Blogs from Ko Samui, South-West Thailand, Thailand, Asia - page 4

We were up early and had just a few minutes to take a look at the beach. It had worn the brunt of the storm the previous night and wasn’t in great shape with debris all over the sand. We were briefly joined by a cat that wasted no time in making itself at home in the bungalow. We were booked through to Bangkok with Air Asia and the TBH1200 each (NZD48) covered a ferry to the mainland, an hour bus trip to the airport and the 45 minute flight to Bangkok. The day went slowly and it was no surprise that we were both thinking about Koh Tao. It was another hour on board a free bus from Don Muang Airport to Suvarnabhumi Airport where our flight was due to leave around 2000. We were ... read more

A beautiful weekend - We loved Samui and will be back soon!... read more

Abandoned on a crowded pavement, the scorching early afternoon sun blazing down on us, we’d just about avoided the notorious “travel agent” scam by the skin of our teeth. Research about the long journey from Khao Lak to Koh Samui had warned us about it but everything just happened so incredibly quickly. Luck was with us though the moment of realisation occurred just before we parted with any hard earned cash – a close shave! Our day had started at 6.30am as we needed to traverse from the extreme west of Thailand right across the country to an island off the East coast. Things had gone reasonably well; our taxi to the main road was waiting for us outside the hotel, the infamous 465 public bus did actually stop when we flagged it down and even ... read more

After briefly touring northwestern Thailand, I opted out of 24 hours of bus/train/ferry travel and instead burned some Chase points on a surprisingly expensive direct Bangkok Air flight from Chiang Mai to Koh Samui, in the Gulf of Thailand on the East side of Thailand's skinny southern leg. “Koh” (sometimes Ko) means “island” in Thai, and Samui was one of the earlier expat vacation spots in Thailand, with things getting rolling there in the 1970s, and it now having surpassed Phuket as having Thailand's most resorts, outside of Bangkok. Phangan is a quick ferry ride to the north of Samui, but is less developed, with things only getting started there in the 1980s. It's now well-known for the full-moon parties (and now also half- and new-moon parties) that attract 10s of thousands. Koh Tao, with its ... read more

A final welcome chance to chill out after 13 weeks of full on globetrotting. Excepting Fiji the first time had same bed for more than 4 nights.... Fiji again .... Otherwise 3 nights in Luang Prabang (Laos), Hoi An (Vietnam), and Siem Riep Cambodia), so good to spread out a bit. Unfortunately my belly has also decided to spread out a bit... No surprise really after 3 months of exotic food and not 1 day without a beer (or three). So also time to start thinking about diets and excercise. As I lie here on this Thai beach. simmering gently in the tropical heat with waves lapping my tanned toes, I'm exhausting myself with such thoughts! So intend to enjoy last few days enjoying the memories of the last few months, perfecting my tan, honing my ... read more