koh samui - 2/2

the first couple of days we relaxed on the beach, but from around noon until 3pm it was too hot so we'd rest in the room or take a walk around town. chaweng has songtaew like in pattaya but they are few and far between. meter taxis like this one are everywhere but none of them use the meter- instead they all go by a fixed rate of 100 baht for short trips, or 150 baht if you ask to go to a nicer hotel. we could negotiate down from 150 but 100 was always the lowest price, so there must be an agreement among the drivers to keep prices high.

we stopped by haagen daaz for an ice cream. nothing special, but i really liked this huge photo on the wall. wonder how they achieved the blur- thought it was rotating the camera but the blur is unevenly distributed, so could be a photoshop job.

on the last day i decided to take my life into my hands and rent a small 4x4 to explore the island. i rented through the amari, thinking they would have a better quality vehicle available than the last wreck i rented in phuket and sure enough i'm happy to report that the car didn't break down and no major pieces fell off during the day trip.

the 4x4 was a suzuki sporty caribian (sic), a car that seems exclusive to thailand judging by a google search. it was more than adequate for the relatively good roads in samui, though i had to abort an attempt to reach na muang waterfall when the road got more and more rocky and off-camber. wasn't sure that the insurance (if there was insurance) would have taken care of me had i rolled the suzuki down a hillside.

at any rate, i found samui to be very nice and smaller than i thought- easily driveable in a day so long as one doesn't linger for too long.

first stop was the butterfly garden, part of the central samui village hotel. sure enough there were lots of butterflies inside, though i could only find two varieties- both of which had the frustrating habit of closing their wings and turning away from me when i pointed my camera at them. perhaps the entomologists among my readership can enlighten us as to the genus and species of this particular creature (or perhaps not).

next stop was wat khunaram to see the mummified monk. apparently, the monk died while meditating and a decision was made to mummify him in the meditation position. he wears a cool set of sunglasses, presumably shading his sensitive eyes from all the flashes of tourist cameras. we did what everyone seemed to be doing- arrived, took a photo, thought 'wow, mummified monk', donated 20 baht, and left.

i drove over to taling ngam beach to check it out as i had considered staying at the le royal meridien there. found the beach and nearby area in the photos to be extremely quiet- a throwback to pre-tourism koh samui days. likewise the nearby hotel was one of the only developments in the area. fine for a quiet getaway but i was glad i chose to stay at chaweng where there's more to do and a nicer beach.

last stop before heading home to bangkok was the big buddha statue on the island. we had a coffee and milkshake break in a small shop selling kick-knacks. i chatted with an older couple who turned out to be from bangkok and were in town for a couple of weeks helping their daughter who owned the shop.

there was a constant breeze which was refreshing after a day in the sun. these palms lining the beachfront reminded me of umbrellas turned inside out.

the big buddha himself. was surprisingly quiet with few people around, despite being a weekend.

when making merit in a thai temple it's common to stick some gold (or faux gold) flake on a buddha image. over time it can really accumulate as you can see in one of the photos here.

this particular temple had a novelty- an electronic version of the popular fortune telling ritual. seven 'risk merit making' machines were lined up, one for each day of the week. i found the thursday one (as it was the day i was born) and put a coin in. the lights spun round and stopped on... err... 13!

the number 13 fortune read as follows:

just like an orchard tree not yet yielding fruits, awaiting for rainfall. do not make a hasty decision to move away from this place. wait and see. some development under way. (yikes... so maybe hong kong isn't in the cards after all???). no child forthcoming (whew!!!!). meeting companionable persons and relatives. good lucks approaching. love not being satisfied in the immediate future (ah well...).

flying back from samui provided some great night views of the city. unfortunately i couldn't take any good pics owing to the long exposure time needed.

overall was a great trip. aside from the disaster of the first hotel i really had a good and relaxing time. there is perhaps more to do in phuket in terms of day-trips and nightlife, but for a relaxing get-away samui is the place to go. just be careful where you stay!