Beautiful white sand beaches.....
and it’s not raining!!! I’ve been here at Chanweng beach in Koh Samui…It’s the largest and most popular beach here on Koh Samui and with it is all the nightlife/tourist stuff that goes along with this popular beach destination…Koh Samui is only second in size (and popularity) to Phuket but has all the amenities of it’s larger cousin. Koh Samui is located in the south east in the Gulf of Thailand as opposed to the westcoast where Phuket is located…apparently during the “rainy” season, the east does not experience as much rain as the westcoast which is why I ended up here…so far, so good….we’ve only had a few thundershowers since I’ve been here and those were usually during the evening, still lots of sun and heat (and humidity!!).
Everyone should be able to work like this....not that I'm working!!!
I’m staying at the Muang Kulaypan Resort which is located on the north end of the beach which is the quiet end yet only a five minute walk to all the main action of Chanweng Beach. The resort is model with a Japanese zen like theme including lots of waterfalls and mats…I almost felt like meditating out by the infinity pool everyday!!! ( for those who really know me, that would never happen) but it was nice none the less….
Chanweng Beach in Koh Samui really reminds me of any beach resort town in mexico, just in a different language….the usual bars, souvenir shops and restaurants that you would find at any beach resort, having said this, the locals are really nice and not quite as “pushy” as some other places ( I can only speak of mexico really).
After a few days of getting my “bearings” and getting acquainted with Chanweng Beach, I decided to do the usual tourist thing and rent a scooter for a couple of days at the cost of about 200-250 baht/day, equivalent to about $8 cdn, quite an economical mode of transportation…the one caveat, Thailand has the highest number of scooter accidents and an alarming number of fatalities, this in part due to the number of tourists as well as the driving habits in Thailand, but, I think if you play it safe and don’t be stupid on the roads, more than likely you’ll be ok (oh yeah, experience riding motorcycles would help as well)…
Here's my ride for a few days.....110cc of raw power!!!!!
So off I went touring the Island, it really doesn’t take that long since the island is really small and takes about 2 hrs to drive around the whole thing…There’s really not that much to see other than a few temples, waterfalls and beaches….
Big Buddha stands over 12 meters tall on the northern part of the island
One of the many waterfalls on the island...had to hike for an hour to get to this one!!
Grandfather Rock in Lamai Beach....what does this look like??? There's a female version as well (Grandmother Rock) but I couldn't get a pic...
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Quaint little cove by Grandfather Rock....
One thing I did find interesting was at Wat Khunaram, a monk that died over 20 years ago in his meditation pose has been preserved in the same position and is on display in a special enclosure…..
Dead for over 20 years!! This monk is remarkably preserved, they say due to his meditation and veganism...they put sunglasses on him cause the caretakers found bugs in his eyes....
So, the scooter has been returned and I just plan to hang on the beach for the next few days and relax….then back to Bangkok for a few days before I return to Vancouver.
Oh yeah, one thing I forgot to mention, if you have been to Ko Samui (or Phuket for that matter), you would of noticed that 90%…ok, more like 98% of the scooter riders do not wear helmets (tourists and locals) even though it is officially the law to wear one. Pretty much it seemed like one of those laws that is just ignored (helmetless riders routinely ride by police without any action at all)….until the cops need to replenish the kitty. The scooter I rented came with a helmet but it was two sizes too small, I inquired about a larger one but was told they only had one size…so I just tossed it aside thinking “what the heck” and everything was fine as I passed many policemen…until the second day…the cops actually had a road block setup specifically for helmetless riders just outside their station (how convenient). They were pulling over so many riders that there was no room to park!!! The fine was 300 baht (about $10 cdn) which had to paid right away…what a cash cow!!! They barely even wanted to know your name…maybe payday was coming up and they were running a little short….at least the locals were getting fined as well and not just the tourists….hmmf, first ticket I’ve had in over ten years…