Adventure in Koh Samui
Trip Start
Feb 16, 2010
1
Trip End
Feb 20, 2010
Where I stayed
Maya Buri Boutique Resort
The Room Chaweng Hotel
Koh Samui, Nakhon Si Thammarat, Thailand
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
The trip started from my hometown Penang. From the few blogs I had read, driving in Thailand can be very expensive due to the fuel price that reached up to RM4 per liter! Therefore, the most important thing to do before crossing the border was filling up the tank at Bukit Kayu Hitam. Before entering the border, you need a clearance form and a car insurance as any road accidents in Thailand would not be covered by Malaysian car insurance. The form comes together when you buy any Thailand car insurance along the road in Bukit Kayu Hitam just before entering Thailand custom.
We drove from Sadao (Thai-Malaysia border) to Donsak pier in Surat Thani. It was 350 km journey on a highway passing through Hatyai, Patthalung and Nakhon Si Tammarat along the south coast of Thailand without any tol of course! We arrive at Donsak Raja Ferry Pier and took a ferry to Samui which was available every hour from 6 a.m to 7.00 p.m. daily. The one way charge was 400 bath per car and a driver; and 160 bath for a passanger. Travel map was also provided by the ferry company.
We landed in Lipanoi Pier, Samui after 1.5 hour journey. Eventhough the sun was blazing, we enjoyed the ferry ride very much as the sea breeze was cool and the scenery was breathtaking. We headed straight to our hotel (Samui Mermaid Resort) in Bophut beach about 30 minutes drive from the pier. The road were quite busy and mostly occupied by motor riders as this is the main transportation in Thai. The small shophouses along the road and wooden houses along the beach make quite a resemblance of Langkawi 20 years ago.
We stopped at a local Muslim stall for lunch and I was overwhelmed by the spicy food served eventhough it doesn't look red. Must be the herbs and birds-eye chillies that they used in cooking Thai's food as I knew it looks like 'masak lemak cili padi'. After a short drive, we arrived at our hotel in Bo phut. We received a warm welcome by the hotel staff and they showed us our room. The room was a brick chalet with a balcony facing the garden. I love the environment as it was a private beach area and only hotel guests have access to the beach. After a day of long journey a short nap was worthwhile for us.
Later that afternoon, we had a swim at the lovely beach till sunset. The water was calm, clean and clear. I almost forgot I'm swimming in sea water! The most amazing view here was the sunset with the mountainous background of Samui island. Gazing at this God's creation with my love one was the most romantic escapade in my life. We made our own BBQ for dinner as we had bought the fish, squid and crabs near the jetty in Donsak. The food was perfect!
Uphill ride on a motorbike
After checking out, we moved to our next hotel Maya Buri which was also in Bophut. It has a Bali concept and the room was very nice as we got a pool view room. We rent a motorbike for 250 bath per day from the hotel reception so that we can save a lot on fuel.
Our first destination was the Big Buddha Temple, the biggest temple in Samui. The buddha statue was a giant size and can be viewed anywhere in Bophut. We didn't enter the temple but had a good look around. Next, we went to the View Point near Chaweng beach about 12 km from Bophut. It has the most amazing scenery I had ever encountered in my life. We took several pictures and went straight to the Elephant Rock. It doesn't have the look of an elephant but locals called it 'elephant' because it was a giant size rock which was situated on the roadside to Lamai beach.
Next destination, we went to search for a cool spot in the island. We decided to go to the waterfall somewhere in Ban Talingam that took us 30 km travel from Lamai on the main road. Along the road, we can see a lot of shops, beach resorts and even shopping centers such as Tesco!
We were very surprised as we had to travel another 20 km uphill to reach the waterfall. On the way we saw elephant trekking, top cable ride and durian farms. It was really adventurous to travel uphill in a bike as the road was very narrow and bumpy.
We arrived at Tatan waterfall and were overwhelmed as a visitor is charged 100 bath per entry. The place was private owned by a local and was not developed. Quite scary to go as the place was a total jungle! We canceled our intention for waterfall swimming as the day was getting dark and we were running out of fuel. Luckily the owner sells bottles of fuel just in case any vehicles needed it. It was unbelievably expensive fuel of 60 bath per liter! I just bought a bottle as long as we can reached downhill. We arrived at the hotel tired but satisfied with the experience we got.
Confusing information
We checked out the next day and drove our car to Chaweng beach to our next hotel The Room Chaweng. We got fed up finding it as non of the locals knew where it was until we had asked a tourist information center in Chaweng town and found out that it was only a brisk walk ahead. I made a complaint to the hotel management because a clear direction was not stated in the internet. They apologized and explained the inconveniences was due by changed in management. The new management just operated a month ago and was going through a major renovation since then. It was known as MYQ EXPRESS before this, but was not stated in the hotel web page. Viewers please take note.
As it was already 3.00 p.m, not much can be done. We decided to rent a bike again but this time it was cheaper, only 200 bath per day. We decided to look around what was interesting in Chaweng and planned to go for a private fishing trip the next day. The fare was fairly good, only 1500 bath per person including boat trip, fishing gear, lunch and snorkelling.
Chaweng was the biggest town in Samui and offer great nightlife with restaurants, shops and pubs. Thought that we should explore more in Samui, We decided to head off to Ban Nathon area. which was the West side of Samui. The area was more laid-back with fishing villages and coconut farms. The signboard along the road directed us to a crocodile farm, snake farm, aquarium and tiger show venue. What had caught my eyes were the preserved monk that was most mentioned in Samui web page. On our way to the location, we stopped at the aquarium and tiger show venue just taking some pictures as it was closed after 5.00 p.m.
Continuing our ride, we stopped by the snake farm and managed to buy the entry tickets. Although the snake farm looks hopeless (none like our zoo), but a smile on the owners face had lessen our doubt on entering his property. Looking at the sunglass he wore, I could guess this old man was blind and his gestures really showed that he hoped that we enter his snake farm. His granddaughter that sat beside him at the ticket counter mentioned that it is 100 per entry but the snake show was not available. So we bought the tickets and enter the farm witnessing all the slithering creatures in cages. I was sceptical at first but my partner was quite pushy albeit that I'm phobia of snakes.
That night, after dinner, we went for a massage near our hotel. This was our first time massaging in Thailand, hope it worth the money spent! I joked to her that I too wanted a Thai massage but she told me that I just wanted a little 'handling' from the service girl and her face immediately turned red at my request. With 200 bath a person, my partner did a Thai massage and me getting an aromatherapy reflexology masssage.
Fishing Trip
We waited for our charter to the jetty for the fishing trip at 9.00 am at the hotel. After checking out, we headed to the jetty. We hopped on the boat which look like a big fishermans boat. After short briefing, we went to our first stop. It was a coral area thus really hard to get fishes as my fish line always stucked between them. I felt unlucky but I don't mind because I rarely fish in the sea (not professional at all haha...).
We both had a terrible sea sick and had to take a short nap to ease out the nausea. After some time, we got better and begin fishing again and to my luck I managed to get a big Grupper! We stopped near the shore for lunch on the boat as it was less wavy. We had fried fishes for lunch that all the guests had caught earlier. We were also given some fish to take home with us.
Then, it was time to go back, we reached the jetty at 5.00 p.m and transferred to our car that we had parked at the hotel. We rushed to the pier hoping that tickets for last ferry to Donsak at 6.00 p.m were still available. Indeed it were. I felt so relieved. We were really tired by the time we entered the deck but Samui had left us a lot of unforgettable memories. We hope to visit other places in Thailand soon.
