Would you believe it took Thailand trip number six for us to make it to Koh Samui? It’s true, we were worried it might be a little too laid back for us to enjoy. Needles to say Koh Samui was awesome and we regret only booking for three nights.
We were lucky enough to find an awesome Airbnb rental. It was a Private Pool Villa and located in the Lamai area. The rental included pick up and drop off to and from the Airport which was pretty impressive. Our host, Robert, also owns a local Car and Motorbike rental shop. Robert was waiting for us on our arrival which was great. We had spent enough time in Airports for one day. We pre-booked two bikes, one of which was already at the villa waiting for us. We made a quick detour to the rental shop so I could pick up the second bike. If you need to rent a car or bike check out Roberts business. Its called A to B Car & Motorbike Rental, Tell them I sent you.
A few minutes later we were at the villa. Our host Robert gave us a quick tour and a few more tips for around town. (he already gave us loads of pointers on the drive from Airport)
Time for a quick shower then out for dinner. We tried this small family restaurant just down the road and it did not disappoint. We ended up eating there a bunch of times over the next few days. For now though, it was time to have an early night and a good rest. There were no plans for the next day other than just going exploring.
The next morning we went back to the same family Restaurant as it was on the way into town. First area to Explore was the Chaweng Beach area. There is basically a big one way ring road around the area, this makes for a nice scenic ride starting by going around the big lake. After that you swing around and head back along the beach side. There are loads of bars, resorts and restaurants along this strips as well as the soi’s. One very famous bar is called “The Ark Bar”. Follow this road a little further and you come to the main shopping area of Chaweng. There are many upmarket shops and more trendy restaurants as well. Expect to pay a higher price in this spot. If you are on foot, you could easily spend most of the day wandering around as it’s a pretty long strip. We had bikes which made it easy to get around fast, but it was hard to find a park as this is a super busy area.
Next we headed back over to Lamai, this is a more relaxed and less flashy area but it was my preferred spot. There are endless bars, cafes and restaurants around here as well as market stalls. One little bar estate even has a Thai boxing ring set up in the centre for all those who feel they are invincible when drunk. We were on the hunt for a great rate at a money exchange, sadly they are not nearly as competitive here as they are on Phuket. You should consider changing money in either Bangkok or Phuket before coming to Samui. If you are not at either of those stops before Samui then be prepared to get a pretty average rate for exchange. Aside from wasting a fair bit of time looking for good rates, we had a bite to eat and also explored a pile of the side soi’s. Basically trying to explore as close to the beach as we could. I really wanted to spend more time here but we still had to circumnavigate the entire island before the day was out.
So back on the bikes again, next stop was Hin Ta Hin Yai which is a set of natural rock formations. It’s also known as Grandfather’s & Grandmother’s Rocks. These rude rock formations make for some amusing photo opportunities for tourists. On the way, there is a couple of Piers, It’s a nice view out on them but I am not sure what it is called unfortunately.
By this time the weather had turned rather overcast and looked like a storm could be headed in. We had not even made it 1/4 of they way around yet so we had to get moving. We really wanted to visit Nikki Beach Club but with the weather rolling in it wasn’t looking good. Off we rode again, we were making good ground, I remember seeing the turnoff to the Pier and thinking Nikki Beach was pretty close to it. It took me a few more minutes to catch up to JC, we took a left turn and headed down a sandy road towards the beach. After checking in on google maps we saw we had overshot Nikki Beach by a long way, it was actually before the Pier. That was the end of dreams of Nikki beach as a few drops of rain could be felt. Neither of us fancied a ride in the rain so we decided to hightail it home. We didn’t even make it five minutes up the road before the heavens started unloading.
We pulled over and threw our bags, phones etc under the seat to keep them dry before jumping back on the bikes and headed for home as the rain bucketed down on us. Our sight seeing had been rained out but playing in the rain is fun when you know your gear is safe and dry. It was reminiscent of the
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