Samui
Heading to Thailand, we decided to visit Koh Samui, where there are no direct flights from Moscow. By tradition, we had a transit in Hong Kong, and then, flew to Koh Samui with a low-cost airline. This island is worth all the complex travel planning. At this time, the resort we liked Tongsai Bay Hotel had a special offer for accommodation, and we were lucky to spend the entire holiday there. Oddly enough, the more comfortable you feel, the less you want to take pictures, so we no special photos left from this trip.
Koh Samui is located in The Gulf of Thailand of the Pacific Ocean, and is the second largest island in Thailand, after Phuket. By the way, during our in past trip to Thailand I learned an interesting fact about about the Gulf of Thailand from a trour guide – in the 70-s of the last century there was a large-scale oil disaster, that had a strong impact on marine fauna. And that is why there are very few sharks in these warm waters (apparently, “few” by local standards). “Shark question” worries me a bit during every beach holiday. Therefore, it is more pleasant to choose Thailand, and the phrase “oil disaster” in this context is no longer frightening. The island’s attractions include a large Buddha statue, an oceanarium, a tiger zoo and several local temples. Since we had already visited the island earlier, we already saw most of the major tourist spots (especially tigers and elephants:)). So this time we just spent a beach holiday in the resort. Surprisingly, there may be bad weather in Thailand – at the time of our arrival a week of torrential rains had just ended. And all would be fine, but the coastline was covered with rubbish, washed away from the coastal mountains by rains, and swimming was uncomfortable. The hotel management listened to our complains (we wrote a tearful letter about the thousands of kilometers of our journey to this beach) and cleared everything within a day. Really respect them for that!
Here you may find Phuket hotels with private beach, and many other useful kits.
On the territory of the hotel (as well as all over the island) you can meet a variety of representatives of the local fauna- the gray monkeys are not liked here, they are too brazen and can scratch an unwary tourist, and rare black monkeys do not rush to approach people, but appear unexpectedly and make quite a show. Flying foxes are a common sight as well – first you don’t understand, what was the thing that rapidly rustled over your head, and then notice a furry beast, flying to a nearby palm tree. It is a pity that when the next beast appears on your way- you are not ready to take a photo (you cannot hide a camera in a swimsuit :).
Electric buggies drove around the resort, collecting tourists from the scattered jungle bungalows. One day something weird happened. We sat in the buggy that stopped next to one of the villas, and a respectable white man of age came out, followed by two Thai teenager boys. I almost burst out of indignation – Thailand has long acquired the glory of a resort of free morals, where practically everything is possible But these guys were very young! I looked at this white gentleman in anger until his Thai wife went out of the bungalow, joined the family and stroked the boys heads. I was so ashamed! I really fell into the trap of stereotypes.
Overall, this trip was remembered by some special relaxed pastime, when you do not want to go outside the resort. But it is also useful-sometimes all you need is a couch potato vacation, especially in a place that has mangos, seafood, massage and other nice things.
To choose a location for summer holidays – visit 1001beach, the best beaches of Samui.
To explore Samui with a guide you may through excurzilla.