Day 6 Koh Samui Big Buddha

Today, after a very pleasant night, all three of us actually slept until 12:30 pm. None of us heard the loud bird either. We went straight to lunch at our delicious train station restaurant next to the hotel. After that, we set off on our first excursion in Koh Samui, taking a taxi to the Big Buddha. On the way, we also experienced our first traffic jam. Unbelievable how much traffic there is here.

The Big Buddha was really big, gold, and beautiful. Samuel was most excited about the endlessly long staircase where he could continue practicing walking up the stairs without holding on. When we reached the top, he was even more excited about the huge beautiful area where he could walk barefoot in circles. The little one was unleashed. In between, an adorable young cat followed him everywhere. I obediently followed behind, because he might spontaneously decide to throw himself into the sea through the balustrades. I was there to stop him :-)

We stayed up there for 1.5 hours and were delighted when the Buddha was bathed in beautiful golden light at sunset. The shops at the Big Buddha were surprisingly affordable and had very nice things. Our taxi driver was so nice and waited for us. I didn't really want him to and couldn't even get a price out of him, but what could it cost anyway. Well, our first taxi experience. Of course, he demanded a fortune and didn't negotiate. Allegedly, everyone has to fall for the taxi mafia once. So we did, and we learned from it. In reality, it cost 13€. So, for the standards here, it's a rip-off, but bearable.

Back home, we made another attempt to go to the sea, and thanks to his little beach shoes, Samuel was actually able to touch the sand and the water with his toes. But as soon as the water reached half of his lower legs, it was over, and we marched back with a soaked little one to the pool. There, he circled around again and was happy with himself and the world. We were nervous, though, because dusk had already set in, and we didn't leave his side due to concerns about mosquitos. We even sprayed both him and ourselves in the pool. According to the locals, sand fleas are quite common this year, so we are particularly cautious. We don't notice much of the coronavirus, only that many people walk around wearing face masks. But we always have our disinfectant spray with us and try to be careful.

The evening was a bit more eventful. In the room, we discovered that I apparently lost his cuddly blanket on the way home from the market yesterday. We have two identical ones, but we need one for the bed and one to drag on the floor while we're out. After putting him to bed, I ran back and forth the route in a panic and with a guilty conscience, but unfortunately without success. In my panic, I also forgot to remove the ATM card when withdrawing money for tomorrow's trip to the elephants, and Joe kindly took over because the little one kept waking up until 2:00 am, to see if there's a chance to get the card back. Well, when things go wrong, they really go wrong, and I just discovered two mosquito bites, but we hope for the best, and tomorrow is a new day. We are looking forward to experiencing the rescued elephants up close at the Elephant Sanctuary and are curious how Samuel will react to them.

Love and have a nice day, your Karin