Koh Samui

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Lets get festive....!!!


21/12

We got up and had our free breakfast (in Koh Pagnan!) and checked out. We booked our taxi plus ferry ticket to Koh Samui, and transfer in samui from our hotel. It cost us 550 baht for all three which was a good deal, as the ferry ticket alone would have been 450 baht. Our taxi driver to the ferry port was none other than Charlie the barman! We jumped in the back of his pick up with our cases and headed to the ferry port. We got our sticker for the ferry, with our hotel name written on and boarded the ferry. It only took half an hour to get to Samui, but was a bit of a rocky ride at the front of the Lomproyah catamaran. We got on our transfer bus from the ferry port to take us to our hotel. It was only us on board, so had a nice quiet trip! It took about half an hour to get from the ferry port to our hotel in Lamai. We were a little early to check in, so the lovely lady who runs the hotel told us to sit by the pool until we could check in; it was a bit hot as we were in our travel clothes! We checked in and were told we had been upgraded as the room type we booked and paid for were full. So we were given a nice villa, which was huge! We had a separate bedroom and lounge plus a big kitchen area. We got ourselves settled and unpacked and walked to the TESCO Lotus express to buy some food and drink. Excited by the tesco- it was green but the writing was the same and a lot of the same products (only cheaper!!) We took some washing to reception as they wash, dry and iron it for you for cheap!! We hired a jeep for 3 days from reception, so that we could pick up Evelyn and Helen, who were arriving at Samui the following day! (Very excited to have people to talk to!!) We hired the Terminal DVD from reception from the hundreds on offer, and headed to a nearby restaurant for dinner. We did originally sit on the beach, but there were far too many dogs for my liking, so we sat up inside the restaurant. It wasn't the best dinner, but fairly cheap. We headed back to the villa (we were greeted by a tiny baby gecko!) and watched our DVD. It was lovely to be able to sit in a lounge area for once before heading to bed!

22/12

We had to be up early to pick up the jeep at 9am (from the hotel!!) We rolled out of bed and signed the form and collected our jolly jeep- she didn't seem very jolly! About 20 years old, and no petrol. Chantelle was the designated driver and gave it a little drive around the hotel grounds and parked up outside the villa. We had som breakfast and went to fill jolly with some petrol! We headed to the pool for a couple of hours, then headed to the airport to collect Evelyn and Helen. We missed the airport sign (not exactly obvious!), so we stopped at a supermarket to buy some cold water. We took the right turning for the airport and then parked up and waited for our guests like good chauffeurs with their names on signs! It was so lovely to see some friendly faces and to have company, we were very excited! We took the Gaunts to their hotel in Bo Phut, we parked up whilst the ladies checked in. We all headed out into Fishermans village, where the hotel was. It was a lovely area with lots of nice bars, restaurants and shops with a nice atmosphere. We had a cocktail in a bar, overlooking the beach, then headed back to Evelyn and Helen's hotel for a swim/ paddle (we didn't have swimmers!). We then headed out for dinner, which was very nice- I had a lovely Massaman curry. We had some ice cream from a stall and then headed back to the hotel, and we said goodnight, and headed back to our hotel. The baby gecko from last night seems to have grown into daddy gecko!

23/12

We got up and had breakfast, then went to collect Evelyn and Helen from their hotel. They were checking out and moving to a different hotel today, so we took them there, where luckily they were allowed to check in already. We headed off to the Nathon Pier so E&H could enquire about ferries to their next destination. Chantelle and I used the opportunity to go in an ice cream hunt! We all headed off in search of some waterfalls. As we were on our way, the heavens opened, it absolutely poured down. It was so bad, Chantelle had to pull over jolly jeep as she just could not see out the windscreen! We finally made it to the waterfall site and up a steep hill and tough terrain (particularly for poor jolly who wasn't exactly a 4x4!). We made it up the hill and waited for the rain to stop and got out to find the waterfalls! There was a safari park on the way to the waterfalls that kept the elephants outside, so we watched them for a bit, especially the baby one! We headed up some dodgy hills and paths towards the waterfall. A bit of a trek in flip flops! We could see the top of the waterfall high up in the mountain, and headed in that direction. We had another dodgy climb over some bamboo bridges and muddy rocks. We made it to the base of the waterfall and were disappointed. We wanted to go for a swim but because of all the rain, the water was really brown and not very inviting! We headed back to our villa as we were close by, and had a drink and a swim in our hotel pool. After this we headed off to find Hin Ya and Hin Tai- grandmother and grandfather rocks. Rocks shaped like male and female genitalia, with an old folk story to go with it. We saw Grandfather but we couldn't find grandmother rock! After rock spotting we headed to Evelyn Nd Helen's hotel via tesco where we bought some yummy Christmas treats including walkers christmas shortbread, selection boxes, gummy bears and seriously strong cheddar! Yum! We all went out for dinner, near E&H's hotel, which we found by walking along the beach. We had a lovely dinner and some delicious mocktails, before heading back to our villa, feeling pretty tired after a long day.

24/12

Happy Christmas Eve! We collected Evelyn and Helen and then went to Bo Phut to book our christmas dinner for tomorrow, that we had seen advertised when we were there. We then headed off to find the Big Buddah. It was a statue (of Buddah, funnily enough!), but it wasn't really that big! There was an nice little area around with some stalls etc. We then headed to Nicky's cafe as it advertised fish and chips and free wifi! We actually ended up having a bacon sandwich, but we did use the wifi! We had a look around the local markets, which were a little stomach churning with all sorts of meat lying around with flies buzzing all over! But it was interesting to see a traditional market where the locals buy all their food and curry pastes etc. Helen wanted to find a salon for waxing, so whilst she did this, I had a shirt 15 minute foot massage which cost me a whole 50 baht (£1!), bargain!! We headed back to E&H's hotel to get ready to head to the ice bar! Yes, there is even one out here in Thailand! We found the bar and paid 500 entry, which included 2 drinks and our ponchos, gloves and hats. We were the only ones there, which was nice as it was quiet and we could get lots of photos. There was an ice tuk tuk which was good. We all had a cocktail, and then a very strong shot- mine was sherbet lemon flavour- a little tangy! We the. Went back out into the heat, where my camera completely fogged up! We tried to find somewhere for dinner, but all the nice looking places were full as it was Christmas Eve. We found a nice cheap roadside restaurant instead, where we had some nice cheap pad Thai! We dropped E&H back at their hotel and then headed back to our hotel and watched elf again, to get in the Christmas spirit! We got all ready for Christmas and decided to have a Christmas shortbread, but when I picked up the box, a surprise gecko had been hiding under it, and dropped off onto my leg, ran across my lap, then across Chantelle's lap, before heading up the wall! Not sure who was more freaked out by the experience- probably Chantelle who ran away and tripped up the step trying to escape the 3 inch man eating gecko...! What a plank!

25/12

Happy Christmas everybody!I woke up around 8, which is probably the latest I've ever slept on Christmas Day! We showered and had a croissant for breakfast, then swapped our Christmas presents and had a traditional Christmas breakfast of selection box and shortbread! We both got lovely new charms for our charm bracelets. We munched on some more Christmas junk and found a Christmas episode of inspector gadget on TV- it was the best we could do!! We got ready to head out, and got to Evelyn and Helen's about 1, and we all had a drink by the pool before heading to Bo Phut for our Christmas dinner. We had a decent 3 course dinner, traditional turkey with trimmings for main- not as good as at home, but a good substitute anyway! We had a little wander around the shops after dinner and bought a couple of bits from the market stalls before heading back to E&H's hotel for a little while. We then said our farewells (sad to be leaving our lovely friends), and headed back to our hotel. We managed to Skype our families at home, which was lovely. Chantelle made some grilled cheese toasties in the evening for a snack, when we found the gecko again! We watched Home Alone 2, which we borrowed from the hotel. We finished off our selection boxes, and then funnily enough I felt really ill...wonder why?! Just about managed to pack and then went to sleep. Sad to be leaving Thailand. Hope everyone had a great Christmas...if you can remember back that far!!

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Comments

[Evelyn Gaunt]

Good memories
So funny to be reading all this now we are back on Koh samui! Thanks for all the running around. It's not the same without you two and Jolly! Xx