Day 18

Koh Samui

After a desperate search to find a cheap ish breakfast, I eventually find a Thai chicken noodle soup to munch on. Shortly after, I go on the search for a scooter to rent, using Google to find the places with the best reviews. After trying a couple and them not having any left, I saw a sign on the street that pointed to this random place. This was the quickest scooter rental in history. At first, he said 250 Baht then after I thought about it for a couple seconds it was dropped to 200. "For you my friend special price!". Already you could tell this was a reputable place. After not seeing my passport or drivers license and not even asking my name, I had handed over 5000 for a deposit and I had a scooter. I had a scooter but that didn't mean it had a number plate or any fuel. So after buying some overpriced fuel from this slimy businessman I rode away from what I expected to be the last I saw of my deposit.

As this was my only full day on Koh Samui, I thought I'd ride down South on the island to experience more than just Chaweng Beach. After passing a beautiful viewpoint and meeting a Liverpool couple called Tracy and Paul (most British names ever), I made my way towards Lamai Beach. I parked my scooter up and walked along the beach passing resort after resort until I get to this rocky area down one end. I suncream up and head into the water which was the nicest water I've ever been in. This was no Scottish Loch, where you have to brace yourself every inch you go in. It felt like I was diving into a hot tub, just as warm as it was clear.

After some time punting about wishing I had brought some snorkel, swimming over to the 'Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks' - which were just rocks shaped like genitals, I swam back and soaked in the sun on a beanbag. Though I had to spend some time patching myself up as some of the rocks were too sharp for my curious mind. Eventually, I walk back down the beach to my bike where a local dog decides he wants to hitch a ride. The cutest dog insists on sitting in my footwell, and when I eventually got him off, he would run alongside / infront of my scooter. He was adorable but it took a while before I eventually got him to stop trying to hitchhike Koh Samui.

I grab a late lunch at this pier, very similar to what I had for a breakfast and then decided to head to the Tarnim Magic Garden (a garden full of statues of Buddha and animals) but halfway up a hill, there seemed to be a military blockade prohibiting access further up the road. Not wanting to get arrested, I cut my losses and headed back.

Getting into town again, I return my scooter, surprisingly getting a full deposit back, annoyingly leaving it with more fuel than it had when I got it as I didn't want to run out on the road. After a quick stop at our hotel, me and Alfie head to the night market where we grabbed some mango sticky rice before heading to the beach so I could show him the fire show I saw last night.

We head back via a local shop and a 7-11 where we could see a selection of British snacks including wagon wheels and digestives, as well as a very creative stall outside 7-11 with some fun bracelets. We get back to the hotel and after a quick attempt at turning on the TV, we head to bed ready for our boat tour bright and early tomorrow. It would have helped if the AC wasn't as loud as the planes that flew directly over our hotel.Read more