After all the antics on Koh Phangan we were looking for a different sort of holiday (i.e. drink-free!) when we got the ferry to neighbouring island Koh Samui. We found a hotel that had a dorm room for me as well as a private room for Jo and Tom and we spent the first night severely recharging our batteries. The next day we thought it would be good to get involved with a bit of Thai culture so we visited 'Big Buddha' - a large gold Buddha on top of a temple - where Joanna got shouted at by a very angry monk (far from the serene image you might have in your mind of an enlightened being!) because she had her shoulders on show, despite the fact that she was reaching in her bag at that moment for a cover-up.
We'd heard that there was a national park on the island with waterfalls worth visiting however the taxis can get quite expensive so we hired two mopeds (Joanna on the back of Tom's and me on my own) and explored the island. I've done this on my travels a few times now and it's my all time favourite way to see a country. We navigated our way to the national park and trekked through the sweltering jungle to the waterfall where we cooled off in the fresh water.
That afternoon we met up with my friend, Ash, who was on the island to do an English teacher training course. We'd purposefully made sure we were on the island at the same time but this didn't make it any less surreal meeting her here on a tropical island in Asia! The following day Joanna and Tom left to go to another island to have their own holiday - it has been brilliant having them here for Christmas and New year and we've had so much fun in the two weeks they've been in Thailand!
It was time for me to leave Thailand again because I wanted to do some more 'proper travelling' i.e. less partying and more integration with local culture. I'd made arrangements to meet up with Vic and Evie, two girls I'd made friends with a few months ago, in neighbouring country Laos but little did I know how horrendous the journey was going to be! I started off in a taxi with a maniac driver - little did I know this was because he was running late which I discovered when we arrived at the bus terminal and the bus was driving off without me! I had to sprint across the station with my backpacks and the driver was incredibly rude to me when he eventually stopped. After that the bus drove on a ferry and when we reached the mainland the bus started driving off with my big backpack in the cargo hold because they'd neglected to tell me that I had to change bus! Once I'd retrieved my bag I got on another bus and was taken to an unknown Thai town and told to wait for yet another bus; whilst I was waiting a motorbike crash happened right in front of me and the man involved was badly hurt, covered in blood and unconscious for half an hour. When I eventually reached Bangkok at 5.30am I was exhausted, drained and hoping nothing more would go wrong. I needed to wait for another overnight bus and had thirteen hours to kill so booked myself into a cheap hostel to get some shut-eye. When I woke up I opened my backpack to find that someone, possibly the bus driver, had been through all my things - including my underwear - and one of my spare credit cards had been stolen. This journey was becoming ridiculous. I was also very worried about crossing the border to Laos in time before my visa for Thailand ran out. Two mini bus taxis and an overnight bus later I finally crossed the Thai/Lao border but the journey wasn't over yet; luckily I met an English girl on the bus, the only other tourist, and she was going to the same place as me so we shared a taxi to the bus station and crammed in the back of a truck with forty other locals for four boiling hours. At one point the truck stopped and women selling meat on sticks surrounded the vehicle trying to sell their wares; some of them climbed in the back and were literally lying on top of us shoving the meat in our faces, it was then that we realised some of the sticks were massive, cooked rats! After the truck we walked under the fierce Laos sun to catch a longtail boat to Don Det island. After fifty one hours and many disasters I've never been so happy to arrive somewhere - I can't complain as, after all, I did say I wanted to do some 'proper travelling'....
Big Buddha.
Joanna and Tom got 'blessed' by a monk after donating a small amount of money.
Dinner by the beach.
We'd heard that there was a national park on the island with waterfalls worth visiting however the taxis can get quite expensive so we hired two mopeds (Joanna on the back of Tom's and me on my own) and explored the island. I've done this on my travels a few times now and it's my all time favourite way to see a country. We navigated our way to the national park and trekked through the sweltering jungle to the waterfall where we cooled off in the fresh water.
Helmet shot!
Joanna and Tom went on an elephant ride - I had great fun following them with their DSLR.
Swimming in the waterfall.
That afternoon we met up with my friend, Ash, who was on the island to do an English teacher training course. We'd purposefully made sure we were on the island at the same time but this didn't make it any less surreal meeting her here on a tropical island in Asia! The following day Joanna and Tom left to go to another island to have their own holiday - it has been brilliant having them here for Christmas and New year and we've had so much fun in the two weeks they've been in Thailand!
Reunited with Ash!
This protruding stone on Koh Samui is called 'Grandmother rock' although many say it looks like something else all together...
It was time for me to leave Thailand again because I wanted to do some more 'proper travelling' i.e. less partying and more integration with local culture. I'd made arrangements to meet up with Vic and Evie, two girls I'd made friends with a few months ago, in neighbouring country Laos but little did I know how horrendous the journey was going to be! I started off in a taxi with a maniac driver - little did I know this was because he was running late which I discovered when we arrived at the bus terminal and the bus was driving off without me! I had to sprint across the station with my backpacks and the driver was incredibly rude to me when he eventually stopped. After that the bus drove on a ferry and when we reached the mainland the bus started driving off with my big backpack in the cargo hold because they'd neglected to tell me that I had to change bus! Once I'd retrieved my bag I got on another bus and was taken to an unknown Thai town and told to wait for yet another bus; whilst I was waiting a motorbike crash happened right in front of me and the man involved was badly hurt, covered in blood and unconscious for half an hour. When I eventually reached Bangkok at 5.30am I was exhausted, drained and hoping nothing more would go wrong. I needed to wait for another overnight bus and had thirteen hours to kill so booked myself into a cheap hostel to get some shut-eye. When I woke up I opened my backpack to find that someone, possibly the bus driver, had been through all my things - including my underwear - and one of my spare credit cards had been stolen. This journey was becoming ridiculous. I was also very worried about crossing the border to Laos in time before my visa for Thailand ran out. Two mini bus taxis and an overnight bus later I finally crossed the Thai/Lao border but the journey wasn't over yet; luckily I met an English girl on the bus, the only other tourist, and she was going to the same place as me so we shared a taxi to the bus station and crammed in the back of a truck with forty other locals for four boiling hours. At one point the truck stopped and women selling meat on sticks surrounded the vehicle trying to sell their wares; some of them climbed in the back and were literally lying on top of us shoving the meat in our faces, it was then that we realised some of the sticks were massive, cooked rats! After the truck we walked under the fierce Laos sun to catch a longtail boat to Don Det island. After fifty one hours and many disasters I've never been so happy to arrive somewhere - I can't complain as, after all, I did say I wanted to do some 'proper travelling'....
Chicken and rat meat sticks.
The final leg of my mammoth journey.
Here is your Mother Scot commentator again!...yuck rats on sticks (did you try?!) and poor you to have such a gruesome journey!...hope things get better rather than worse there. x
ReplyDeleteThings definitely improved as soon as I got off the last boat!
ReplyDelete