Life in Samui

Giving thanks in our Samui Hotel

              Given the recent Bangkok paracivil war, we decided to leave New Zealand with altered travel plans.   We made an overnight stop at Bangkok  (stayed at an airport hotel).  Then, it was off to Koh Samui, a small exotic island in the Thai Gulf for 10 days    Our plan was to avoid the hot politics of Bangkok City.   We arrived at our Thai destination of Samui, safely (though Al lost his sunglasses).

          We've been taking in the tourist sites.  We've seen Buddhist temples, trekked thru the jungles on elephants and ATV, spent a day at world famous Koh Tau for diving, and shopped in the local markets (to name a few).  Of course, we had several Thai massages to spoil ourselves.   The local weather continued to be "same same"--steamy hot (even by Thai standards) with no rain.  We were safe and far away from the violent political quarrels in Bangkok.   

      On Sunday, we'll leave Samui to our next stop.   Our current plans include a 2 hour stop in Bangkok to change planes from Samui.   Then, it's onward to Hong Kong.   

Thai snapshots:

A Mother's Day Trip of siteseeing including a stop at the Big Buddha temple.  We removed our hats and shoes to be proper.

From our boating trips around the nearby islands with snorkelling, kayaking, and a special day of diving at Koh Tau (awesome).

Exotic fruits from the local farms including Dragon fuit (pink skinned) and mystery fruit (small multicolored/hairy things) 

Our beautiful hotel  at night as we are off to a fine Thai dinner

 A local street peddler is going to market with handmade brooms.  The Thai staff of local hotels use these brooms for cleaning.