Final Days with Intrepid Tour - June 28th and 29th

Saturday, June 28th: This morning our group had to leave Kao Tao at 8:45am. We took a 5-minute songthaew ride to the boat dock and then had to take a ferry to Kao Samui. The ferry took about 2 hours. I slept most of the way since we had a late night but when we arrived, I was so happy to be done traveling for almost a week! Kao Samui is the largest and most touristy of the 3 islands we are spending time at. From the boat launch our group took a 15-minute van ride to our final Intrepid hotel, the Sandy Resort. HOLY COW, real flush toilets! All of us were so happy to have those back again

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We ate lunch at the little restaurant at the hotel. All I had was rice; for some reason my stomach was upset. And after lunch? Nap by the pool, what else?! I really can get used to this relaxation thing. Again, we are right on the beach. For dinner, I ate the most AMAZING crab I have ever tasted. It was the whole crab… new experience. Sleep came easy because we were blessed with A/C rooms. Ah, the life.

Sunday, June 29th: Yay for free breakfast! 8:45am, our group took off on a speed boat to do a island tour. We got to ride around with the sea air blowing, through the many small islands that make up the archipelago of Samui Islands. I just was in awe of the extreme beauty every time I turned my head. Our guide for the day was named Sau (Saw) and he was a Burmese man. After talking to him, I found out that he works specifically to send money back to his family. Their home was destroyed in the massive cyclone about a month ago. It was very humbling to speak to him.
Our daylong trip took us to 2 different park reserves, we got to go snorkeling, and of course, time to lie on the beach. Really, there aren’t a lot of things better than sitting in the water staring out towards the mountainous islands. The scenery was breathtaking. The first island we went to had a lagoon in the middle of it. Of course, we had to climb up some treacherous stairs, but the view was amazing.

The water was such a beautiful teal color. On the last small island we went to, Jen and I hiked (seriously more like rock-climbed) up 280 meters to a cave on the island. Really, doing this was probably against my better judgment. At times, the path was straight up, pure rock, and the only thing to hang onto was a rope.

Slipping meant falling to a certain death. Or serious injury. Either way, I was only wearing flip-flops. When we reached the top though, it was an amazing site. The cave was stunning. We both were so happy that we decided to go the whole way.

When we arrived back at Sandy Resort, we had about an hour to get ready for our farewell dinner. Our hotel was on Boh Phut Beach on the northern part of the island and we were going to dinner on Chewang Beach, on the east side. Chewang Beach is the most touristy, busy part of the island. It is also where the 5 of us girls will be staying the last 3 days on Samui. We ate at Ark’s, an outdoor restaurant on the beach. Ah, the life! I got to try grilled barracuda. FABULOUS.
Tomorrow, the 5 of us girls will be officially free from Intrepid and can spend time on our own. We are so excited to go to our hostel: Samui Beach Apartments. More to come on the final days in Thailand…