Koh Samui

March 1
First things first, here is a pic of the guy sleeping on my deck.

So I got a ride to the Lomprayah terminal to catch the 9:30 am ferry to Koh Samui. The ferry was so crowded... People everywhere! The ferry ride was much better than the ride to Koh Tao, it took only 1.5 hours (compared to the 2.5 hours going). However, it did rain hard during the trip but the sun came out and we all dried in the sun.

Goodbye Koh Tao

Arrived at the hotel to this view of the pools and beach.

I spent the afternoon walking around exploring, trying to find Fisherman's Village and pricing out scooter rentals. Fisherman's Village is a collection of narrow Chinese shops that have been transformed into some of the island's trendy hotels and eateries. I walked and walked but I couldn't find it. As for the scooter, I was able to get a good price for a day rental but I decided not to rent it because the traffic was scary!!! Instead, I booked a tour with "Happy Tour" for tomorrow.

Back at the hotel I relaxed by the pool. Then headed back and I found Fisherman's Village just in time for dinner.

March 2
I headed out on my "Happy Tour" with some great people. Our first stop was the Beautiful Lady Monk Temple (Wat Plai Laem). This extremely colorful, fairly new temple was completed in 2004. The Wat Plai Laem temple holds two giant, colorful statues. The first is the huge image of the Chinese Goddess of Mercy and Compassion who has 18 arms.

On either side of this statue you will find a long shaped building with beautiful mural paintings telling stories from Buddhist mythology.

Another very eye catching statue is that of the fat, laughing Chinese Buddha. In Chinese culture, a fat Buddha represents wealth and prosperity. This very impressive statue is 30 meters high and painted in expressive colors like red, white and gold.

Next we head out to Big Buddah Temple (Wat Phra Yai). Wat Phra Yai is located on a small rocky island linked by a causeway and was erected in 1972. The modern Buddha stands 15m high.


Steps to get up there

Our next stop was a panoramic view point where you can see the sea in panorama view and is nicely built with a path toward the rocky sea shore offering a breathtaking sunrise and a panoramic ocean view over the whole Chaweng bay area.

On to see the 'Grandfather Rock' and 'Grandmother Rock' also known as Hin Ta and Hin Yai. These formations look like the male and female genitalia-shaped rock. A local story tells of an old couple whose ship was wrecked in the bay. Their body's were washed ashore to create the rocks.

Then a short visit to see monkeys that are trained to get coconuts.

One of Koh Samui’s most remarkable temples is Wat Khunaram. This temple has become famous for the mummified monk that is kept on display here. On display in an upright glass casket and surrounded by flowers, candles, incense sticks and fruit offerings is the body of Koh Samui’s most famous monk, Loung Pordaeng. For many Westerners this might be an uncomfortable or even disturbing sight, for Thai people the body of the monk is there to be worshipped and death is seen as an opportunity to be reborn in a next and better life.

Loung Pordaeng was born in 1894 in Koh Samui. When he as around 20 years old, he ordained as a monk. Loung Pordaeng is said to have predicted his own death, he died in 2973 at the age of 79 while meditating. He instructed his followers that if his body would decay, he wanted to be cremated. If the body would not decompose however, he wanted his body to be kept in a glass casket in the temple to serve as an inspiration for future generations to follow the teachings of the Buddha. Loung Pordaeng wears a pair of RayBan sunglasses because he has no eyeballs.

We stopped a Numuang Waterfall

This was a baby elephant that was in a pen. Momma was chained up along with all the others. These elephants are used for riding... So sad.
Our last stop was Nathon Town. It's the capital of Koh Samui and is the island's main port.
I headed out to the night market after a swim at the pool.

I'll be pool/beach side the next two days. I hope this post works I've been having technical difficulties.