PHUKET to KOH SAMUI

First of all we need to apologise for lack of blog updates due to lack of computers that take our memory stick for photos.

As we opted for the travelers budget option of getting to Koh Samui, our first stage of the journey was a mini bus. 13 people plus luggage were crammed on for 5 long, uncomfortable hours! Our driver was Thailand's equivalent to Lewis Hamilton and drove like a nutter - speed limits didn't apply and speed bumps didn't slow him down! We were sat at the back so every bump we lifted out of our seats and felt like whiplash each time.
We were then dropped of where we unfolded ourselves out of the mini bus and waited 2 hours for our coach to take us to the ferry. 1 hour on the coach and 1 hour 40 mins on the ferry, we were in Koh Samui. 1 hour and 30 mins later, we were finally picked up by the hotel taxi as he waited for us at the wrong port! Plus side was we got to see the sunset......



VERDICT OF PHUKET:
 Mr F: Great to finally hit the beach with hot weather and beautiful scenery. Great place to stay and would definitely return.
Mrs F: Really loved Phuket! The freedom of seeing the island and its stunning views and surroundings for ourselves on the moped. Great meeting the elephants and Phil was a really nice guy. Would recommend for a holiday.

Our farewell to Phil, best hotel owner we've come across yet! :-)

 

All the crammed luggage along with someones foot....not sure where the rest of the person is!?

Some pictures en route......

Mr F waiting for the coach...

View from the ferry port

Arrived at Koh Samui, now awaiting our taxi....

An option we opted out of....a shared taxi!

  The sunset at the port

When we got to our hotel, we realised how 'out of the way' we were from anything - 25min walk into town, restaurants and beach, through a dark isolated woodland area. One of the hotel owners, Dave, dropped us into town where we ate at 'Thai Pad restaurant.

KOH SAMUI
DAY 1:

We decided that a moped would be the best way to get around. So on our first day we traveled around to most of the island as it's quite small. Our first impression of Koh Samui was too much like a typical 'young persons' holiday resort - pubs, clubs and bars everywhere and not much untouched land to explore, which spoilt the island. We drove up to the beach before heading to a viewpoint which was really hard to get to due to how steep the road was. Mrs F had to get off and walk a couple of times as the moped struggled with both of us on. Mr F swerved to avoid an over hanging tree and we ended up in the ditch next to it! Apart from Mrs F grazing her elbow, we were shaken up but ok, thank God.

 View from our hotel room and the hotel itself....

  

 Mr F stops to look at the map of the island

Viewpoint and the roads leading to it.....

        Mrs F poorly elbow :-(

After viewpoint we drove to one of many waterfalls on the island. We had to walk 20mins through sheer jungle to get to it, only to find a small amount of water cascading over a metre high rock! But it was still pretty and good to see.....

A temple by the entrance to the waterfall

Mr F wondering where the waterfall is in amongst the jungle!?

 Saw this frog along the way

We headed back to our hotel where Mrs F realised that she had a severely burnt arm from being out on the moped all day. Dave kindly went out and brought back some wild aloe vera he had cut off for her. That night we discovered 'The Outback Bar', an Ozzy owned and run bar in town for food and drinks. Mrs F ordered a lasange and when it came out, it looked nothing like a lasange but tasted really good! We left our air conditioning on in the room at 22'c, which is the same temperature we would have our heating on back in London!

  

Mrs F trying to work out her supposed lasange

Mr F taking notes for when we get to Oz....


What most of the restaurants had to offer

The super girls bar...no doubt one of many places to go for Thai girls to 'love you long time!'





Ronald McDonald doing a Thai thank you!
 

                                   Mrs F and her street side pancake.....

KOH SAMUI
DAY 2:

Pool by day, outback bar by night....that is all! :-)

KOH SAMUI
DAY 3:
Whilst Mrs F continued to work on her tan by the pool, Mr F was on the internet booking our next destination. We both agreed that we didn't like Koh Samui and wanted to move on. Most of the other Thai islands with cheaper hotels were all full due to the full moon party, which is....yep, you guessed it, a massive beach party that happens every full moon attracting around 15,000 people. So we decided to move on from Thailand and head to Vietnam - booking flights and hotel for the next day.
The other hotel owner, Paul, then asked if we had our visas for Vietnam, as you can't get visas on arrival, as we thought we could from what we read online. After some intense research online, we discovered that you can no longer get visas on arrival. You must have one before even checking in to a flight to Vietnam as they won't let you board. In a panic, we got on the moped and headed into tơwn to try and find a travel agent that issued a visa. After finally finding one, we were told the visas would take up 5 days and was advised to cancel our flights and hotel booking. We went back to the hotel hoping to apply for online priority rush visas, which we could have by 12pm the next day for 50 pounds. Our plan was to get to Bangkok where we had a connecting flight to HCMC and print off the approval letter.