Elephants, Beach Bars and the pyro kid

On Tuesday we went to ride the Elephants. Ours was called 'bang bang' or something that sounded like that.  He was quite co-operative but a little naughty.  They are pretty clever creatures and though he didn't mind us on his back, he seemed to want to fiddle with everything with his nose and eat as much tit bits as possible.  So, we did  lot of leisurely strolling whilst he was playing with rocks/sticks/leaves.  He made funny chirping noises too.. a bit like a monkey!  I think that if we all drove elephants the world would be a much more relaxed place, although the giant poos may be an issue.

That night we walked right up the northern end of the beach.  There is some amazing bars there with deck chairs sitting in the softest powdery white sand right on the edge of the water.  They played cool music and serve up very cheap drinks.  We stopped at one where a little boy took our order.  I jokingly called him a 'pyro' when we observed him playing with a candle and lighting bits of plastic.  We decided we'd head back there after dinner, a guy working there said they'd have a DJ later on.

We ended up having dinner at a nearby restaurant which was really good.  Back to the bar, and the kid was still there taking orders and keeping the adults in line.  Next thing he jumps onto the beach and starts doing some 'fire twirling'...however this little guy was truly amazing. I couldn't believe it! 
 

Full moon party at Ko Phangan

On Sunday night we went to the full moon party at Ko Phangan, about 10,000 people there I guess.  Not quite my cup of tea, but fun all the same (music was somewhat below par for this sort of thing and a lot of yobs/English backpackers). We did as the Romans do and drank some Red Bull & Vodka.  Didn't taste like vodka but it was.  Like most events here you witness some pretty weird stuff.

I think we got ripped off for the speedboat ride - was cheap but spent about 3 hours in total on the night waiting.  We ditched the speedboat queue on the way back and opted for a 'water taxi'.  This was one of those long canoe things with a small car engine on the back.  Not really suitable for 1/2 hour dash between islands but it did the trick. Plastic bottles for life jackets. We were saturated as there was about a 1/2 metre swell which occasionally made it into the boat.  Got home about 6am.  Remind me not to drink too much of that Red bull...couldn't sleep for hours.

 

  
As you can see here...little buckets of drinks are the go. We passed on those but they were the drink of preference. 

Days 4,5,6 & The massage incident.

On Thursday we swam in the pool then went to the shops and bought a few things. We walked back along the beach then had dinner at a place called "Ninja Crepes" which is renowned for having the best Thai food.  It is just a shed, with some people cooking in the corner. Most dishes are 40-60 baht...about $1.50 to $2.30.

 

Friday we got up early just after sunrise.  It was sunny - the other days have been overcast, but still pretty warm.  Alistair sent through a picture of Astro on the couch next to Chelsea the cat!  I never thought I'd see that.

We decided to book in for a massage.  Not too keen on the ones on the beach, so we headed to a more up class establishment up the road.  It was a bit disturbing as the discretion was a little thinly spread. Rose was first up with some shower treatment in another room, I was on the table face-down with a little towel draped where it counted. "Hmm.." I thought, "I hope that little towel has got me covered" as she set to work on my legs.  Then she spread my legs and I started to panic.  A short time later Rose returned and she reckons she could clearly see my cheeseburger. Damn..I don't want to think what happened when I rolled over, because that felt pretty breezy, too. 

When it was all declared over and they left the room (2 hours later) Rose sprung up from the table and got into her clothes, quick smart.  Apparently she didn't appreciate the calming and relaxing Thai 'chest rub' or 'far reaching fingers' of the trained operators.  I guess my exposed arse/bits wasn't a pretty sight either.  I don't think we'll get too any more massages while we're here.  Whatever..it was worth a try.

Day 3 Car Trekkin

First of all I should mention this cool sea eagle that some guy on the street had last night. He had plastic on his claws otherwise he would have torn my arm to bits.

We had dinner at a really snazzy Italian restaurant called 'Prego' which had really good food.  I was not like being in Thailand at all. In fact it was a darn sight better than almost any Italian eatery I've ever been to. It's amazing what they can do here.

Today we hired a little Suzuki 4wd and drove around the island.  The traffic is crazy and anything goes, but there is no road ragers like in Australia. I like it.  This is me sniffing a stinking fish that is 'drying' in this intense tropical heat and humidity. It reeked, let me tell you. The small fishing villages are interesting and not at all like Chaweng beach where we are staying.  Very peaceful and quiet.


Here (above) is me drinking a Mai Tai at a small bar on the beach on the north end of the island.  It was not the best drink I've had but the location was very nice.
 

Here you see a filthy monkey collecting coconuts at a coconut farm.  He twists them off on command...but I could tell he would rather be somewhere else with other monkeys.

Day 3 Koh Samui

I hopped up early at 6am and did whistle playing on the beach where I saw a strange boat.  It was made from 3 big surfboards with a platform on top. It had an umbrella for shade, a plastic chair for comfort and some large plastic bottles...which I guess were there to cling to when it sinks.  For propulsion it had a small mower engine with a long shaft and a propeller on the end.  Classy.
Next we went and bought a pair of knock off Ray Ban sunglasses from the main street. It was a bit breezy and the rich aromas from the sewers made us gag a few times.  It's hard to get used to it as it's not a smell you experience too much of at home.

I can't stop drinking these coconut drinks.

In the afternoon we took a stroll through the local produce market. MMmmm what can I say. I guess this is where the ingredients for our dinner comes from.

Day 2 Bangkok to Koh Samui

Up at 5:30 AM we got ready to leave.  Inconveniently the safe, containing my camera & video wouldn't open, but a friendly security guy fixed it. Not bad for 6AM.

Then back to the airport in their shuttle bus (5 min) and we checked in at 6:30 for the 7:30 flight.  Man, the new airport is MASSIVE.  Up to 80 flights per hour and something like 30 million passengers a year.  Clean, modern and no machine gun totin' millitary guys in sight, which was how I remember it from my last visit here.

Breakfast on the flight was a sweet chocolate filled pastry and a apple muffin with very strong black coffee (no I don't put that white creamer stuff in as I haven't yet classified it as belonging to any known food groups).

Koh Samui airport is small, but in many ways far superior to most others.  You collect your baggage from a hut but they still have a normal luggage conveyor belt setup.  A quick taxi trip to our hotel "Banana Fan Sea" and here we are at Chaweng Beach!

The weather is about 30 & humid. The water is very warm.
Food and drink is cheap and really good with lots to choose from. It seems quiet...maybe because it's heading into off-season or maybe the threat of political instability has put some off. 
Anyway..time for another one of these delicious drinks that come in a coconut.

Day 1 Melbourne to Bangkok

Today we flew from Melbourne to Bangkok with Jetstar
We left at 1:10PM..it takes 9.5 hours so we got to Bangkok at 10:50 Melb time/7:50 local time.  We used a free voucher to stay at the Novotel Suvarnabhumi just next to the airort.  It's a huge hotel with huge beds. 
We had a late dinner at the Thai restaurant there, it was really good , then we hit the hay for an early start the next day to catch a flight to Koh Samui.