We have settled in properly now and feel like we've been here for ages. The weather has picked up, 31 degrees and sunny for most of the day. Thunderstorms seem to happen from the evening through the night. We have therefore managed to get out and have some adventures. Koh Samui is an island with a hilly, jungle interior surrounded by inhabited plains and fringed with white sand, palm tree-lined beaches.
Last Monday, we walked south of Lamai to the muslim village, I believe they are Malaysian muslims as the women wear Tudungs, a headdress that covers only the head and not the face. We visited the market there. From previous blogs some may know that I am not great with the sights and smells of the market this was no exception - the smell was a mix between wet dog and fish. The market was colourful and specialised in dried sardines and other fish. I stood in the shade and people watched as Paul walked round taking photos. Nice to see close communities with three female generations of families working and socialising together.
The next day, we decided to hire a moped at the hotel for 200 Baht or £4 per 24 hours. We headed up north towards Chaweng Beach which is the livelier resort on the island. on the way there was a signpost for a waterfall, Valentine stone (roughly translates as a penis shaped rock - very popular here) and a mountain view point. For some reason?!?! the moped wouldn't make it up the steep parts of the mountain road. I had to keep getting off to walk up to the next flat bit - good exercise anyway. The waterfall and Valentine stone had been cleverly developed into a chargeable resort. After seeing the waterfall from the road, which was not too impressive, we passed on it. We headed up further to the free viewpoint which was great. Views across the whole of Lamai. Other stops on this day were a hillside golden Buddhist Stupa which was very tranquil with the gentle sound of bells chiming in the wind (see videos) and stunning views of the northern coast (and the airport). Paul photographed a hand-sized spider with a metre wide web at the stupa - eek. Another stop, when we got lost (always happens), was the Big Buddha temple. Reached by a causeway from the mainland, the temple houses a 12 metre high, golden seated Buddha at the top of a stairway.
We stopped at an eatery at the Muslim village the next day for breakfast, the people were very friendly. A young guy, one of the customers helped us to order our food. Paul pointed at a vegetable thing and I pointed at a more interesting looking Korma thing. The guy warned me it would be spicy. We sat amidst the flies and mine was delicious, a spicy Malaysian fish curry. Paul was less impressed, his was a bit bland. Cheapest meal yet at 75 Baht or £1.50. We thanked our hosts and Paul photographed them. We headed out on the moped to explore the southern part of the island we drove along the coast road spotting a wild peacock, a monkey and a kingfisher.
For Friday, we had looked into doing the jungle safari tours in the interior, they cost around 1500 Baht £30 per person and included elephant, monkey and crocodile shows, which we were not happy with. We decided to do a moped tour instead which would avoid the animal exploitation. The tours involved visits to waterfalls, viewpoints, jungle treks which we managed to find easily with our map. Lots more exercise as the moped struggled with the hills. The benefit of doing our own thing was that we got to see several waterfalls (the best of which was called Khao Yai) not included on the tours most of which you had to pay a nominal 20 Baht for. We mainly had them all to ourselves with the exception of Namuang Waterfall 2 (80m high), which we had to share with 2 jeeps full of tourists. Great day of trekking and sightseeing all at a cost of around £8 for both of us. No animal was harmed in the process either. Although, we called in at a temple complex Wat Praderm on the way back and Paul almost stood on a snake which he then chased to try and photograph - it was too quick and slithered off at a great pace into the safe grasses.
Most evenings we try to catch the sunset at nearby beach side rock formations Hinta and Hinyai, locally called Grandmother and Grandfather. Yet again Grandfather is a penis shaped rock - the Japanese tourists were doing all sorts of immaginative poses with it. As ever, see Paul's photos. Hopefully a bit more exciting reading for you this time.