Bets bits of Koh Samui

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As I am so behind in my blog I think it best to give you the best bits of Koh Samui.

We had a brief visit to Koh Panang which is such a lovely island, Hat Rin is a very lively place with a beautiful beach- the same beach the Full Moon party had been held on on the Saturday night. We relaxed on the beach for a couple of hours and went about our separate ways exploring and getting a massage - well I did any way and it was a full body Thai massage which although quite painful in places was pretty fantastic.

The next day involved snorkeling and kayaking around the national marine park that included all the more secluded beautiful islands that are protected by law. We began the trip by being gassed by petrol fumes from the speed boat engine having picked the back of the boat to sit. Our first stop was snorkeling however it was a less than a pleasant experience. As I got in the guides thought it might me funny to through lots of bread for the fishes in the area i was swimming and I became engulfed with hundreds of fish trying to get a feed which slightly scared the pants off me. After having swam at full pelt away from the feeding area It was actually difficult to see much as the water was quite mucky and then came the stinging. At first I though I had imagined it, my arm felt like it had been stung, but I wasn't sure so I carried on snorkeling, then I felt another two stings and this time I was sure of it and i had had enough. I swam back to the boat and when on board asked a guide what it could be. He then told me the stinging came from microscopic fish that bite you, not sting you (because the difference between biting and stinging is going to make a difference to me!!). So there ended my snorkeling for the morning.

Our next stop was the emerald lake where you get off the boat and climb up steps and over rocks to a viewing platform which gives you the most fantastic view of the ocean on one side and the beautiful sheer green lake on the other side that we had come here to see. The guides told us we could do the walk up in bare feet so I thought it would be cool to go all bushman and do it in bare feet which in retrospect probably wasn't such a great idea as we dodged sharp jagged rocks and plunged our feet into unknown grassy nooks where any creature could have been laying. The people who had worn sandals looked pretty smug but I felt like proper native having done it in bare feet. The view from the top was stunning - pure emerald green was the lake but I won't be able to show you any pictures as my camera was stolen a few days ago in Bangkok at a lady-boy show.

Any way, back to the day in hand. We finished our day with sea Kayaking which was actually alot of fun but reasonably hard work. We stopped to rest at a stunning beach with pure clear, warm waters. Some of the crew were playing vollyball, went for walks and some watching the monkeys in the trees. Unfortunately then it was time to head back to the beach we set off from and back to our accommodation. I have to say that the water around all of these Thai islands seems to all be a stunning green colour and if Ireland hadn't adopted the name first I think these Thailand islands should be called the emerald isles.

The next day we spent at Lami a beach on Koh samui located to the south East of the island. This beach was not as lovely as the one on Chawang but we managed to lie on it for a good amount of time and also take in a foot and leg massage too.

I have heard and read that the Thai people can be won over with a big smile and I didn't actually believe it until today. I have found that if you give a Thai person a huge smile they completely loose any front they have and crack a huge genuine smile right back at you and you have won them over. It seems to work every where and with any one, especially the women. So I am currently walking around with a huge grin on my face which actually makes me feel quite good and gets me excellent service where ever I go. The Thai people are also the most beautiful looking of any race of people I have come across and I love the gentle way about them- it is something I have never come accross before.

On the way back from Lami we ended up getting a motor bike taxi to Chawang which was an experience in its self. Three of us and our back packs negotiating windy roads, traffic and animals but we got there in one piece which is all we could ask for really. When back on Chawang we had a couple of drinks, one accidentally in a pick-up bar for men, it was the ladies with numbers pinned to their dresses that gave it away and we got out of pretty quickly. After a lovely meal looking over the sea we headed back to our accommodation.

Our last day and we had planned to spend some more time on Koh Panang but Sarah wasn't feeling too well so stayed in our apartment and I went for a few hours back to Koh Panang. I took a taxi boat to a beach which you cannot get to by walking and I spent some quality alone time just bobbing up and down in the clear waters until I realised I'd missed the ferry back to Koh Samui which meant i was stuck there until 5.30 another three hours. I managed to amuse my self on this quality island until then but felt terrible about leaving Sarah for so long. When I got back, Sarah was looking much brighter and we had our last supper on Buddha beach which was a pretty sweet end to our chilled out time in South Thailand and the end of our relaxing holiday that was to be replaced by some serious bad Kama on my part..................

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