NOTE: We added on additional picture to yesterdays posting which you will see if you scroll to the end of today’s post. Also, we have updated our picture site so if you go view our pictures you will see a new section from Southeast Asia.
We arrived in Kho Samui, Thailand this morning. The ship provided tender service to/from the pier, which is located adjacent to the small town of Nathon. Because the water near the island is fairly shallow the tender between the ship and port took about twenty minutes each way.
This island lies off the southeast coast of Thailand. It is known for its beautiful beaches and for its attractive bays. Kho Samui is the third largest island of Thailand. It measures only 13 miles long and is nine miles wide along the widest point of the island. It is a pristine island and, as such, attracts travelers from around the world who recognize the beauty of the island. Many tourists arrive to this Island either by ferry or by private yacht while others arrive by cruise ship.
Tourism is the main influence on the local economy of this island. The island also has an abundance of coconuts, which also have an impact on the local economy but far less than tourism. Approximately 20 million coconuts are harvested each month. That’s a lot of coconuts.
We woke up earlier than normal this morning to workout since we needed to get ready for an early tour this morning. Keith was the first one to the Fitness Center arriving at around 4:30 AM and Anne Marie followed about fifteen minutes later. During our workout we saw John and Mary and Keith and Mary spoke about their respective tours overnight trips to Bangkok. Mary escorted the other overnight land based tour in Bangkok, which included meal, and organized tours as well as a one night stay at the Peninsula Hotel.
After our enjoyable workout we had breakfast in our room. We then got ready for our tour.
Captain Glenn’s thought of the day was “Every artist was first an amateur.” This is a reminder to each of us where that we don’t start at the top in our profession but rather most of developed in our respective professions.
The name of our tour was The Ultimate Adventure. We thoroughly enjoyed this tour.
We were taken from the pier on a four-wheel drive vehicle. Six of us road in each vehicle. We were first taken into the jungle. We drove across some rivers and by hidden valleys until we reached the famous waterfall named Na Muang Waterfall. We spent about thirty minutes at the waterfall.
During the course of the tour we also visited a rubber plantation and learned from the locals how rubber latex is produced. We also went to another location where we viewed a Thai cooking demonstration and we also boarded a farmer’s ox-cart for a journey thought the village of towering coconut palms.
One of the highlights of the tour included a thirty-minute elephant trek and we also had the opportunity to view other elephants along with several monkeys in two respective tours. The elephants are not as large as those in Africa but nevertheless were quite impressive and we enjoyed our first ride on the elephant. Each of us also had the opportunity to hold hands with a monkey. That is another first for us.
We enjoyed the drive around a good portion of the Island. We went through a variety of towns and also drove by some very fancy resorts with beautiful beaches and a wonderful view of the water. The locals who we met during the course of the tour were very nice and we found our guide to be quite informative.
When we returned back to the ship we enjoyed a very nice lunch that we had pre-ordered in the morning.
Before dinner this evening we attended a cocktail party for all passengers on the ship, which was called Psychedelic Samui. The party included a d-jay who placed music primarily from the 1970’s and complimentary drinks were served.
After the party, we had dinner with our travel specialist and her husband at the Prego Italian Specialty Restaurant. We enjoyed a wonderful meal and we enjoyed hearing about their overland adventure, which included stays in Cambodia and in Bangkok, and we told them about our stay in Bangkok as well.
Tomorrow we will enjoy a day at sea as we sail to Singapore. This evening was a rarity as we actually set our clocks forward one hour so we will lose on hour this evening ☹. However, during the course of the next several weeks we will be setting our time back one hour or more on various occasions, which we enjoy. ☺
Keith & Anne Marie
