Our Final Days in Thailand - July 1st and 2nd

Tuesday, July 1st: This morning Jen, Renee (her birthday!), and I got up before the other girls because we had scheduled a ziplining tour through the jungle at 10am. The 3 of us took a jeep turned songthaew for about 30 minutes. When we turned off the main road, the only way was up. The driver had to downshift numerous times and at points it was like we were off-roading. Once we reached the top of the mountain (yes, still on the island) we had the most amazing view of the surrounding islands and the ocean.

We reached the Tree Top Tour site and the 3 of us got a little worried. There was no one else there but our driver, a Thai lady, and us. There didn’t look like there was any ziplining materials around and we were laughing out of nervousness. When she brought us water bottles, we joked that it was poisoned and their family was “going to eat for a week.” It literally was in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention, the sign was handwritten!

After a few minutes of sitting there without any direction and sweating it out a bit, the lady, who was to be our guide through the trees brought out the harnesses and gloves we had to wear. Before going to the big zips, our guide made us do a trial run on a slow, low line. It was pretty easy; all you have to do is hold the harness in front of you with one hand, and the line behind your head (for braking) with the other. It was so much fun to go flying through the forest and be able to the ocean in the distance. I’m not going to lie though, the harness between my legs was not too comfy! In total, we did about 7 ziplines, some a lot longer than others. It really was a rush.

After our driver dropped us back at Samui Beach Apartments we headed straight for the water. The rest of our afternoon was spent swimming in the clear ocean and soaking up the sun. Rough life, I know. For dinner we headed out down the main road and at a place called The Grill. Since it was Renee’s birthday we decided to splurge a bit. I had the most amazing tasting king prawn in mango sauce and a dark and white chocolate mousse for desert. Whoa, was I stuffed after that!

Wednesday, July 2nd: Today we arranged for an island tour around Koh Samui. It was so incredibly humid today, but at least we traveled around in an air-conditioned bus. Everyone with the exception of Suzie (who opted to sleep in) left our apartment at 9:15am and head first to the Chinese inspired temple, Happy Buddha, and Chinese Woman Buddha. Our guide set us loose at this spot so we didn’t get much explanation to what each monument meant. That’s research for later I suppose.

From here we drove to the northern part of the island to see the Big Buddha. This was erected to be seen from many other islands. It really was huge! We had to climb up 73 steps (a lucky number in Thailand) to the top. Since it had rained that morning, they were very slippery!

Next stop: a lookout on the island where we could see both Chewang Beach and Lamai Beach on the western coast of the island. This was only a short stop for pictures as our group went to a barely decomposed monk who died long ago. His family found his body was under composed so they set up at temple for him to be seen as an eternal monk. On our trip today we also went to the site of "Hintai" and Hintyai." This means Grandfather and Grandmother in Thai. At this site on the island there are rock formations in the shape of male and female genitals. Shocking right? Maybe, but listen to the legend. There was an elderly couple coming to visit a perspective wife for their son to marry but a horrible storm came and capsized their boat. On Lamai beach their bodies were washed up and are now represented by the rock formations. Quite stunning and lifelike, but a little inappropriate to post the pictures!
After this we went to our lunch stop, which was at one of the three waterfalls on the island. It was small, but who can resist a waterfall. It never gets old. For lunch I ate some BBQ chicken from a man who apparently is famous for his chicken. He even showed us the magazine article that said so! He proved himself though, the chicken was so tasty and just the right amount of spicy.
We didn’t get back to the apartment until about 4pm, but can you guess what I did? If you thought I went to the beach you’d be absolutely correct. I figured I had better spend the rest of my last day in Thailand in the ocean. There really is no comparison to swimming in the salty water that you know extends beyond the imagination. Plus, you’re really floaty! All 5 of us had a simple dinner at a local, hole-in-the-wall restaurant and then went back to our room to conquer the task of packing all of our things. Nobody had any ambition to do so. There was no choice though; in order to make our flight out of the Samui airport we had to be and at ‘em by 5:30 am!