2015 MAY THAILAND - WE CONTINUE NORTH INTO THAILAND.

Friday 8th May 2015 (day four)

We had to get very early today to be at the bus station at 6.45am for our 7am shuttle to the airport. Luckily the bus station was only a 10 minute walk from our hotel. At this early hour, although there were still no shops or anything open, the streets were already congested with morning traffic mostly made up of taxis and buses. Today we are flying from Kuala Lumpur up to Thailand, heading for the island of Samui. Lyn's youngest son Patrick is working at a resort on the island and since we were sort of passing by it would be rude not to stop over for a couple of days.

The shuttle to the airport was 12 myr = $4.20 and took just over an hour, getting us to the airport just a little over 2 hours before our 10.35am flight. Or so we thought. Panic struck as soon as we looked on the board and our flight was not even listed. My computer has been out of internet action for a few days so I did not check the flight or know if I had received any emails advising a change of flight time. We walked towards the self checking kiosk praying our flight had not been cancelled for the day, a delay we could live with but a cancelled flight would be a pest. Thankfully it was just a delayed flight that was not due to depart 12pm instead of 10.35am. Not too bad but had we know it would have meant not such an early start to our day. No harm done, we headed to Maccas for some breakfast.

The usual waiting at the airport always seems so much longer than it is, but in our case it actually was when the flight was delayed almost another hour. Finally flying and a relatively short flight less than 3 hours.

At the airport we purchased transfer to Koh Samui which included coach to Don Sak ferry dock, ferry to the island and van drop off at our chosen hotel for 550baht = $22 each. We were the last to get onto the coach and it took off shortly afterwards for the hour drive to the ferry dock. We drove through rain most of this drive, but it was hot and sunny at the port. We had to wait about 30mins for the 4pm ferry and by the time is arrived there was quite a crowd and line up of vehicles to load onto it. This all went smoothly and Lyn was relieved to see the sea also was looking smooth.

Ferry journey was very smooth and took about 2 hours before there was a mad scramble for everyone to get off. I never really understood this mad dash to be the first off. This phenomenon takes place on aircraft also, everyone pushes and scrambles over seats in such a rush to get off you would think the plane was about to take off again before they get a chance to disembark.

After walking the length of the jetty we were met by the van drivers who had already been delegated their drop offs, so when I heard a guy calling out 'Weekender' we gravitated towards him and he showed us to his air conditioned van. A cool haven where we sat for about 15 minutes while he collected his other passengers.

Our transfer to hotel took about an hour as the ferries come in on the opposite side of the island to where the main accommodation areas are. We have been to Koh Samui before and a few things were looking familiar.

So here were are at Weekender Villas Resort for the next week and as soon as we arrive I knew it would be hard to take. NOT!
Travelling with mother to one of the key staff members is a bonus in these situations as we get to stay in the best room bungalow villa in the place. There is only one villa directly facing the beach and we've got it. Beautiful, also overlooking the pool it's pretty flash by our usual Asian travel standards. Air con and flat screen TV and a fridge, wow luxury. Only draw back is only one bed, but its king size so I might be lucky enough to escape Lyn's fondness of spooning. lol.

We had an early night after such an early start.

Saturday 9th May 2015 (day five)

We are going to take full advantage of our time here on Koh Samui by doing probably absolutely nothing. And what better place to do that than on an island in Thailand where the sun promises to shine every day and the sea is warm.

Earlier this morning I attempted a swim but after walking out approximately 100 meters I was still in only calf deep in water. Giving up I just sat down to get wet, so at our resort the pool is the better option.

Lyn and I did wander out to find some lunch and went for a walk along the beach and a swim in the lovely clear water. Unfortunately the beach directly in front of our resort is not the best for swimming.

So just a relaxing day by the pool and the sea - times like this we realize how tough life really is.

Sunday 10th May 2015 (day six)

Mothers Day today, so Pat hired a car to take us on a bit of a tour around the island. Unfortunately the beach that was recommended to us was not the best although its name has received lots of comments on my facebook page. We had lunch at a little beachside restaurant on The Virgin Coast and it was very pleasant.

Afterwards we ended up back on Lamai Beach where we had a swim and bought an overpriced ice cream on the beach.

Monday 11th May 2015 (day seven)

Today we managed to do even less than yesterday, can you believe that.

We did however go for a walk up the beach to watch the sunset and have a beer at a different location.

Cannot believe how warm the water is, in the really shallow places its almost hot enough that if we could catch the tiny fish swimming around us they would be par-boiled and ready to eat straight from the sea. Which reminds me we had a delicious fish for dinner tonight. Red snapper!

Tuesday 12th May 2015 (day eight)

Ok time to be a little active today. After breakfast we hired a motor bike so we could go out exploring. However our first call was to the computer guy where I dropped off my tablet on Friday. Something happened to the internet adapter while in Kuala Lumpur and I was unable to connect to the internet - apparently this adapter needs to be installed for this to happen. How the hell it became un installed is beyond me, but it had and it needed to be fixed, which it was for a princely sum of 500 baht = $20. I have no idea how computers work but am annoyed when they don't so to pay 20 bucks to have this one fixed I was very happy. Only thing is in the process of re installing the internet adapter he un installed the OFFICE program which I use to keep track of our expenses and to write up this blog. Anyway luckily it was a simple task of getting the program key from Mitchell at home and re installing OFFICE. All good now.

Anyway that was out first stop and after that we got on the bike and rode around the island, stopping for lunch at Coral Cove and swims at other beaches along the way and drink stops. It was a nice change and broke a little of the nothingness that we had been doing the last few days. Not that there is anything wrong with that.

We actually went all out today and got on a double kayak for a paddle out on the water to enjoy the sunset. Gee settle down girls don't go getting to energetic I hear you all saying. Don't worry it was a pretty casual paddle with a beer either side of the experience.

Fish again for dinner.

Wednesday 13th May 2015 (day nine)

Today was a real relax.

Lyn went off with Patrick for some Mother/Son quality time together.

I stayed poolside to catch up on some housekeeping after getting computer back yesterday.
It's our last day on the island so making the most of poolside.

Had a couple of cocktails to end the day and a man size chicken schnitzel.