Ko Samui, Thailand 04/04/12

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

The Port-O-Call today was Ko Samui which was a huge escape from our experience at Pattaya. Ko Samui is the biggest of a group of several dozen islands off Southern Thailand in the very calm waters of the Gulf of Siam. The island is considered the biggest coconut plantation in the world. The first backpackers began arriving in the 1970’s and life slowly changed.

Plush bungalow resorts mushroomed on every attractive beach on the island since has sandy beaches, coral, calm waters, beautiful picture perfect coves and none of the rift raft of Pattaya or the disgusting smells. Tourism has become the island’s major income which will increase since the airport was built in 1988 which will soon turn international. I am sure the island is very attractive to people from Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia and Japan.

Majority of the access to the island is from the sea with a large car ferry continuously running from the west coast of the island to Thailand’s southern east coast mainland. The major beaches on the island are Lamai and Chaweng and are located on the east coast of the island which are lined with bungalows and hotels which most are hidden from the thick foliage, allowing the natural beauty to remain intact.

It takes only one hour to drive around the island which has so many beaches to welcome you to the hot sun and tropical blue waters. You can go into the hilly inland but you need a 4 wheeled drive or a motorcycle. All the roads are two- lane and narrow with shops, restaurants near the road. There are inland waterfalls and fantastic sights on top of the steep hills looking down to the many scenic beaches with hidden coves and scrumptious beaches on the bays.

Our tour bus took about an hour to navigate the narrow slow moving steep roads to The Big Buddha which is a monumental landmark located on the north coast containing elements of Brahminism, Buddhism and animism in its design. There was a medium size bazaar surrounding the temple that offered souvenirs to be bargained. I purchased a colorful Ko Samui red t-shirt for $7 US. We were told before the tour that proper attire was required for visiting The Big Buddha Temple thus no shorts, tank tops, open toed shoes, flip flops or mini-skirts. One would be required to take off their shoes to enter the temple. It turned out no one was policing the grounds since there was a downpour that quickly turned puddles into small lakes and surrounded the bazaar shops. The shopkeepers were sweeping out the water to protect their goods and to welcome buyers to their shops. The native people were friendly and respectful of the guests.

Joe stayed in the air-conditioned bus since it was raining so hard plus he did not want to walk up the 75 steps to the 39 foot high Big Buddha. He just was not interested. As I stepped into the muddy puddles that were impossible to avoid, I noticed that the rain coming down the temple steps looked like a waterfall. I did not mind getting wet from the constant rain since it was more refreshing than the beating hot sun. My Australian Outback hat kept my head and glasses dry as I slowly climbed the steep smooth tile steps.

The Big Buddha was painted in gold and had the traditional four arms and was in a seated position. On the ground level there were two worship altars to pray and make offerings. I saw two Buddhist monks praying in deep concentration. At the very top of the stairs there was open covered areas to dry off and see the lovely blue waters in the bay below. On three sides on the top where it was covered there were large bells about 4 feet apart which people banged making a deep long dong. At two sides of the Buddha’s there were much smaller golden Buddhas in different poses.

During my slow careful descent on the tiled stairs, The Big Buddha must have pushed me. My feet came straight out beneath me as my purse and camera flew up into the air. My left elbow got scraped up as I landed with great force on the right side of my rear end. I looked as if I were a kid on a waterslide as I slid down about 10 steps on my rear end when another Princess tourist stopped me from going any further. Thankfully he was not pulled down from me. His wife and he gathered my belongings that spilled out and made sure I could proceed down the rest of the steps. If I was not soaked from the rain completely, the waterfall steps assured me that I was.

Our tour guide came rushing as I neared the bottom of the steps concerned about my accident. I was fine I told him but I was sure I would be bruised. He questioned me about filling out an accident report or getting first aide but I had to reassure him that I was ok. Joe was asleep in the bus and asked how I enjoyed the Buddha. He was so thankful that I was okay. My large cushioned rear end saved me from serious injury. My left elbow stung from the abrasion that did not stop until after I took a long hot shower back in our cabin on the ship.

Our next stop was about a 20 minute southern drive to Island Safari where we were entertained by two elephants (2 tons each) who bowed, sat up, stood on their heads, played basketball and soccer. The elephants also gave a gentle massage to a woman and a man. The man was also treated to a massage of his private parts by the elephants’ trunks. They also took tip money via their flexible trunks. They were well behaved trained young elephants about 2 years old.

The next stop we watched how monkeys were used to take down the coconuts from the tall coconut trees. The monkeys twisted the coconut’s stem till it dropped on the ground. Monkeys on Samui qualify as the native’s best friend even though the monkey would not agree since for centuries the people have used monkeys to do the hardest part of harvesting ripe nuts on the coconut plantations. The monkeys are greatly prized since they were easy to train and industrious. The guide told us that it takes about 6 months to train a monkey to do this hard work.

The monkey gave a funny show and was very cute looking. Joe and I got to hold the monkey which was very clean and light weight. When it was in a sitting position, it was about a foot high. My camera was water-logged and broken from my fall at the Buddha so I was not able to get photos of the elephant show and me with the monkey. My camera came back to life a little bit in time to get a couple great pictures with Joe and the monkey.

Our last stop at the tour stop was an elephant trek on a matured larger Asian elephant. Joe and I were seated in a Ferris wheel type chair with a very loose safety belt that was not safe at all. We were able to get a few photos of us on the elephant. The elephant trek was led by our Thai guide who has to keep our elephant from eating the bushes and trees on the trail up the hill. We were rolled from side to side as the elephant (4 tons in weight). It was a challenge to stay on the seat and we held onto to each other and the sidebars to keep from falling off. The plant life was colorful and thick. There were several other monkeys on the trail as well as some birds. The coconuts trees were heavy with coconuts. The trek was about 30 minutes and we enjoyed it. Our guide made us each a palm necklace and ring as the elephant walked on the trail which was a true feat. The elephants were also had a bunch of bristle type hair.

Upon leaving Island Safari we drove another 30 minutes to a gorgeous 4 star hotel on the coast. The lobby was very tall and opened with lovely fountains and an altar honoring Buddha. The rooms were in lovely individual villas with lush gardens and pretty pools with waterfalls. We walked down a curvy relatively steep path to the beach area which I gasped with its beauty with the islands and reefs off shore and the various colors of blue in the bay. Our traditional Thai lunch was very good and some dishes were quite spicy. I loved the fruity tasty cool drink they offered us upon entrance into the open dining area. Joe goes a fantastic table next to the beach. It was perfect. The Nora Hotel also had a lovely Polynesian trio playing beach songs that got us in a wonderful relaxed mood.

The drive to the ship seemed long and rather bouncy which made me a bit queasy for some reason. We were on the last tender to the ship at 3:45 PM which also took its time to get to the ship even though the seas were very calm. The tender felt like a steam bath thus getting back on the air conditioned ship was awesome.

The show on the ship that night was a wonderful performance by Bobby Wilson whose father was the famous Jackie Wilson, Lonely Teardrops! He did an upbeat performance of the songs Joe and I love. Joe clapped, sang and moved to the music.

It was a great fun day in a very lovely day on Ko Samui which I would recommend to people to visit.

April 5 was out last full sea day before our final destination arrival in Singapore which we are both very excited about. Our research shows it to be a modern, very clean, fun city. Singapore is located just over 1 degree north of the equator so I am sure that it will hot and sticky but at least there is plenty of air conditioned buildings there. Singapore became an independent country from Malaysia in 1965 and enjoys a multi-racial harmony. Mosques, temples and churches co-exist in a climate of complete freedom of worship; a rare tolerance and understanding that stems from the diverse origins of the Singaporean. We will be staying three nights at the Park Hotel at Clarke Quay which is a center of restaurants, shops, modern hotels surrounding the Quay. It also is only two blocks from Chinatown.

So off the ship we disembark tomorrow at 9:20AM. Our 20 night cruise on the Ocean Princess has ended but we have gained new friends, learned about other cultures and countries, and memories that Joe and I earned together. Thank you God, for such amazing gifts that You have blessed us.

Ciao!