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Published: July 20th 2008
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Kayaking at Anthalong
Anthalong National Marine Park is a two hour cruise on a big boat north west of Koh Samui Samui - I found the Beach and it was good !!!
Sunday 13th July
Last time I visited Koh Samui the blog entry was titled “Where is the Beach” - This time I am visiting with a friend and it is so much better than travelling alone. We stayed at the Akwa Guesthouse on Chaweng Beach Road. Samui is a brilliant destination with the marvelous, sandy Chaweng Beach across the road from the Akwa Guesthouse and we went swimmimg at sunset every night in the clear, warm water. There are many cabaret shows on Samui and we visited the Star Club on our first night and there are numerous other entertainment options of all types available on the island.
On Saturday we did a full day private road tour which completely circumnavigated the island. Our driver and guide was Adam, an English guy who has settled here and this was one of the most enjoyable days I have spent touring Thailand. Last time I was here I went on the usual tourist type tours with a large group but today we had a choice of stops on our way around the island with the first being the new
viewpoint at the southern end of Chaweng Beach which gives a great outlook of the sea and coast.
We then visited the Hin Ta and Hin Yai, Grandmother and Grandfather rocks which have a close likeness to female and male genitalia carved out over thousands of years of erosion into the solid rock formations near the sea. We also visted a quaint little Chinese Temple and then Wat Samret one of the oldest Bhuddist temples on Samui with some unique and very old statues and Buddha images as shown in the pics. We then drove down to the southern beaches of Thong Krut, a truly beautiful part of the island with idylic fishing villages and beaches where we stopped for coffee. If you were going to retire to a nice, quiet area on Samui this would be the place although a fair bit of development is starting to happen here with new houses springing up everywhere.
It was back inland to the Temple Khunaram and the unique mummified monk with his cool sunglasses. Next stop were the Nuamamg 1 and 2 Waterfalls. I had a refeshing swim at Nuamang 1 and after a short drive it was a
25 minute walk to get to Nuamang 2 which is the tallest and the most beautiful waterfall on Samui. I lost another couple of kilos in the hot conditions walking to the waterfall as we went off the correct track because of the dodgey signs along the way. There were about 25 other tourists hogging all the best spots for pics so I pushed in to take our pics as Adam was waiting for us at the base of the falls. About 80 metres from the falls a truck is available for 100 baht to take you back down the mountain so we were happy to take that option as we were already tired from walking.
Another nice place to visit inland on Samui is the Tarnim Waterfall and Magic Gardenwith it's small man made waterfalls and numerous statues in a jungle setting. We had the whole place to ourselves which made it even better as the garden is usually crowded with other tourists.
We then had a great mountain drive through the palm tree plantations and rubber trees and lush jungle till we reached the Paradise View Restaurant and it’s stunning views of both sides of the
island. We stopped here for an hour enjoying a great lunch and the amazing views on this perfect, very clear day. The weather has been so good on Samui, very hot and humid but no rain at all so far.
After lunch we kept driving around the west coast of the island before reaching the Big Buddha at Ban Rak at the nothern end of Samui for some more stunning views. It had been a wonderful day and about 5.30 pm we returned to the Akwa Guesthouse for another nice swim at Chaweng Beach before dinner. The Akwa Guesthouse makes the best seafood marinara pizza that I have ever tasted. That night we went on a songthaew taxi truck to Lamai Beach to meet two friends Cartoon and Din at the Zodiac Cabaret Club and Disco. I was amazed at the nightlife in Lamai with hundreds of the usual girly bars and other pubs and clubs with a large open air space near McDonalds for Mui Thai boxing which attracted about a thousand tourists on another pefect night weather wise.
Three us then rode on the one motorcycle back through the darkness and the hilly area to Chaweng
Beach, I just kept my eyes closed to keep out the wind, anyway that's my excuse, you don't think I was scared do you? We had a thirty minute ride to the nightlife areas and eventually the Solo Club in Chaweng Beach. My friends stayed at the discos till very late but I was very tired so at 3.30 am after a big day it was time for me to get some sleep. Sunday was a total rest day, only swimming at the beach and we visited some more clubs in Chaweng Beach at night time.
Monday 14th July
Today we went on a big boat tour of the Anthong National Park, a collection of many small islands about 2 hours cruising north west of Samui. I have done the speed boat version of this tour previously and even though the big boat tour was more relaxing I believe both tours need to refresh their programs. There were about 70 people on the boat, we had a light breakfast and refreshments including coffee and soft drinks were available all day.
Our first stop for the day was for kayaking along the limestone cliffs at Talay Nai and
Wat Samret
One of the most interesting collection of Buddha images I have seen in a very old temple a brief paddle inside a cave. We then visited the viewpoint and inland lagoon which is very impressive before stopping at the national marine park headquarters for lunch which consisted of a very good Thai meal and fruit. We had the option of the difficult climb to the viewpoint on this island, a less arduos climb to a cave or to just relax on the beach and do some snorkelling.
We decided to take it easy after some very busy days previously. The snorkelling was a waste of time because of the murky waters. If you want to snorkel in clear waters organise a private tour with a long boat on the southern beaches of Samui. If you can afford it I reckon private tours are the best way of having a decent tour in or from Samui. The run of the mill tours usually on offer in Samui cater to the mass tourist market and it shows with the average quality programs provided. I have done similar tours on the Phi Phi islands for half the cost and a much higher quality product supplied so it is up to the tour operators to re-vitalise their tour programs.
Sunday night included dinner at the Ark Bar where we enjoyed our meal sitting on a mat with a low table on the sand at Chaweng Beach. This spot is very popular and while eating the excellent meal we watched the nightly fireworks display in the distance. Later we visited Christy’s Cabaret with their show starting at 11.00 pm. I was nearly falling asleep after a big day on the boat to Anthalong when we finally got to the Green Mango Disco and the Solo Bar just after midnite. I made sure I was back at the Akwa Guesthouse by 2.30 am as we had a flight leaving for Bangkok at 9.30 am the following morning. My friend and Cartoon from Lamai Beach needed their disco fix so they dropped me at the Akwa, returning in a reasonably sober condition at 5.30 am. We had a great time in Samui and will be back again sometime to do some snorkelling in some clearer waters and maybe even do a beginners dive course.
Click on the pics if you want a larger view and select next to see all the pictures.
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