OK before I start, here is a Kaun Banega Crorepati Question for
you
Where does an Indian go for a cheap international holiday?
Here are your options
1)
Holiday? WTF is a holiday?
I am an IT employee
2)
Cheap? WTF is Cheap 1$ =
65 INR
3)
Thailand
4)
Major blow to Modi. I had to have this as an option too you see how could I ignore
the wave that has caught the nation these days especially the Media. Don't
believe me? Look at the picture below ;)
Yes.
You are right it is Thailand but looking at the way rupee is sliding these days
soon we cannot even afford holidaying in Bangladesh ;) and that will mean a
major blow to... no no, not Modi but to all the Indian men who visit Pattaya
for all the obvious reasons u know(caught ya!! I know what you did last summer ;) ) and all the traders who visit Bangkok to
buy dozens of those huge LED TVs at throwaway price.
Ok
enough of kidding now for some serious stuff Thailand has both cheap
destinations like Phuket, Pattaya etc. and exotic destinations like Koh Samui,
Krabi etc. and every women likes to have
an exotic and a memorable vacation and if you remember what I had said in my Seychelles
blog that “a quote next to a famous personality in a morphed internet picture
once said "Always agree to your woman else every discussion will be an
argument" ;). Then by now you
would have definitely understood as to where I am getting at. Yes you are right
again I have sacrificed my salary for another 3 months and at this rate I soon
need to sell my car for making a living ;).
So Koh Samui it was, our Anniversary destination!
I
have split the blog into 2 parts to give you details about Koh samui and
mainland Pattaya & Bangkok. In this part I will tell you about the
spectacular Island called Koh Samui. As
a regular drill let me introduce you to Koh Samui. Koh Samui or Ko Samui is the
second largest island in Thailand, Phuket being the largest Island. It is
located on the east side of the Mainland Thailand hence you can witness some spectacular
views of sunrise from this Island. August is the peak tourist season in this
island since it is monsoon time in the rest of the islands in Thailand and it
is holiday season in Europe. Hence the island is full of Europeans in August. I
did not spot a single Indian on this island!! We looked like aliens to many
tourists on this Island with a number of tourists staring at us and on many occasions
asking us from which part of the world we came from. May be they have never
seen an Indian before surprising isn’t it?
We traveled by Thai airways to Koh samui from Bangalore and I strongly recommend
Thai Airways for a hassle free comfortable flight and unlimited in-flight booze
;) .We chose Sandalwood Luxury villas based on lot of research done on Trip
Advisor as our place of stay in Samui since the resort was moderately priced
compared to other resorts and offered a breath taking view of the Ocean. It was
the best decision I have ever made. Sandalwood Luxury Villas made our first
wedding Anniversary a memorable affair. As soon as we checked in we were shown our
rooms. We were awestruck at the magnificent view from the room. The room had a
private infinity pool in front with the view of the Ocean. Let the picture
speak for itself.
Infinity Pool
View from our room
Isn't it breathtaking?? The Hotel has 4 such pools with similar breathtaking views of
the Ocean. I for one jumped into the pool soon after checking in…. Chilled beer
infinity pool and the mighty Ocean made a spectacular start for our vacation J
If
you do not wish to spend the entire day at this magnificent resort and shift
your arse out of the resort to check out the island then there are many things
that you can do on the island as follows.
A
day outing of Chaweng and Lamai beach
The
Big Buddha
Fisherman’s
market
One
day boat trip to Angthong national marine park where you can Snorkel and kayak
Koh
Tao supposed to be the best snorkeling place near Koh samui.
Since
we had just gone to relax in Koh Samui and do all the activities in Pattaya we chose just few activities in Samui i.e., a day visit to Chaweng, Lamai, Fisherman’s
Market & Angthong National Marine Park.
On
day 1 we visited the fisherman’s market in the evening. The market was bustling
with Tourists drinking and making merry. There was loads of yummy street food
and Cocktails available for 100THB. There were many street performances like
magic shows, rock shows, cultural performances etc. . I have never seen
cocktails and booze being openly sold in a street just like street food and
being a foodie and an occasional bewda it felt like heaven to me ;) . After
having some amazing street food and cocktails we decided to break for dinner.
We dined at one of the hotel located at the beach side. I tasted Singha beer
the world famous beer in Thailand for the first time. The food was OK the ambiance was amazing and that was a perfect end to day 1 of our vacation in
Mesmerizing Thailand.
Day 2: Sandalwood Villas offer free pick up and drop facility to Chaweng and Lamai Beach and hence we decided to spend the 1st half of day2 in Chaweng and 2nd half in Lamai. There is nothing much to talk about the beaches as they are crowded as hell and don’t offer that exquisite view. But the beaches are good for a swim as the tides are not that much. The only thing I would like to say about the Chaweng beach visit is the drink which I instantly fell in love with “Mai Tai”. After a swim and relaxation at the white sands of the beach we decided to have lunch at the Malibu beach resort. I ordered Mai Tai cocktail from the menu as it looked interesting and when I tasted it I instantly fell in love with it. I suggest you too to try this drink….. So after the lunch we boarded the taxi to head off to Lamai Beach. Lamai beach is same as chaweng but less crowded. We spent an hour or so at the beach and headed off to the resort in the shuttle provided by the resort since the Jacuzzi at our room was sad that we hadn’t used it yet ;). We went back to the resort indulged in free spa provided by the resort as part of our package and got back to the room for the Jacuzzi experience. The details of the later half is not available but trust me it was awesome ;)
Chaweng Beach
Mai Tai drink in red
Lamai beach
Day
3: We had booked for the one day tour of the Angthong National Marine park
through Samui Island Tours. After a tasty breakfast from the hotel we were
picked at 730 in the morning from the hotel and transferred to a huge boat.
Unlike the Huge boat in Seychelles this boat looked straight out of the movie
pirates of the Caribbean ;). I guess the boat was a pre historic era boat and moved
at a pace of 1 km/hr . It took us almost 2 hours to reach the marine park in
this slow moving boat. Once we reached the park we were made to sit in the
Kayaks, 2 per Kayak( Me and Wifey had to mention her somewhere in the blog u
see ;)) . We kayaked through some
beautiful mountains and some narrow caves. Kayaking through the caves was
amazing and a unique experience. After Kayaking we climbed some steep steps and
we were greeted with some spectacular views of the Emerald lake. The lake is
untouched which explains the emerald green color and cleanliness of the lake.
After the lake visit we had quick lunch and taken for Snorkeling. The
Snorkeling area is very small and the visibility is very bad. Snorkeling at
Nethrani island was much better than this place. After snorkeling and swimming
for couple of hours at the beach we headed off back to mainland from where we
were transported back to our hotel. After freshening up, wifey laid out a
wonderful candle light dinner by the pool. A sumptuous and romantic dinner
culminated our last day at Koh Samui.
Yummy Breakfast
Angthong national Marine Park
Naturally formed Crocodile Rock
Kayaking through the caves
Emerald Lake
Day4:
We woke up early to catch a glimpse of the spectacular sunrise and we were not
disappointed. It was a magnificent view of the sunrise. We checked out of this
beautiful paradise called Sandalwood luxury villas and headed off for the next
leg of our journey, mainland Pattaya.
Thank
you Koh Samui & Sandalwood for
making our first anniversary a memorable affair. If things go fine we wish to
revisit this paradise in near future.
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