Man About Taiwan: February 2006

During Chinese New Year; 28th Jan to the 4th February, Kate and I flew to Thailand. The week was glorious, mostly beach, sun, reading and playing cards. We also ate some lovely Thai curries and BBQ seafood, which went down very well.

The flight over was uneventful arriving in Koh Samui. They have a wonderful wooden and straw airport. We took a boat over to Koh Phangan and looked for a cab. Well instead of a cab we needed a 4x4 to take us cross-country for an uncomfortable hour.

At the beach village, Baan Pan Buri, we settled down in our little hut. Later I went on an adventure, looking for treasure. I found two dogs though and they led me to a beautiful rocky edge. It then started to rain, so I hid away in a rock cave and came out to a beautiful clear sky. I had fun walking miles around the island.

We also visited a smaller island, Koh Ma, which is connected via a sand bar. It's renowned for its scuba diving and snorkeling, so we had a go and saw all the beautiful fish. However, as only I could do, I neglected to respect the power of the sun behind the clouds and got thoroughly burnt. Ouch!

We had a potentially disastrous boat ride back to our hut. We asked some locals to give us a ride to the other side of the island, quicker and more scenic than 4x4. We paid up and got into the thin, long Thai fishing boats. The man said it would be a bumpy ride as an off the cuff remark.
The sea had its own ideas and after a bumpy 30 minutes riding the waves, we started to hit higher waves with the sea looking black and cold. The little fishing boat was being pushed around and threatening to be tipped over. We held on and looked worried, but then the boy on the boat and his father, who was driving it, looked at each other nervously. Luckily the man stopped and said; "Safety first, we go back".
So we slowed edged around and went back to Mae Had beach.

Talking to my Mum before we board the plane.