Koh Samui pictures

Namuang Waterfall




The Big Buddha



Thongtakian Beach and cove (by our bungalow)



Sunset at Taling Ngam



Taling Ngam



Chaweng Beach




Samui coast



Birds at breakfast



Sunrise

Exploring Samui

We rented a car while on Samui which gave us a nice dry ride in on Songkran and also gave us the freedom to explore the island at our leisure. Z still had his International Driver's License so all driving responsibility was his. I don't think even if I could have driven would have wanted to. First off you drive on the opposite side of the road and well driving is a little crazy as scooters will pass on the right or left of you and cars pass on the right and sometimes oncoming traffic needs to move a little left to make room. Too stressful in my opinion.

We had a good chuckle every day when we looked at the weather forecast. Everyday the report would say a thunder shower or two. The weather was great, it was sunny with the occasional cloud cover which actually provided much needed reprieve from the hot sun. The temperature with humidity was in the high 40's C. If you were not careful you could get sun burnt before you could recite the alphabet. Our air conditioner in our bungalow was set at 23C.

We chose to explore different areas of the island on different days. To the south of our resort is Lamai which we read has a Sunday night market. The market spanned many blocks and offered a large variety of items for sale including a lot of "brand-named" items. An entire section was dedicated to food and drink. Lamai also has a Tesco which is a big super store similar to a Walmart where you can buy household items, clothes, groceries, etc. Also in the Tesco Z discovered a DQ which helped satisfy his mango blizzard craving. :)

We made our way to Namuang Waterfall 2 which required us to hike about 25 minutes through jungle before getting to the waterfall which has a 80 meter drop and is the largest on Samui. After the waterfall we stopped in at the Butterfly Park and Insect Kingdom. This park provides an imitation natural habitat for the butterflies in their enclosed beautifully landscaped gardens. The park also houses some not so beautiful insects such as scorpions, millipedes, a tarantula, and bees. I wasn't too keen on these creatures.

Being on an island means lots of beaches. We had a wonderful sunset beach dinner at I-Talay restaurant in Taling Ngam, known as the virgin coast. We also explored an area on the north side called Mae Nam. This area isn't yet as popular as others so the beautiful beach was practically deserted. We spent a lovely morning here after having rented a couple beach chairs and wasted the time away reading, swimming and listening to the surf. The water here gets deeper faster and the sea floor is a lovely fine sand making it all the more enjoyable bobbing up and down.

Next to Mae Nam is Bo Phut. It is in Bo Phut where you'll find Wat Phra Yai and the big Buddha. I'll post a picture in a picture blog, but this Buddha is massive!

The biggest and most busy beach and town is Chaweng. The beach here is very long and the sand quite nice. The beach was much busier than we had experienced at our other beach visits. The main street in the town is lined with shops and restaurants. I found the hustle and bustle of the town a little much and preferred the quieter, less busy areas of Samui. We did have a lovely dinner here though.

Koh Samui is a beautiful island filled with lots of gorgeous beaches, tropical jungle, and extremely friendly and hospitable people. Everyone we encountered was friendly and smiling. I guess when you live on a tropical paradise such as this it would be relatively easy to always be smiling.

All in all I'd have to say that the beach by our resort was my most favourite place to be. It was so tranquil and relaxing and being there with Z made it all that much better.



Our sunset dinner in Taling Ngam

Our Island Oasis

After much research, we booked our island getaway on Koh Samui at Promtsuk Buri Resort located on Thongtakian Beach on the southeast side of Samui. This resort provided us with just what we were looking for...a quiet oasis to relax and unwind. The resort offers individual bungalows for their guests and we were upgraded to a sea view bungalow when we arrived. Each bungalow has an open air shower which was a neat experience. In fact the whole bathroom is outside. The bungalow also came with a good sized deck and two wooden beach chairs allowed for a great place to sit and read or just relax. There was even a wooden bucket filled with water and ladle at the bottom of the stairs leading to the deck so that you could rinse off your feet before entering your bungalow. How smart is that? Every morning we were woken up by the beautiful birds chirping and the glorious early morning sunshine.

The grounds of the resort were stunning and well kept with tropical plants and flowers everywhere. There were even banana trees and I'm sure the bananas were picked for part of the fresh fruit offered at breakfast. There was a hammock tied between two palm trees providing another spot for some R&R.

Breakfast was included in the price and the selection was quite extensive. You could order a la carte if you chose to or from two set breakfast options. We chose a la carte. The food was very good and the staff super friendly. My favorite was the banana pancakes. Breakfast was served at the beachside restaurant which also served a delicious mango shake and coconut milk using the coconut as the "cup". This restaurant did not have a dinner service so we went to the resort next door a couple times for dinner and on our last night here were having dinner on the beach when some of the European guests at our resort had a fireworks show put on for them on the beach. So we had dinner on the beach amongst fireworks. Pretty neat and unexpected experience I'd say!

Now the best part of staying here, our bungalow was literally 20 steps from the beach. The beach was for the most part fine white sand and felt so lovely between the toes. Thongtakian Beach is a secluded beach for the five resorts that are situated in this cove. None of these resorts are huge and so the beach wasn't overly busy. There was never a problem finding a good spot except for perhaps the shady area. The water was crystal clear and as warm as a bath. It wasn't very deep and you could go pretty far out and still touch the bottom. For the most part it was sandy but there was a portion that was a little rocky and we found snorkeling this area quite interesting. There weren't a whole lot of fish, but definitely some we hadn't seen on our snorkeling tours.

Staying here was just what the doctor ordered, a tranquil serene beach oasis where your only care was whether to frolic in the water or sit on the beach and listen to the gentle waves crash.

Koh Tao pictures

I would have labeled this pictures but I don't know the names of the fish. I'll have to study some books before I snorkel again.

Koh Tao Day Trip

'Koh' means island in Thai and we read about some great snorkeling to be experienced around Koh Tao, a small island about 90 minutes away by speedboat from our base on Koh Samui. We decided to book with the same great dive outfit that took us to Angthong Marine Park and again we were super well taken care of.

P.S. this blog entry is being guest written by me, Z to give Lory a blogging break and to give me a chance to rave about amazing Thailand and Koh Tao! :)

The day started with an early wake up and 7:15am pickup. Breakfast at our bungalow resort does not begin until 8am so we planned ahead and picked up some banana bread, yoghurt and drinks from Tesco Lotus (a big grocery-supercentre store) the night before and had a quick bite before heading out. Having a car to get around, explore and make pitstops like this is great - once you get accustomed to driving on the left in crazy Koh Samui traffic!

It turns out that a mother and daughter from Wales and staying at an adjoining resort to ours were also on our tour so we all got picked up together and made our way to the 100 Degrees East dive shop.

Koh Tao is renowned for diving so this tour had 6 other folks who were set to dive while we snorkeled. I was very tempted to dive myself as I have my license but it has been a while and I really enjoy the freedom of snorkeling, plus, by snorkeling, I would be able to experience this together with Lory which made the decision an easy one :)

The first snorkeling spot was located off a quiet beach where we entered the warm water with our great snorkeling guide Nuwin. As soon as we popped our faces into the clear water, you could see fish everywhere! Yellow fish, black fish, long tail fish, rainbow fish, all kinds of fish! The water was calm and we spent over an hour snorkeling around the beach cove which was surrounded by rocks near the outer edges. It was nice having Nuwin as our guide but to be honest the fish were so plentiful that it was easy to just swim around on your own.

We used the underwater camera case that we picked up right before leaving Vancouver on this trip and this time I made sure to keep the lens clear as we discovered our previous photos came out with smudges in the middle probably from fingerprints and sunscreen. The case is great and fits our Canon camera perfectly! It allowed me to take photos like the one above and many more including some amazing 1080p videos!

An amazing Thai curry lunch with cold sodas followed on the boat and then we were off to the second stop. This time we anchored just off a secluded shallow reef area surrounded completely by rocks and quickly made our way into the water to snorkel some more. This area had even more fish, some of the same and some new ones like a school of big grouper fish and angel fish that Nuwin pointed out. We also saw some great coral, including brain coral, leather coral, table coral and tree coral. Colourful clams around the coral were everywhere and they would open and close as we were snorkeling by. Nuwin also took us out into some deeper ocean and Lory who is now becoming snorkeling junkie was comfortable making her way around in some deep water. Out here, Nuwin showed us an old car that has been submerged for divers/snorkelers to check out. He claimed it was his car and proceeded to free dive down into the drivers seat :)

Snorkeling done, we headed back to our resort, had another mango shake (pure mango heaven) and spent the rest of the afternoon in the water and on our beach reading and chilling. Quick shower before we headed to dinner at a place called Dr. Froggs which overlooks the ocean. After 10 days of eating delicious Thai food, I decided to have a pizza at Dr. Froggs since they were known to make tasty pies...and it was delicious! Lory had an interesting version of chicken with cashew nut which was super spicy and required her to cool down with two more mango shakes!

I have to say that Koh Tao definitely ranks as one of the best snorkel spots I have been to and would definitely recommend as a stop in the Gulf of Thailand!

Pictures from Angthong

Leaving Koh Samui




Rock formation jetting out over snorkeling route




Snorkeling




Some of the colourful fish




Clam




Jellyfish



Rock formations/islands in the Marine Park



More rock formations



Emerald Lake



Lunch on the beach



Monkey

Angthong National Marine Park

We arrived on Koh Samui on Songkran day and were greeted as we drove to our beach bungalow by people lined on the streets throwing water. It was a great sight. Some would let us pass unscathed because we were in a car but others would stop us and dump buckets of water on the car.

The day after we arrived on Samui, we were booked on a tour of Anthong National Marine Park. We booked through 100 Degrees East Dive Team because Z had read great reviews and because they limit the number of guests to maximum 12. The other boats we saw along the way were crowded with people and I nicknamed them people ferries.

Our day started with a pick up at our bungalow. We arrived at the dive shop and met the other guests before heading to the beach where we climbed aboard the speed boat which would take us around for the day. The Marine Park is about a 60 minute boat ride away.

Our first stop was at the north part of the park for snorkeling. The water was quite calm and very warm. It was the best snorkeling I've experienced so far. We got to see all sorts of colorful fish. If I were better at identifying the fish I'd mention a few types. I'm sure that I saw some needle nosed fish. There were even a couple schools of different fish swimming around and Z had fun swimming through them. Our snorkeling guide was good; he'd point out several interesting fish and he even took us through a cave which was a really cool experience. The sun was shining into the cave which made visibility great. Have I mentioned the water was crystal clear? I got to see a blue spotted stingray. We snorkeled for about an hour before heading off to the main part of the park. The scenery of the various rock islands is absolutely stunning (I'll post some pictures later).

We made our way to Emerald Lake where we climbed up some very steep stairs to reach the view point. The view from here was incredible. From here we moved on to one of the beaches in the park where we had a short rest while the guides prepared a fabulous lunch. We were treated to fried rice, a vegetable curry dish, chicken curry and fried chicken. The whole day the guides were very gracious hosts making sure we had plenty of fluids and even brought fresh fruit around.

Shortly after we finished lunch light rain drops started to fall. At first it was no big deal and we thought it refreshing on such a hot day. But not too long after the drops started, the light drops turned into a tropical downpour. There was a hut where we waited this out and it only lasted about 15 minutes before the sun was out shining again.

Next up was kayaking to a cove near the beach where we had lunch. Z and I shared a kayak and actually paddled very well together. We got some good speed going. At the cove, we were given the option to swim for awhile, but as I was walking into the water I stepped on a rock and mildly cut my big toe. I didn't feel like going back into the water after that and so the guides suggested that Z and I take the kayak out and go around to the next cove. This was a lot of fun. Because we paddled well together it didn't take us long to get there and so we decided to go a little further. We got to see some really cool rock formations and it was a pity we left the camera on the boat.

After kayaking it was back to the boat for a short trip to another beach to try and see some wild monkeys. Because of the downpour there was a good chance that we would be out of luck, but fortunately there were a couple monkeys that had come out of hiding. The monkeys were hard to see though as they much preferred to jump in the trees than stay still for pictures. This was our last stop of the day.

All in all the day was fabulous. I'd have to say this has been my second favorite highlight of the trip so far.

More of Chiang Mai

We were in Chiang Mai at the beginning of the Songkran festival. Songkran is Thai New Year and this year the festival ran from April 12 to 15. Songkran day was April 13 and had we known about Songkran when we booked our trip we would have scheduled it differently and not made New Year's day a travel day.

The place to be during Songkran is Chiang Mai. As we learned more about what happens we would have enjoyed staying another day. April is the hottest month in Chiang Mai (temperature was 40+C with no humidity) and so part of the fun that takes place with Songkran is that people throw water at each other and the afternoon/early evening turns into one big water fight. It's a big deal there and you can see super soaker water guns like you've never seen being sold everywhere. People also drive around the city with large buckets of water in their pick ups and throw water at unsuspecting pedestrians (happened a couple times). It's all in good fun and you dry off eventually in the sun. Word of caution- don't wear light colors. The general water fight started on the 12th. That evening the street beside our hotel turned into a market. There was even a stage that was built up for entertainment and then taken down during the day and then built again the next evening. It was really neat participating in the events.

We stayed at the Parasol Inn, a small hotel centrally situated in the city centre. It was a great place to stay, the staff were all so friendly. There's were two Wats beside our hotel. Wat Chedi Luang is pictured above (it was founded in 1401). The other was Wat Pan Tao and it appeared to be undergoing restoration or a renovation. We could see this one from our bathroom windows. I read that Chiang Mai has over 300 Buddhist temples. I can attest that we saw a lot of Wats so I don't doubt that number.

We spent an afternoon just walking around the city centre to get a taste of what Chiang Mai is like. It was a very hot afternoon so we were thankful the water throwing had begun. There is a cultural centre where we spent some time learning more about the city. Before our walking tour though we took advantage of one of the many massage places and paid 300 Baht each for a 1.5 hour foot, back, shoulder, neck and head massage. It felt really good especially since the day before we were taking care of our elephants. The city centre is very quaint with lots of old buildings. The centre has a good vibe to it and we felt very safe wherever we went.

We toured through Wat Phra Sing just to see what a Wat is. The grounds for this one are quite large and there are multiple buildings that have various functions. The temple building was quite spectacular and there were many people coming in to give their offerings to the Buddha for Songkran. We did not linger long so to be respectful of the people and the monks. One thing that I enjoyed seeing on the grounds were numerous signs that had very insightful and philosophical sayings on them.

Right next to our hotel was a juice bar called Juice Box and it's here that I fell in love with mango juice. Mango juice here, I've discovered, is made from freshly squeezed mangos...it's like drinking a mango. It's absolutely to die for....mango juice or mango shake, either works and it's all I've been drinking. The food has been extremely good regardless of which restaurant we've gone to and the meals are very affordable. We are not going hungry here.

Next up we are heading to Koh Samui for some beach time.

Elephant owner for the day photos

Z feeding bananas




Feeding Nui




Bathing time




Riding to the waterfall



Riding Nui



At the river for play time



Our lunch spread



Swim and play time



Eh and Nui -saying goodbye



Z saying goodbye to Maebutong

Elephants

When we were planning our trip we learnt that the Thai people regard elephants as special and sacred animals and that there were several different opportunities to interact with elephants. As always, after much research my trusty travel partner Z found an elephant conservation farm called Patara Elephant Farm where we could be an elephant owner for the day. This was a once in a lifetime experience not to be missed, but don't get me wrong, it was a lot of hard work. Patara has a great philosophy: " Extinction is forever".

The experience at Patara was very educational and I left with a lot more knowledge and a much deeper appreciation for elephants. I was quite amazed to witness how the elephants used their trunks and at times shocked at what they could do with them.

The elephant population in Thailand is approximately 2500 today, about half of what it was 40 years ago. Patara is proud in that they stress the health and well-being of elephants in their activities and are about conservation and breeding. The elephant population has been declining due to human exploitation, poaching, and deforestation.

Our day started with an early morning pick up and we arrived at the remote farm about an hour later. Our first introduction to the elephants was while we waited to get started. There was a mother and a playful baby elephant (4 months old) there to greet us. The baby had quite the personality as he tried to nudge us out of his way.

At our initial briefing we learned more about elephants and how they are similar to humans. We also learned more about the farm and their purpose. With the declining elephant population, they are trying to provide a healthy environment and habitat for the elephants. We also learned more about what we were going to do throughout the day and what was expected of us. Again I stress, this was not a sit back and watch kind of place.

We started off by meeting our assigned elephant and trainer/owner. My elephant was named Nui and my trainer was Eh. Nui is15 months pregnant with her first child. Gestation period ranges from 19 to 24 months and the baby will weigh around 150 lbs at birth. After Nui gives birth, her name will change to Maenui. Mae means mother. Female elephants can breed to age 55 and some will end up having many babies. The farm was proud to have experienced 5 births the last year and currently have 2 pregnant elephants.

The safest way to approach an elephant is from the front and in this case by calling their name and waiting for a friendly reaction before actually approaching. Nui was quite friendly and also quite playful with me at times. Z was paired up with Maebutong and her baby 8 month son.

Our first task was feeding time. Elephants will eat all day long so long as food is given to them. They are vegetarians and so feeding included bananas, sugar cane and grass. It was quite an experience to stick the food right into Nui's mouth...thankfully her teeth are well back in her mouth and so when she would close her mouth with my hand in there all I would feel was her tongue and gums.

After feeding was a health inspection where we had to make sure that our elephant had slept properly the night before by checking for signs of dirt in areas on their body. Elephants sleep for about four hours a day and sleep lying down for 45 minutes then stand up for 15 minutes and repeat. We also checked to make sure our elephant was happy, sweat properly to expel heat, and well....inspected their poop for signs of sickness. Eh let me skip that process because Nui was used as the example for everyone else.

Cleaning and bathing was next. We were taught the proper way to scrub our elephant in the river. Did I mention this day was hands on? Reaching the top of an elephant can be tricky so in most cases we learned the command to have them lay down. In Nui's case they didn't want her to lay down because she is pregnant so I climbed on some rocks and cleaned off her back before her bath. After bath time we posed for a group picture and unbeknownst to us the real owners instructed the elephants to spray us with water.

By now it was time for a short break and then we learned how to get on and off our elephants in preparation for our bare-back riding trek to a nearby waterfall. These elephants are trained in this regard so they are quite helpful with this task. I still felt bad because I thought I could be hurting Nui during the process. But she was gentle and helpful bending her leg so I could step up first on her ankle, then her thigh while she slightly lifted her leg so I could climb on. I found her to be very intelligent and mindful of me riding her. It took me a little time to get fully comfortable riding her mostly because we had to sit in a rather awkward position to begin with and because you are quite high up...seemed like it would be quite a long fall if I fell off but Nui didn't let that happen. Riding was quite fun. We disembarked when we approached a road and walked with our elephants. This is where Nui was rather playful and would put her trunk in her mouth and then slightly spray me. She would also occasionally get her flapping ears to hit my head. While walking we were to say certain commands so our elephants could hear our voices and Nui would be looking at me the whole time. It was quite special to feel that she trusted me.

At the waterfall we had a wonderful picnic lunch on a bamboo hut and then got a chance to swim and play with a couple elephants in the river. Maebutong and her baby were in the river and were very playful. Z and I were sitting on Maebutong and she was partially immersed in the water and would lean from side to side as though she was trying to make us fall off. After I got over my initial hesitation, I admit it was tons of fun and so glad I did it. I would have regretted if I skipped this once in a life time opportunity.

After lunch it was time to ride back to the farm and again Nui made sure the ride was as pleasant as possible. She took it slow and even stopped to feed on the occasional bunch of grass.

This experience has definitely been the highlight of the trip so far. I know what we have planned for the rest of our time in Thailand and I'm not sure it will top this! We were exhausted by the end of the day and quite sore for the next couple days.

Patara's team does a great job in making sure you have access to ample water throughout the day and the lunch provided was more than enough to satisfy. In fact, our elephants got all the leftovers minus the meat.

For anyone planning a trip to Thailand and Chiang Mai, Patara Elephant Farm has to be on the list of things to do. This is an experience not to miss.

Siam Rice cookery class photos

At the market with our cooking instructor Sim



Ready to chop some ingredients



Z making his Spicy Soup with Sweet Basil



About to enjoy my Chicken Coconut soup



Making Drunken Noodles



Ingredients for Chicken with Cashew nut




Z making Pad Thai




Making Yellow Curry paste




My Yellow Curry and Chicken with Cashew Nut dishes - YUM