but
Hammock Heaven
the ultimate chillaxing realised it was probably awful fitness when we both got to the top and struggled to speak for about 10 minutes. The viewpoint was super though, great views of the south of the island and makes you appreciate how little of this lovely island has been developed. Sightseeing satisfied we headed back to Hat Rin, showed the girls some shops they missed then got ready for the final ferry trip.
The following day it was off to Koh Samui. Apart from a couple of stops in rather underwhelming Nathon we hadn’t really seen much of the 2nd most popular island in Thailand. Because Lisa was supposed to be leaving us for a brief, but now cancelled, trip back to the UK we had booked into a much more upmarket resort, so deviating from the backpacker demonstration but what a lovely choice it was. We arrived, were greeted by the English owners welcomed with cocktails, fruit, newspapers and an army of lovely staff, this was certainly a change. We were then shown to a lovely 2 bedroom villa, with flatscreen TV, DVD players, beautiful bathrooms and about 10 paces from a delightfully cool refreshing pool, 15 paces from the very
Comtemplating
What another tough day might bring quaint pool bar and 20 paces from the blue waters of the Gulf of Thailand. This could be a tough few days. Luckily, even Richard’s wanderlust was held at bay by the great location on the edge of Bophut at the end of the Fisherman’s Village. So not much to write about really, we swam, chilled by the pool or on loungers, ate at some lovely restaurants and even found a bar on the Saturday night showing the Manchester derby.
On Di and Richard’s last day we all felt we ought to explore the islands, the ladies deciding that scooters were not an option, the son of owner rented us his new truck for the day so off we went. We headed for the famous ‘Big Buddha’ but instead turned into Wat Plai Laem because it also has a big Buddha, this one has 18 arms though. The wat is amazingly colourful, with temples on a manmade lake and loads of fish just waiting for the tourists’ generosity. We were surprised to find this because neither of our guide books mentioned it and it may not be old but it’s certainly bright and well worth a visit. I think
Big Buddha
and his Aussie worshippers that this is the only temple we took Rich and Di to visit so I’m glad it was a memorable one. From here we headed the few yards to the sea and found the real Big Buddha. Don’t know how we could have mistaken it really. Phra Yai is certainly big but it’s definitely no beauty; there’s a messy clump of tourist shops around the bottom but the view from the base of the stairs is not too bad.
Back in the car we headed off to see more of the island, via Cheweng to get a look at the busiest resort on the island, it’s got a lovely beach but we could have been driving along Blackpool High St or Torremolinos, or Playa las anywhere really. Not our cup of tea. We traipsed through Lamai and from our admittedly brief glance it appeared to be a downmarket version of Cheweng. At the southern end of the bay stand the grandmother and grandfather rocks, I’ll let the pictures explain the reason for the names.
We then drove into the centre of the island in search of some cool fresh water and the efficiently named Waterfall No 2 fitted
Dried up old fella
A real life (or dead) dessicated holy man. Too wierd for words. the bill. Suspecting a tour or travel scam Chris briefly obeyed the instructions to park in the designated spaces before Richard showed that the map clearly had a road going further into the hills so we drove on much to the annoyance of the expensively uniformed parking boy. Given that the truck then spent the next 5 minutes driving 45 degrees uphill the decision not to park and walk, or park and pay for a lift as they wished, was more than justified. We parked, along with all the locals who were wise to the Park & Ride, walked the few hundred m and came upon a lovely waterfall, one of the nicest we have seen in Asia, just what Di has asked for. Stripping down to her cossie she was the only one smart or brave enough to jump into the icy looking waters and despite her declaring how lovely it was, the three of us chickened out of joining her. After a lovely little meal at a roadside shack halfway down the hill we continued on our tour, stopping briefly on the south coast, not much there and then driving slowly up the west coast checking out some
The fab four
a brief interlude in a hectic day lovely little quiet bays. Back at Nathon we turned off and followed the road that led through the mountains but after about 20 minutes the tarmac road suddenly turned into a deep rutted sandy track. Having no knowledge of exactly what lay ahead, both the paper and google maps showed we should have been on tarmac we decided discretion was indeed the better part of valour and returned via the main road.
After a nice evening in town we all got up at stupid o’clock to say farewell to our all too brief backpacking buddies. They were headed back to the real world, work (can’t believe I’ve just typed that word) and normality whereas we are headed back to cheap digs and ‘rice & stuff’ for every meal (oh and some more beaches). Richard and Diane have been a huge part of this whole trip and again these few days together have reminded us that however many lovely places we visit there is nothing like spending time with friends for making the world seem damn good. Thank you again, both of you.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.192s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 8; qc: 52; dbt: 0.1331s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Richard
non-member comment
Great Write Up
Hi Chris & Lisa, it was great meeting up with you in Thailand and sampling the "backpacking" lifestyle! We are both looking forward to seeing you again in old blighty and arranging another "exotic" rendezvous. Enjoy the rest of your travels, Rich & Di.