Koh Samui 12th-14th April

At a non-holiday-like time (6:45), we left the resort in Railay. Once again, we were kindly provided with a delicious packed lunch including pancakes, jam, fried eggs, and toast :) However, we realized that when planning and booking transfers and accommodations, we should have coordinated everything better. We paid dearly for it: the long-tail boat to the mainland only departs when there are 8 people. But since we were the only ones at the pier so early, we had to charter a private boat for €11 per person (for a 10-minute crossing, non-negotiable...). Many combined trips (van and boat) offer a hotel pick-up service, but that was not included in our package. Fortunately, a van from the same travel agency took us from the pier to the starting point in Krabi Town for an extra fee of €3.

We traveled by bus for 2.5 hours to the province of Surat Thani on the southeast side of Thailand.

We took a giant catamaran to the famous holiday island of Koh Samui. During the journey, I had an interesting conversation with a German fellow traveler about travels (destinations, perspectives, experiences, ...). I think there are relatively few Germans in Thailand due to the season, so it's a pleasure to meet some and be able to exchange experiences :)

We arrived on the island almost on time and once again had to pay for transportation to the hotel...(transfers are expensive here). We finally arrived at our hotel 'Floral' at noon. The design of the hotel truly lives up to its name, and it was the best hotel we had in 2 weeks: beautifully furnished cottages, clean, friendly staff, great breakfast, and a very green area.

However, we didn't get the location quite right, as we would later find out. We had lunch at a beachfront restaurant owned by a Swiss expatriate. The western beach, which was on the opposite side of the resort, had been recommended in my travel guide as beautiful and peaceful (most tourists are on the eastern side in Chaweng), so we wanted to stay there. However, it turned out to be a coarse-grained beach with many algae in the water, which did not meet our ever-increasing beach expectations. Unfortunately, we often only go to the beach in the slightly cooler afternoon hours, so we always miss the high tide, and swimming becomes nearly impossible...

At least the western location gave us a dream sunset!

We had planned to go to a nice market in a nearby fishing village in the evening, but it failed due to lack of transportation options. Pick-up buses only ran hourly at undefined times, and taxis demanded an overpriced night rate. Fortunately, we found a cute restaurant on the beach for dinner. We were greeted by a 3-year-old who clung to my leg, wanted to be picked up, and then didn't want to let go at all :D I had a delicious Thai soup with coconut milk, ginger, vegetables, and lemongrass, as well as a coconut shake served in a coconut.

The next day, I slept until 9 am while Lisa was already at the pool (she came back excitedly because she saw a snake). This is actually rare because so far we have only seen some insects, geckos, and lizards. We were welcomed with flower garlands at the delicious breakfast because the Thai New Year festival 'Songkran' was taking place for the next 3 days.

In addition to January 1st, the Thais also celebrate the date that the ancient peoples believed to be the New Year (April 13th-15th). During this time, the Thais clean everything and 'wash away the bad of the previous year'. We bitterly experienced this when we wanted to ride our rented scooter (the main means of transportation in Thailand) to a beach in the south. In the villages, there were huge water battles with buckets, pools, water guns, hoses, loud music, and locals and tourists celebrating wildly. Unfortunately, as a scooter rider, you have no protection, so we were soaked to the underwear within a few minutes. We had to constantly stop, get soaked with buckets of water, and have baby powder smeared on our faces. I really liked the atmosphere, even though it was dangerous to drive on flooded roads, sometimes not being able to see anything spontaneously, or being thrown off balance by vigorous water masses... Lisa, who was already unhappy being on the back of the scooter (too fast, too wobbly, ...), wanted to turn back at some point because everything was cold (with the wind...) and wet.

Mega cool Thai woman

By the way, you can refuel either at the gas station or at random shops on the roadside, which sell (presumably adulterated) gasoline in bottles.

I spontaneously celebrated for half an hour with a small group on the way back and finally got to soak someone else!! In the evening, we had dinner again at the Swiss restaurant on the nearby beach. We shared a delicious fresh sea bass with garlic and pepper for less than €8 per person.

That was the end of our short stay on the popular holiday island. As a farewell gift, we received cute elephant pendants from the hotel :)

By the way, I have to mention that it was a good decision not to buy a SIM card and hence have internet connectivity at all times. I learned to appreciate Wi-Fi (available in every accommodation and almost every restaurant) and became much more relaxed during the times when I couldn't be reached. You have to check or ask for directions and other information beforehand (in tourist areas, many Thais speak English).