Ko Samui - Island Exploration

I stayed on Bo Phut Beach in Ko Samui – a quiet beach with some hotels and restaurants and not a lot of people on the beach – and from there took a half-day excursion so I could see other parts of the island (for longer stays, a full-day excursion to a marine national park would be cool – sea kayaking or hiking –but I always think of my trips as scouting trips, where I get a feel for a place and then make a mental list of things to do when I return. In Hawaii, I actually had a chance to do those Next Things on the List. Will I get back to Thailand? To Ko Samui? I feel better thinking that I will than that I won’t – though there are so many other places in the world to see (and, realizing that being there gave me pangs for St. Maarten, maybe I need to go back to St. Maarten sooner rather than later!). Well, you never know (my philosophy of life – after Joaquin Andujar said, “I can sum up baseball for you in two words – you never know.”).

The half-day trip really took most of the day but it was fun; I especially enjoyed talking with the other people who came along. Highlights included:
A Big Buddha:

A temple with a gold Buddha:

A viewpoint:

Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks, that look like (well, maybe you can see for yourself what they look like; this is a G-rated blog):


A monkey show and coconut juice:


A mummified monk:

I got blessed by a live monk at the temple where the mummified monk is – he sprinkled me with water and then tied strings around my wrists. You’re supposed to wear them until they fall off – or for at least three days. I am still wearing one of them – the other experienced gone unfortunate proximity to orange juice, but fortunately it was after the three-day period.

A hike to a waterfall in the interior:

And Chaweng, the hub of activity – lots of stores and restaurants (no pictures; we drove through but did not stop). I am glad I had a chance to see it and glad for my choice to stay in Free House on Bo Phut beach!


I had the van drop me off at Fisherman’s Village, which had shops and restaurants. I had been waiting since my arrival in Thailand to buy some fisherman’s pants (a fellow PCT in Morocco had some); I also had lunch at an Italian restaurant by the water (hadn’t had Italian for a while) and walked back along the beach. I spent the rest of the afternoon by the beach and/or in the hammock, content.