Thailand: All about Koh Samui

Koh Samui – The Touristy Island

We soon caught the ferry to our last destination for this trip “Koh Samui” , the most beautiful island and beautiful it was. But the worst part of the last destination is that you have a dejavu feeling of already having seen it all travelling across the country. Trying to keep that feeling to the bay we made our way to the hotel.

Stay in Koh Samui

We had booked lovely budget hotel right by the Chewang Beach and it was pretty awesome location wise. Chewang was by far the most happening beach place we had seen and we relaxed at our hotels and moved around in the street.

Chewang Nightlife

As evening set in we were asked to go to Ark Bar, one of the party places by the beach in Chewang apparently. While it was definitely not happening when we went, we all had a good game of pool by the beach.

No Thailand trip is complete without their infamous Ladyboy show, is it. So, we did our research and found out that we were pretty much at the best place to watch one of their best shows in Paris Follies Cabaret. They have two shows every night and while there is no charge to enter, purchasing a drink is mandatory. The show was very decent and a fun experience. A must if I say so in Koh Samui.

Koh Samui Sightseeing

The next day we made our way to the local sightseeing to the Big Buddha temple, Wat Plai Laem, No Muang Safari Park and multiple viewpoints across the coastline. While they were impressive and what struck me curious again was the similarity in Indian religion and Buddhism

HinTa and Hin Yai Rocks Fun Facts

However, what caught my fascination was the Hin Ta and Hin Yai Rocks. While rock formations across Thailand are no surprise, but these ones were unique because they were rocks in the shape of male and female genitals fondly called by the locals as Grandpa (Ta) and Grandma (Yai) rocks.

Legend has it that it was an old couple who lived with their son who had come of age in the southern part of the district. In their pursuit to find a suitable girl to ask for a hand in marriage, the couple set out on a boat across to a neighbouring province. Caught in a storm, the couple were unable to swim ashore and it is believed their intentions to find a suitable bride for their son shaped the rocks as a reflection of their intentions. While the story is much questionable, the rocks do stand proof of the legend till date with an excellent view of the Lamai Beach.

Koh Samui: Surprise Element

By the time, we reached back to Chewang the weather had gone for a complete toss and it began raining like crazy. We figured it was just a matter of time till the weather would set right again, but we have never been so wrong. The rains started around 4 pm local time in the evening and just never stopped. We went drenched to a nearby lounge and hung out playing Backgammon, jenga and pool hoping for the rains to subside, but we had no luck. We got back running through the rain to our hotels.

We woke up to a flooded Chewang beach, with water everywhere and no respite of the rains. We were informed that Koh Samui was in a storm and that no flights were flying in or out of Samui. We were in for a soup as most of us had a return flight booked back to India from Bangkok. It looked as though we had very little chances of reaching Bangkok the same evening.

We rushed to the airport hoping if we could reschedule ourselves to an earlier flight just to realize just how many people were stranded on the island, all with international connections. It was a nightmare. The airport was a tiny space managed completely by Bangkok Airways and with every passing hour, the crowd in the airport doubled with no silver lining visible.

The airways made a priority list depending on international departures but the first flight for the day landed at 3 pm. We were scheduled to depart at 3 from Samui with a flight from Bangkok at 10 and we left Samui at 7 in the evening barely making it in time for our flights. While one of us actually had to miss our flights, it was definitely a night to remember and lesson for life to not plan return journeys from any place else but your last destination.

Nevertheless, Thailand was a delight in many more unassuming ways than I could have ever imagined and I am definitely going back for more.