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Koh Samui, Thailand - January 2010
It is January 2010 and I am sitting in the restaurant of our resort on Koh Phangan with Sabine. Moi is teaching Sabine Thai and I am listening to the resident geckos as we enjoy our watermelon juices. We arrived after a long trip via Istanbul, and then flew from Bangkok to Koh Samui (1 car, 3 planes, 1 boat and a taxi!). After an "exciting" boat ride to Koh Phangan, we arrived at the wrong end of the island (thanks Jeremy!) and bartered for a taxi to Haad Gruad where we are now staying. We have a small bungalow with a view over the garden to the pacific ocean, where we can hear the waves and enjoy sitting on the terrace (Sabine always gets the hammock!) and watching the fishing boats.
Since our arrival we have been elephant riding, have played with monkeys, have been snorkelling with sharks and jetskiing but mainly relaxing and enjoying the hospitality of the Thais. The food is excellent and everyone has a smile on their face but best of all, its not -5°C!!!
Here are a few photos of our first day on the island....
We have spent the first days exploring the island - 14 beaches, plenty of mountains and jungle, and one rather sad looking waterfall :-( We went snorkelling from our beach after me reassuring Sabine that there was nothing in the water that could harm us (sharks, jellyfish, etc). Well, we saw our first black reef shark after about 5 monutes and then had a few little stingers to deal with too. Sabine was very brave, and we spent the next half hour in the water and got within about 3 metres of the reef shark, which was about 1.5m long.
A couple of days later we were snorkelling again when Sabine surfaced and told me that there was a "fish swimming around my stomach"?! I put my head back in the water only to discover a cute little remora trying to attach itself to my stomach. Well, Im not sure if it was the hair or maybe the air bag but he didnt manage and decided to nip me on the nipple (probably frustrated). After some effort to shoo the little guy away, he was joined by a buddy and they tag-teamed eachother nipping at me. In the end I had to grab them and give them a little bit of a squeeze to get them away....which unfortunately ended up with them bugging Sabine who had a little bit of a panic attack. Not so funny then but funny now that Sabine was not too bothered by a shark, but the little remoras ended our snorkelling trip!
The jet-ski ride was spontaneous after arriving at Haad Rin to find loads of stingers floating around the white wash, anyhow we saw the jet-skis and decided to give it a go. There were swells about a 1-1.5m high, which kept us busy launching ourselves out of the water. Sabinje had a drive (OMG!!!) which left me a little anxious, but was great fun. Aou biggest jump involved us both in fully standing positions as we flew about 1,5m out of the water - yeehaaaa!
On a more chilled note we visited Pra Somchai at Wat Phu Kao Noi, one of the several Buddhist temples on the island. The highlight of the holiday for Sabine though was definitely riding the elephants. She was so excited that she kissed one on the trunk, I couldnt help thinking where it had been?! We also played with a little monkey who tried to crawl up my fisherman pants - probably looking for .....nuts :-) We went on a safari through the jungle and the guide even let us ride "up front". The elephant was a little stubborn but seemed more relaxed after having a big poop on the way back to the camp. The experience left Sabine beaming for the next days, in which we relaxed and treated ourselves to an oil massage on our little beach (ca. €7- for an hour!). About the last photos - my appetite for spicy food finally met its match when Rong dared me to eat one of the biggest chilis he could find...the results were predictable!.
Some facts and figures for those interested in visiting Koh Phangan......
Last update: 18 February, 2010
