Ko Samui - take me to the beach!

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Ko Samui was a place we had avoided on previous trips to Thailand simply because we had this image in our heads that it would be stupidly busy. Now was the perfect time to put that right. We had a few hours on a minibus from Khlong Sok to Surat Thani and then the ferry company Lomprayah put us on another minibus to the pier. There we boarded their ferry to the island. It was all so simple and efficient, but it just took a long time! It looked like the ferry was going to be busy but once everyone was on board it wasn't more than about a quarter full, and a lot of them were going on to other islands.

At Nathon Pier on the western side of the island we were hassled by taxi drivers wanting ridiculous prices to take us to our hotel. Eventually we settled for a "red taxi" which was really a Songthaew which we hired for a far lower price and hoped it didn't rain! Considering the short distances around the island, we were surprised by the traffic and how long it takes to get from A to B. We stayed at the Wirason Residence near Lamai beach. The hotel was really comfortable with a nice pool in lovely surroundings, run by a Frenchman and his Thai partner. It's far enough from the action to be quiet but not really that far away. The thing is, when we walked towards the beach, there really was no action in any of the bars and restaurants. It was surprisingly quiet, although we believe that Chawong beach, just a few kilometres away had a much livelier vibe to it. We settled on the Outback Bar because, after several weeks of rice and noodles we decided a burger was in order. That proved to be a great choice!

The next day we walked a lot. First we went down to Lamai beach and then we walked eastwards as far as we could go. Now that's a beach! It was beautiful. It was quiet. It was bliss. At the far end we re-entered the fray of the main road system and went in search of a hairdresser. We both got sorted out for about £10. Then we went over the road because something had caught our eye. The Thai Winery House was a wine emporium specialising in Thai wines as well as importing from Australia and South America. We met a lovely lady in there who gave us a full run down on the emerging Thai wine industry and even without any pressure to do so, we decided to buy a small bottle to sample. Sadly a tasting session was out of the questions as there is simply not enough footfall to justify opening the bottles. To be brutally honest, when we opened our bottle it was ok, but living in Spain has probably destroyed our tolerance of anything that is below excellent!

That evening we caught a songthaew to the Fisherman's Village night market. Along the way we got a look at Chawong and we were pleased we were not staying there. At Fisherman's Village we were dropped off near some posh hotels with restaurants at a price far above what we were comfortable with. Luckily it was only a short walk, being accused of avoiding to pay to park our car along the way, to the night market. There we feasted on pad thai for an embarrassingly low price and sat in another car park with a coupe of beers to dine in style! It was a great evening, but quite a long way to travel from Lamai.

There were a few things around Ko Samui that we wanted to see and by far the easiest way was to take a tour. What we didn't realise was just how many people were going to be on that tour. We ended up on a jeep which was one of five, each with nine passengers on board. It's nice to see Koh Samui Tours are doing so well, but they do offer a great day out at a reasonable price. Follow the link to get full details, but it covered everything we wanted to see. It was a long day and we got very, very wet twice! As we drove high up in the hills a water fight broke out and each jeep was equipped with weapons to soak the others with. There had been no warning about this, but some fellow travellers knew all about it in advance. We also got soaked once again on the way back to our hotel as a full-blown monsoon let loose for about 20 minutes.

The day was excellent and it consisted of many different stops. First was Grandfather and grandmother rocks - a rock formation that leaves little to the imagination! After that we went to the impressive shrine of the Chinese warrior Guang Yu. Next up was a visit to see a mummified monk. He's been preserved in a glass box since he died in 1973! From there it was uphill to see a rather disappointing waterfall, albeit in wonderful surroundings. Lunch was next at a high viewpoint looking out over the southern end of the island. After that we visited the Magic Garden which, to be honest, was far smaller than expected. We had anticipated a huge collection of statues hidden in the jungle gardens but it didn't take longer than about ten minutes to see them all. The water fight ensued as we climbed further up to the highest point of the island where we dried off whilst visiting some impressive temples.Dropping down onto the northern side of the island was quite an adventurous track to descend on and the jeep drivers certainly earned their money. We stopped halfway down for some great group photos. Back at sea level was saw the so-called Big Buddha. It was an enormous statue to be far, and appropriately named. Finally we called in at Wat Plai Laem, the largest temple complex on the island. To be honest, I wish we had seen this some other time rather than at the end of a long, tiring day as it was fantastic. There is an enormous fat smiling monk statue and an equally impressive Guanyin with her many arms. It really was a grand day out.

That was it for Ko Samui. The island was bigger, busier generally, and not as idyllic as we thought it would be. Better things were to come as we moved on!

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Comments

[D MJ Binkley]

One the markets
Looks great.