Advertisement
Published: March 15th 2009
Island Tour
Rock FormationsHello Again! Hope everyone is well in the great white north!!
As well as having spectacular beaches and resorts, Koh Samui has many other interesting attractions. One day the four of us took a tour around the island. Along the way we saw some unique rock formations, waterfalls, little villages, temples, mummified monds, big buddahs, markets and areas with lots of construction of new luxury resorts and condos.
Our beach, "Lamai", is a little quieter and laid back than the bigger and busier one to the north called Chewang. We have been to Chewang a few times. The nightlife is pretty crazy with lots of high end restaurants and action. It is a very exciting place to be but we prefer Lamai. At both beaches, fireworks are a routine event every night. They are actually quite impressive! Wherever you go, however the Thai culture is very prevelent.
We have become quite addicted to Thai massages and have been having them 2 or 3 times a week. They are hard to resist at $7.00 an hour!! It is such a relaxing thing to do while on the beach. We are also into the Thai boxing every Saturday night. We
were entertained last week to the lady boys boxing! It was hilarious. If both have had the operation there is 4 rounds. If one has and the other hasn't it is 3 rounds. And if neither has had there is only 2 rounds. They put on quite a show. It is hard to tell that they are really men!
During our third week we decided to try a little island hpping. We ferried around small islands a bit and stopped at Koh Phanang where the famous full moon parties occur for a 3 day vacation. We thought we were safe as the next party was not until the next week, however when we arrived we were informed that a "half-moon" party would be happening that night. These parties go on all night and are geared for young people so we found a quieter beach further north call Yao Beach. We hit the jackpot in finding a brand new resort that was offering a special promotion of $35 per night. It was a luxurious boutique hotel on a lovely stretch of white sand with a 100 yard swimming pool that came right up to our patio door! We enjoyed ourselves
and had beatufiul seafood barbeques on the beach every night in fine dining style. And of course the weather was perfect. We rented as scooter, toured the island and did some snorkelling at the north end. And ideal island get away!!
One day we met some people from England who have lived here for 6 years and own property and homes and are kind of in the business. They invited us to their house for a swim and a visit. We scooted there and enjoyed our time swimming, walking on the quiet secluded beach and visiting with the people from Yorkshire. The area they live in is referred to as "Millionaires Lane" so you can imagine some of the homes around.
We met a great guy name Gary on the beach from Holland. He had just finished a 4 month volunteer job at an orphange in Chang Mai on a leave from his social work job. One night Gary and us decided to have a pizza party for the Thai family that run the beach bar and restaurant. We started about 8 o'clock, had a fire on the beach and had pizza delivered for the 10 of us.
Island Tour
Our Thai Family Friends Interestingly enough, none of them had ever eaten pizza before, so it was a new experience for them. They seemed to quite enjoy it. We played some cards games and let off some pretty impressive fireworks. It was a great evening for everyone. They can speak enough English so we can socialize and visit. Such nice humble people. The mom lost everything in the sunami in Phuket and came to Samui 6 years ago with nothing to start over again from scratch. Apparently big hotels took over much of the land in Phuket and most people lost everything with little or no assistance from the government! Makes you wonder!
Lately we have been enjoying eating at the street kitchens, kind of like an outdoor food court. We walk around and pick out the food you want, anything from deep fried prawns, salads, kabobs, fried noodles, curry dishes, pad thai, you name it and they will have it. They cook it in front of you and then deliver to your table. The tables are long so everyone sits together and we have met some very interesting people from all parts of the world. Last night I had chicken breast on
Island Tour
Tong - one of our favourite beach vendors- He has made a few sales from us!! a stick, a salad and a baked potatoe for $2.50!! We have disovered a new way of having a few cocktails in the evening. They are called "Sets". For 10 dollars you get a mickey of Thai Wiskey(like dark rum), two cokes, a bucket of ice and two glasses. So we just have a few drinks from the mickey and we can use it again the next night !!
In a few days we leave for Koh Lanta by ferry, bus and van for 4 weeks where we will also do some exploring along the Andaman Coast.
Thanks again for tuning in again to our blog. We appreciate your comments. Take Care everyone!!
Mallory and Warren
Advertisement
Tot: 0.053s; Tpl: 0.016s; cc: 8; qc: 24; dbt: 0.0281s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
billee
non-member comment
Blue sky!
I don't think I've seen a cloud in any of your pictures. What an amazing place! So great that you get to know the locals and really embrace the way of life. I'm coming with you on your next trip! Your pictures are wonderful - you really give us a good idea of what you are doing and seeing. Have fun!