Ko Samui

After spending an amazing couple of days on Ko Tao it was time to move on yet again (I'm starting to feel like "The Littlest Hobo" - for those readers who are not Canadian, it was only the greatest Canadian TV show ever made... about a dog... who was a hobo... enough said lol). By now we had pretty high expectations of what a Thai island should encompass because Ko Chang was good but Ko Tao, for me anyway, blew it out of the water.

We opted to bypass the infamous Ko Pha Ngan which is really know more for its "Full Moon Parties" then anything else (yes, yes travellers... I am aware that there is probably more to the island than just that, but according to our guidebooks there wasn't a whole lot to offer us there that either Ko Tao or Ko Samui couldn't). That being said after Stacey and I went for our amazing dive off of Ko Tao, we all quickly packed up and headed off to catch our ferry onward to Ko Samui.

As promised here is a map of our Thailand travels:

Basically everything south of Bangkok was the distance that we covered with Jana and Mike other than the most southernly point of Hat Ya,i which was where Stacey and I crossed into Malaysia.

So, we arrived on Ko Samui and right off the hop we were in a slight quandary because the ferry pier is on the exact opposite side of the island as where all the action is (action being beaches, hotels, restaurants etc). To most this would not pose such a serious problem, however, to veteran cheap sakes like Stacey and I this equated to a cab ride (not a big deal but remember, here they don't ever turn on their meters! So for what you know should say cost $1, the cabbies will quote you like $5). I hate bargaining with cabbies in Thailand!! We were all almost so stubborn that we were going to walk it but upon closer inspection of our maps... yeah that would've like taken 5 hours + lol. Not happening.

Mission # 2 was finding ourselves a decent hotel. Again keeping with the backpacker spirit we decided to kind of just wing it and see what would turn up. Obviously utilizing this technique can be hit or miss because although at times this allows you to find really good deals (and because internet pictures can be very misleading), at other times, when your tired from travelling etc, it can be exhausting and tedious when lugging around 50 lbs strapped to your back! But we found ourselves a decent set of bungalows, a cold BIG CHANG, and a stretch of beach to relax on.

In its defence the beaches of Ko Samui were pretty spectacular... BUT...overall... and I think we all agreed on this... Ko Tao was a bit more of our vibe! However on a positive note Ko Samui had a kind of cool Hawaii'n vibe to it: lush jungle, blue water, white sand and developed. We spent the majority of our day relaxing on the beach and swimming in the ocean (technically the Pacific - Gulf Of Thailand). Our hotel was located right in front of what is called Grandfather and Grandmother rock(s). Guess why? What does the rock in the middle of this picture look like? Tee Hee.

Here's a view from our bungalow porch where I sat to research our next pitstop...

While I researched away, Jana, Mike and Stacey hit up a market... and Stacey furthered Jana along in her teachings of bargaining 101...

That afternoon we decided that it would be a good idea to again rent scooters and explore the island...

Sweet lids lol...

We toured up and down the coast in search of some good snorkelling spots and beaches. We were successful in both objectives. Honestly looking back at these pictures I remember just wanting to hide indoors with a big bottle of aloe cause I was SO burnt. You think that your going to adapt to the heat and sun but it just never seems to happen!

Best Bathing Suit Couple in Thailand 2012... cast your votes now...

Lol couldn't resist... must be Russian... We parked the scooters several times and toured around Ko Samui's strip seeing what it had to offer. Had some pretty tasting food there too...

Mike caught that with his bare hands while snorkelling... lol.. true story... always lots of interesting sights around Asia but after being here for 4 months plus it was so refreshing to have Jana and Mike with us to point out all the little oddities that have just slowly started to become our norm.

Tricked out Tuk-tuks... you think that they have a MTV Thailand Show called Pimp My Tuk-Tuk.... they must...

Well that concludes another one! Finally starting to get caught up. Next up the Indian Ocean, Phuket, and of course the magnificent Ko Phi Phi Islands... amazing... can't wait to share it with you... bye bye