Today was a perfect sight-seeing day! It was a little overcast, so not really great for the beach. We signed up for a tour (only 350 baht!) and got to see 7 different sights. First was went to see the grandfather/grandmother rocks and after that headed to a monkey show! I actually got to have a monkey on my shoulder, really sweet! He was a lot lighter and softer than I thought he was going to be! I kind of felt bad for the poor monkeys though because they were on chains! After the monkey show we headed to see a mummified monk who was still in the same position he died in, Meditation! Actually pretty creepy!
Next we headed for my favourite part of the trip. We went to a waterfall and park where we got to go on an elephant trek through the jungle, soo friggen cool. Kristin and I got to take turns sitting on the elephants neck, really really sweet. Our elephant guide was kind of crazy! But hilarious and took like 30 pictures of us while we trekked through the jungle. I couldn't believe how the elephants could understand all this random Thai yelling...crazy! The ride ended up taking longer than we expected and we ended up making our group late...oops! But we made it, and then we went on to see "Big Buddha". which is literally just a big Buddha. Well more like a MASSIVE gold Buddha. Really interesting though and cool little area. It was something I had really wanted to see so I was happy we made it there. We headed to another Buddhist temple and statue (a goddess with like 20 arms). She was on like her own mini island in the water with a bridge leading up to her and a ton of Coy fish swimming all around. I found it all very interesting, just very different from anything we would find in Canada! I mean...can you imagine going to Lake Scugog and seeing a 40 foot Buddha? Crazy. Our last quick stop was a viewpoint which was absolutely breathtaking. We were all starting to get pretty hungry and tired though, so we were happy to get back to our bungalows and head for dinner. Tonight everyone was super exhausted, so we took it easy. I went for a nice stroll along the beach. It was great, I love the sound of the waves, and there was a thunderstorm way off in the distance which looked really cool. Then I settled in for some reading. Day 5: December 29th-
Today was another really nice chill day. We spent a lot of it on the beach, reading and jumping in the big waves, and sipping fruit smoothies at the beach restaurant. In the afternoon Jodi, Kristin and I made our way back to grandmother/grandfather rock and did a little photoshoot and shopping! Then we booked our boat trip for tomorrow and went to the Black Pearl for some dinner. Just a really relaxing day! We have to get up pretty early tomorrow morning so we're taking another easy night (we're so cool).
Day 6: December 30th -
Today was GREAT! We got up super early (7AM! On Vacation!) to go to grab a mini-bus to our boat tour! In our bus we met two really nice girls from the U.K (one originally from Brazil) and they ended up being on the same boat as us! We got to the ferry station, boarded our boat and got served some breakfast. Then we set out for a 1.5 hr ride to Angthong National Marine Park. Our first stop was an island called "Mae Koh". We trekked about 10 minutes up to a view point that was sooo beautiful. Then we hiked down the other side to "Talay Nai" Lagoon. Seriously the most clear blue waster I've ever seen, with all sorts of sea urchins and fish. So great. We got back on the boat for some lunch and went to another island where we climbed up and saw some really cool caves, went swimming, and laid on the beach! After that we got back in a long boat (or "boat Tuk Tuk") to head back to our boat where I met some cool pretty cool people from Australia. It was starting to get a little sunny so we went up to the top floor sundeck where the australian guys were deciding to jump off the boat into the ocean. A big part of me wanted to do it too, but I chickened out. The boat ride back to Koh Samui was a VERY wavy one, and you couldn't really stand or walk at all (I tried and ended up with a few bruises). But we did get to talk to some cool people. When we got back to dry land we decided to go for some dinner with our new friends then go for Thai boxing. Unfortunately the boxing was pretty expensive because it was a special fight, so we ended up hanging out in the Chaweng Beach area and watching a Cabaret Show. Then we headed back to our place! Tomorrow is our last full day in Koh Samui (and New Years Eve!) It's gone way too fast! Day 7: New Years Eve!-
New Years Eve morning was super relaxing. The usual coffee and breakfast on the beach (I could really get used to that..) then some reading and lying on the beach. It was a little overcast so I ended up doing a lot of reading, a little napping, and mostly just taking it easy. Then we decided to get ready for our night!
We had booked a speedboat to Koh Phangnan for a "Countdown Party". A huge party on the beach with over 10,000 people for New Years! We got picked up at 7:30 in the most RIDICULOUS van. It pulled in with dance music just blasting, and these crazy lights inside the van! It really made me ready to dance though! haha. We got to the speedboat area, and lets just say...it was kind of chaos. There were so many people waiting for boats and people were butting in line (we had numbers), and pushing their way onto boats. Not cool. And then...it started to rain. ugh. Finally after a good 2hr wait (and some good Korean "box your shoulders") we got onto a boat. As soon as we got on the boat, it really started to rain. That with the wind completely destroyed the good hour I spent doing my hair and makeup. Note to self...when going on a speedboat, just forget about doing your hair! But FINALLY we made it to the island (around 10-10:30). As we were making our way from the boat to the beach I thought to myself "there really isn't THAT many people here"...then we got to the beach, And it was PACKED. There were people, and glow paint, and fire shows, and crazy outfits EVERYWHERE. I decided that this night would be the perfect time to wear my crazy blue wig that Al, Ash and Danielle sent us, and I fit right in! It was a ton of fun! Alright, well I'm not usually one to gush about guys. Ever. But I'm assuming by now a few of you had seen a picture of me with someone labelled "Argentina". So I might as well mention this encounter (in the spirit of "Truth Be Told"). At some point throughout the night, this guy randomly "bumped" into me (I put bumped in quotations because Jodi told me later that he definitely did it on purpose). Anyways, he said sorry, we immediately started chatting. I found out he was from Argentina, and he has an incredible accent, so we chatted a bit more, etc etc. Then about 20 minutes later Kristin tugs my arm and says we're moving on our merry way. And that's the whole story, my 20 minute romance with a beautiful man from South America. He gave me his email...but I don't remember it. And that's probably the last time you'll hear me rave about a boy on this blog :).
So we stayed for the countdown (or non-countdown...there were so many people that we didn't really get a real countdown), and then we decided to head back to the boat at around 1. It was madness though, and we didn't actually make it back to our bungalows until around 4 in the morning! Great New Years though :)
Day 8-9: New Years Day (2011!)-
Since we had such a late night, we decided to sleep in on New Years day. Unfortunately we also had to check out of our bungalow by noon, so sleeping in for Kristin and I was 11. After that we spent a couple hours shopping, a couple hours on the beach, our last few Thai meals, and then we headed to the airport! Koh Samui Airport is probably the nicest airport I've ever seen. And smells great. Travels on the way back went a whole lot smoother than on the way to Thailand, that's for sure! We pretty much just glided through the day, except for when we actually had to ENTER China because no one was working the transfer desk. Lame. But we made it back to Korean at 11am Sunday morning and caught a Bus from the airport to Daejeon right away! By the time I got back I was EXHAUSTED. And I'll admit it...it's been 5 days and I still haven't fully unpacked yet. I'm a liiiiitle lazy! :)
But there's the trip! It as a ton of fun, a lot of new experiences, and some lessons learned (ie if you think you've given yourself enough time...give yourself more!)
Our next vacation is only a month away! We're potentially thinking Hong Kong! Woo! :)
Peace and Love.
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