Thailand Part II: The Beach in the South

After trekking and visiting the north of Thailand, we were very excited to have a change of pace relaxing on the beach for a week.

Ko Samui- New Year's Eve

We began by flying from Chiang Mai to Ko Samui on December 31. We had a really memorable New Year's Eve this year! It began by eating a buffet dinner at our hotel.

After dinner, we went to get foot massages near the beach. Everything is extremely cheap in Thailand. We got a few hour massages while we were here, usually costing around $6!

Next, relaxed from our massages, we headed to the beach where we walked around for a while. A man with a pet monkey came up to Chelsea and gave her the monkey to hold. As she took the monkey, it went to the bathroom all over her hand...which we found very funny (Chelsea thought otherwise)!

After walking down the beach for a while, we found a large patio lounge outside and we decided to sit and watch a few New Year's Eve performances, one of which Chelsea and Melissa went on stage to put lays on the dancers.

As midnight was soon approaching, we went back out onto the beach to light a paper balloon lantern. These lanterns are a Thai tradition and we could see hundreds of them floating in the sky, which was very beautiful! We lit and released ours right at midnight.

Ferry to Ko Phangan!

After spending a day at Ko Samui, we were ready to head to a more secluded and less touristy island. We took a 30 minute ferry to Ko Phangan where we spent 6 days on the beach!

We stayed at the Thong Nai Pan Beach Resort, which was really nice. We had our own little hut with a cute front porch that was less than a minute walk to the beach.

Everyday we basically did the same thing: eat breakfast at the hotel, lay on the beach and read for a few hours, swim and play frisbee, eat lunch at a restaurant on the beach, read a little more, then shower and go out to dinner. It was so relaxing and fun! The weather was in the high 80's during the day and got down into the 70's at night.

The beach was BEAUTIFUL! It was very secluded with mountains and rocks all around it. There were only about 5 beach resorts total in the bay, so it wasn't very crowded either. The water was really calm and the sand was very soft with only a few shells.

Sunrise and Sunset on the Beach

Kayaking

One day we went kayaking to another beach. We had a good time getting to see another part of the island. At one point we saw dozens of large sea crabs on some rocks.

Massages on the Beach

A couple of mornings we got full body Thai massages at our hotel right on the beach. It was really nice to be outside and hear the ocean, though we were in quite a bit of pain during the massage! Thai massages focus on pushing on pressure points, especially on your legs and feet. They also twist and turn your body in all different ways. At one point Melissa's leg was literally around her head with a large Thai woman pressing on her thigh with all her weight!

Thai Food

The food in Thailand was delicious! We ate a lot of Pad Thai noodles and Thai Curry...which was all really spicy and flavorful! We also ate a lot of sliced mangoes with sticky rice covered with coconut milk for dessert. We really enjoyed having a break from all the fish we eat here in Japan, but one night we did order shark and it turned out to be really good. We were able to watch them slice it and then cook it on the grill.

Stray Dogs

Thailand is a beautiful country, but it's also very poor. It was very strange to see such poverty in such a pretty setting. One thing that we could not get over was the amount of stray dogs running around everywhere...it was unbelievable! There would be groups of dogs all over the place, even inside restaurants and stores. Most of them seemed somewhat friendly, but we didn't get too close.

Goodbye Ko Samui!

After a week of relaxing, we flew from Ko Samui to Bangkok. The Ko Samui Airport was very different than your standard airport. It consisted of straw huts outside and had a great tropical feel!