Welcome to Koh Samui, Thailand!

I forgot to add this to the last post.  It's one of my favorite pictures of Bjorn using his 'sign translator' app on his phone to read the juice bottle.  It took us a good 5 minutes to find a good juice.

We had SUCH a great time in Hong Kong but we were REALLY looking forward to Samui. Koh Samui is an island just southeast of the mainland in the Gulf of Thailand.  It is Thailand's third largest island after Phuket and Ko Chang, with an area of 228.7 km² and a population of over 62,000 attracting 1.5 million tourists per year.  It also produces more varieties of coconuts that anywhere else in the world.  There are some fun facts for you! 

We arrived to Koh Samui Friday evening (the 24th).  We deplaned on the runway and were taken to small huts by small open-air trams.  It had just finished raining and was so beautiful!

                                                                     quick pic

There is only one runway at the airport so only the time between planes landing is anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour.  This made customs very quick and easy (again!).  Our host, "Oh" picked us up and off we headed for our villa!  We made the decision to stay in the foothills off the island vs right on the beach because we fell in love with the Villa we found online and thought it would be something different.  Plus we rented a car (I'll tell you all about those adventures later) so it would be easy to get to the shops, beach, etc. whenever we wanted.  When we showed up, we were in awe of the place.  It was dark by that time (it gets dark here around 7:00 p.m.) so Oh showed us how things worked and headed out.  The place was amazing but knew it would be even better once morning came around. 

We decided to grab a quick bite to eat at a bar right up the street called "Gecko Bar".  When we pulled up, I thought we were at the wrong place as it looked just like someones house.  There were even 5 dogs standing at the top of the stairs greeting us as we walked in.  From my experiences in Mexico, I knew not to pet them (fleas!) even if they were all fat and cute.  After dinner, which overlooked the ocean, I told the man his dogs were cute.  He started calling off the names and ended with "and that is the wife".  I asked him where the husband was and he said "husband get bit from snake" then grabs his neck and tilts his head to the side and makes a grunting noise, "and dead", then he closes his eyes.  Ummm..sure poor dog BUT THERE ARE SNAKES ON THIS ISLAND?!?  As an ophiophobiac, I am beyond terrified of snakes.  I can't even look at them on TV!  I'm not sure why but I hadn't even thought about snakes being on the island.  The man saw my expression and quickly stated "oh but don't worry, they don't come to the beach.  They live in the foothills".  Perfect.  Right where we are staying.  Bjorn still imitates the look I gave him after the man made that statement.  Out of sight, out of mind again right??? 

                                                                   Our dinner couch


Our Villa is beautiful and very secluded.  Just us and the snakes.  My absolute favorite is the view when I open our curtains in the morning...

                                                               Morning view from our room

                                                                     

                                                                    View from the kitchen

                                                             Living room and kitchen

I will have more pictures of the rest of the villa later on in the blog. 

Saturday we woke up after a solid 9 hours of sleep.  Either we're finally adjusted to this time zone or have found the perfect sleep medication mix.  We got dressed and headed to the Chewang Beach.  Chewang is on the east side of the island, about a 10 minute drive from us.  We found an outside bar and parked ourselves there for a few hours sipping mojitos and buying all sorts of random items from the locals who loitered on the beach. 

                                      Fun fact: Koh Phi Phi is where The Beach was filmed

 

 

Saturday was also the day of the Full Moon Party on Koh Phangan.  It's a once in a lifetime experience, because once is probably enough.  I don't think anything could have prepared us for that crazy night.  The pictures won't do it justice.  We headed to the marina around 6:30 to board the boat that would take us to the the island of Koh Phangan, which was about 20 minutes away.  Holy rough ride.  It was already a very windy night and coupled with a full moon, it made for a very bumpy boat ride.  At one point we hit a wave and leaned so far to one side that I flew across the boat on to another man's lap.  Boats don't scare me and I think huge waves can be super fun but after that there was a good 5 minutes when I was truly scared.  I thanked God when arrived to the island but did not prepare myself for the madness we would see. 

 

                                         Our first comment was "that is someone's daughter"
                                         followed by, "our kids are never coming here".  :)

                      The whole area smelled like gasoline and we found out why when we noticed the guys had cups of gasoline they would pour over the ends of their sticks.  Safety first!

 

My handsome jayhawk. 

                                            The Honeymooners partying like they're 21 again

 

Feeling sneaky.  I had just 'photobombed' my fourth photo.  Maturity at it's finest.

                                                                      Feeling young again



                                                                        Really?? 

Well we survived our first and last Full Moon Party.  Here are two of my favorite quotes from that night.

Bjorn after walking by a speaker: "that about threw my heart out of rhythm". 

Bjorn after walking by another speaker. 
Me: "Bjorn take a picture"
Bjorn: "I can't. The bass might break my phone"

#wereoldandimokaywiththat    :)

Our Honeymoon - the first few days

Well we survived the 15+ hour flight to Hong Kong and landed safely!  Whew!  Not looking forward to doing that again in two weeks.  I had come up with what I thought was a great plan for our flight Side note:  Until about 2 years ago, I was always a "fly by the seat of your pants" sort of gal and never cared for a plan however, recently I've done a 180 and LOVE to have a good plan.  This is something Bjorn gives me a lot of grief about but ends up appreciating in the long:)  So back to the plane plan:  Don’t get much sleep the night before the flight, then take a Benadryl/melatonin mix and sleep soundly the first 8 hours of the flight.  If done that way then we would be adjusted to HK time upon arrival (we landed at 5:20 p.m.) then would be ready for bed around 11:00 avoiding jet lag.  Umm..great plan in my head but turns out not very realistic for the two of us.  We both had a very hard time sleeping so instead Bjorn watched the whole first season of Game of Thrones while I enjoyed 5 different movies.  They served 3 different meals, the first was chicken, the second was a snack (turkey sandwich) and the third was something I never want to try again.  Luckily we only had one hour left in flight after that meal.

 I almost lost my “puke bag” virginity on that flight.  Once we were off the plane, my stomach settled and our adventure began!

Customs was surprisingly quick and easy.  We caught the train within 10 minutes and headed to HK Island.  Our first hotel was located in the central district of Hong Kong.  It’s a newer hotel and came highly recommended by expedia reviewers...ExpediiiAA!  When we arrived we were just in time for happy hour which was all you can drink from 6-8.  Perfect.  We enjoyed a few cocktails and headed up to check up to our room.  We weren’t expecting anything big being it was right in the middle of other tall and skinny buildings but I’m not sure we expected anything this small. 250 sq. ft. to be exact. 

Upon arrival to any hotel, I always do the ‘bed bug’ check.  This time, I was so tired that I immediately just plopped down on the bed and turned the TV on while Bjorn got the bags settled.  I reached behind me to grab my phone that had dropped and what did I see….a bed bug!!!  Then another…then another!!  Ugh.  We called the front desk and before I couldn't finish complaining somoene was at our door and taking us to a different floor.  Oh did I mention we were on the 13th floor?!?  Yup, they have those in China.  We ended up in a room on the 7th floor which passed my bed bug check..out of sight, out of mind...right??

Sleeping was difficult and after going to bed at 11 p.m. we were wide awake at 4:45 a.m. basically counting down the minutes until breakfast at 7.  After breakfast, we headed to "The Peak". 

The Peak, Hong Kong's most popular attraction is more than just stunning vistas or great shopping and dining. It's an amazing collection of unique must-visit attractions, providing you with a diverse fun-filled experience of Hong Kong's living culture.
Getting to the Peak by the Peak Tram is an unforgettable experience. One of the world's oldest and most famous funicular railways, the tram rises to 396 metres (about 1,300 feet) above sea level. It is so steep that the buildings you pass look like they are leaning a gradient of between 4 to 27 degrees! Whether you are going up or coming down, you will love this trip.  The fabulous vista has been further enhanced by the 2006 revitalisation of one of Hong Kong's most striking landmarks,The Peak Tower. The Peak Tower, with its iconic wok-like top, offers a dazzling array of shops and sure to make for many happy hours of great dining with a view experience, leisurely shopping and souvenir hunting.  
It was pretty amazing.  We enjoyed a wonderful lunch a Cafe Deco and watched a storm pass through at cloud level.  stunning. 

                                                      storm coming through at the Peak

 

After our peak adventure we figured we would stop back by the hotel, relax and watch a movie (since we were up so early) then head out for dinner.  We made it back to the hotel around 4.  I barely made it through the opening credits of Django before my eyes were shut.  Bjorn lasted through the movie then followed my lead.  12:05 a.m. is when I looked at my phone the first time.  Bjorn was wide awake as well and we were both starving.  He decided he would go out and find us some food.  He was gone about 30 minutes and came home with.....McDonalds!  Turns out it was the only thing open.  woof.  I enjoyed a cheeseburger that was pretty chewy while Bjorn chowed down on a questionable chicken sandwich....then off to bed again.

***********************************************************************************

It's Wednesday and HELLLOOO 4:45 a.m. for the second day in a row!  Boo.  Today started with a workout which was very unnecessary because just like yesterday (Tuesday) today we walked another 6-8 miles.  We refused to a take a taxi because we found it was much easier to see the city by walking.  Most of the time we had no idea where we were going but lucky for me my handy husband happens to be the BEST map reader.  While that may not seem like a talent it certainly is to me seeing how I usually say North and we're going South.

                                                                 such concentration

HK experienced it's first "black rain" in 3 years today.  No bueno. We walked in multiple shopping malls to avoid the rain all filled with high end shopping; Gucci, LV, Chanel, the list goes on.  The rest of the day we walked around and here is some of what we explored. 

Just a rubber duckie?  Nope.  You can read more about it and the purpose here - Duckie 

 

Our walk in the park...included a few unusual items...

This was incredibly confusing..for females

I did spill some chili sauce on my pants at lunch..thanks for the reminder

                                                                             Victoria Park

On Thursday we decided to leave our hotel in central and head to Kowloon for our last night.  We decided on the Intercontinental on Kowloon.  Honestly it was by far the BEST costumer service I've ever experienced.  Everyone was so polite and friendly and anything you needed, they were there.  Not to mention their spa infinity pools (a set of hot, warm and cold pools) were amazing! 

 

                                         Champange and strawberries for the Honeymooners

                                                                        The spa pools

 

Our new friend Nathan!

                           The child I was asked to babysit for a 'minute' while the Dad went to the                                                      bathroom....15 minutes later he returned.

                                                                    

                                               A bottle of wine from our new pool friend!

 

 

 

 

                                              The bathroom was bigger than our old room:)

To end this post, I'll leave you with some of the things we learned while in Hong Kong.

1.  People in Hong Kong strongly dislike the government of mainland China and aren't afraid to talk about it.

2.  Besides the elders, most people were incredibly friendly and very helpful.  We would be on a street corner trying to decide where to go and have multiple people approach us asking if we needed help.

3.  Public transportation is very efficient and makes incredibly easy to get around

4.  Safety in numbers when you end up in the back room of a building while purchasing the best of the best knock off Louis Vuitton..

5.  The streets are VERY clean.  The air is not.

6.  We were not on vacation, we were on "holiday". 

 
Off to Koh Samui today (Friday) and will post again soon!