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 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.
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 :)
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