Koh Samui is gorgeous!!!!

First few days

We flew into the airport at Koh Samui and thought "wow, where are we for a few seconds", (see below) then stepped back, took a deep breath and relaxed as we remembered we'd arranged a hotel pickup for the Peace Resort in Bophut  

http://www.peaceresort.com/ 

We'd booked through Agoda about 6 months before and got a really good deal for a renovated bungalow (we were hoping to be 2nd row from the sea front but we ended up 3rd row).
We didn't quite get enough sea breeze on our little patio but we did unfortunately get full afternoon sun later in the day, so not the best area for chilling before heading out to dinner.

Our little patio

view to beach from 2nd row of bungalows

Our spacious room

 Beach side of resort looking towards restaurant early am

 

                         

Looking to the left from the beach side

                                              
Breakfast view

The pool

 

We walked into the Fisherman's Village on our first day and caught a taxi to Chaweng for 300baht, (we possibly could have got it cheaper), but figured we'd have to stand in the hot sun waiting for another taxi or until a songtheow passed our way, and just couldn't be bothered.

Had lunch at Karebu restaurant at Le Paradis Resort, watching the world go by.  After a few hours we decided to head back to Peace resort for a swim and cool down. 

Chaweng Beach from Le Paradis

The next day we hired a Suzuki Caribean jeep for 700baht but as we drove along to Big Buddha it felt as if the front end was about to fall out, so once we'd checked out this area and Bang Rak with a great little market we took it back and exchanged it for a newer one (with A/C). Woo Hoo!!

We continued west on the "ring road" past Maenam and Bang Por towards Nathon, (the port where the Seatran ferries from Surathani arrive). We decided to forgo a visit and ended up needing a nice cold beer at Big John Seafood and checked out Lipa Noi beach.

Drove down past Baan Tailing Nam and took a wrong turn at the "snake farm" junction and ended up on a beach where there was a new resort (bungalow style) being built with a view over the 5 islands. The pool looked very cute and inviting and the area was very quiet, but very hot and still.

I've since found out that this resort is completely finished and called Phangka Paradise Resort

http://www.phangkaparadiseresort.com/

Eventually we found our way back to main road and continued our journey around the island, stopping at tourist spots and beaches along the way. 

 

We went to Big Buddha cafe for dinner and had the best Mussumun Curry and a really good happy hour deal, which included a "not bad white' from South Africa as well as a great sunset, before driving into Chaweng for a spot of night markets & shopping.

Let the adventure begin Sat 31st March 2007

Departure & Arrival in Phuket 

 
After months of research on the Phuket and Samui TA forums we were finally on our way to Phuket via a very brief stop at Changi airport in Singapore.
We nearly missed our flight as we never heard the boarding call and when we finally got to the boarding gate, the staff told us we weren’t on that particular flight. 
“Not funny, Jan”.  
Eventually our names were found on the bottom of "someone's list" and we had to run down the boarding tunnel, while the ground crew were yelling instructions down the walkie talkie not to close the doors. Of course, someone was sitting in our seats by mistake. 
Love being so obvious, NOT! 
Uneventful flight, arrived in Singapore early, but flight to Phuket delayed for some reason. They announced a 45min delay, whereby Trevor decided to head to the smoking area, and 5 seconds after he left they called for plane boarding.
“Here we go again” only this time I’m standing there unable to get on the plane, one of the crew started off for the smoking area with a brief description of what my errant husband looked like. 
So another run down the plane boarding tunnel. Trevor seemed highly amused, if looks could kill, I would have a lot of explaining to do.
Arrived in Phuket at approx 7.30pm, changed some AUS dollars at exchange counter and got picked up by our arranged driver to take us to The Deevana Hotel in Patong absorbing as many sights as possible in the dark.
Upon arrival the cold towels were greatly appreciated, as we were already feeling the heat to come. Dropped off our luggage and went for a walk into Patong. 
The heat was really oppressive and we struggled with the number of people on Beach Rd and activity going on. Walked as far as the Burasari Hotel where Trevor got his backside squeezed a few times by the massage girls/boys, while I was waiting to cross the road. 
Went back to the bar at the Holiday Inn for a few cocktails, before fighting our way back to the Deevana for a soak in the spa while we chilled out with our Duty free. Not sure what we thought of anything at that point. 
     

Our little spa

Looking from in front of our room to the swim up bar

We woke the next day, had brekky and a look around the grounds before heading off to the airport again for our flight to Koh Samui for the next 5 days.