Ko Samui, Thailand

The last island that I visited was Koh Samui. The place were I was staying was called Crystal Bay, but after seeing the water I think the place should have been called Crystal Clear Bay. The water was warm like bathwater and almost as clear. It was a great place to snorkel, you didn't even need a mask.

Like most places I stayed there was restaurant with the resort. There was a group of girls (~17) that attended to all the guest and they were really on top of things. Like if you ordered a soda or beer they would pour some into a glass and then stand back and almost everytime you took a drink they would come back and pour a little more into the glass.

At the reccomendation of the front desk guy I signed up for a tour around the island, not in the water. The first stop was to a set of rocks named Grandmother and Grandfather. The draw to the rocks was that they looked like male and female reproductive organs. I'll admit that they did appear this way, but I thought it was strange in a place where women have to cover themsleves in the presence of monks that this would be a major attraction.

Next stop was to what they called a "monkey show". This turned out to be a demonstration of a monkey getting coconuts from a tree. After he got about 4 down than we had an opportunity to take a photo with a smaller monkey as it stood on our shoulder.

As with most tours we made a stop to a wat (temple), however this one (Wat Khunaran)was a bit different in that there was a mumified monk. I walk up and there is a mumified monk in a glass case, with the standard orange rob, in a meditation pose wearing sunglasses.

We made a stop at what was to be a spectacular waterfall. Now I'm not trying to be mean, but I've seen more water falling off the deck at my parents house than what was coming off the side of the mountain. The surrounding area was really beautiful so it was still a good place to visit.

On the way back to dropping us off the driver/guide asked us if it was all right if he did a couple of errands on the way, we said sure. We stopped by his mothers house to pick up and ab chair, then it was onto his house to pick up his dinner (he still had about 4 more hours of work), then to his brother's bar to drop off the ab chair. During this journey he informed us that he had a newborn son and that since he was born during world cup he had named him "fifa". I guess there are soccer fanatics anywhere you go.

Definitely one of the strangest tours I've ever been on.

Outside of Bangkok it's common for tourist to rent what they call "bikes", which are really motorized scooters. Some of the brave ones do this in Bangkok. I understand that the idea of renting a scooter and exploring these beautiful islands has a certain appeal, especially given how affordable (cheap) it is, most places it was like 150 Baht (~$5USD) for the day. However I think if you are not an experienced rider it may not be worth the risk. Even for experienced riders it can be dangerous. First of all the scooters have thinner tires, I think because of all the rain, and I imagine that this results in a different handling of the scooter. Also not all rental places do the maintenance required, so some of the bikes may not be in the best shape. I met an older couple that had rented one and it did not have the power to get up a hill with them both on it and it flipped over. The husband had a giant bruise that covered the entire back of his thigh, he had to sit in their room for 3 days as he could not walk on it. The roads are not always in the best of shape, and often times there are patches of sand and dirt that can cause the rider to slide off the bike. Also if you are not used to driving on the other side of the road it can take some getting used to. A common site that I saw was tourist with white bandages in various places on their bodies, which almost always was a sign of a scooter accident. The worst one I saw was a couple were the guy had a bandage on his arm, but his girlfriend had about 20 stitches right in between her eyes in the shape of a horseshoe. So now every time she looks in the mirror she will remember her visit to Thailand. Most of the tourist will ride around with just their bathing suits on, no helmet, and sometimes no shoes. Some of the locals will advise tourist not to rent them due to the potential danger. Just on Koh Samui the average death toll for tourist is 30/year.

Needless to say I have yet to rent one. I have however rode one of the many scooter taxis. These are driven by the locals, and I figure if anyone knows how to handle them safely it's them. This is actually a quick and affordable way to get around quickly and somewhat cheaply. Plus it's fun!