Getaway to Koh Samui

Have you missed me?

Believe it or not, I haven't felt like I had anything good to share for quite some time. That could be a good thing, meaning that we are settling in and life is becoming as close to normal as it could possibly be for global nomads like us.

We did, however, get a chance to venture out of Bangkok for a long weekend. Cheap tickets to the lovely island of Koh Samui, and an extremely generous offer of lodging from a high school classmate, and next thing you know we are in paradise. And 'lodging' doesn't even begin the describe the gorgeous place we stayed. I just have to say that if something terrible ever happens to me, or even something small like getting a tooth pulled for example, and I need to go to a happy place in my head? Well, this is the place I will go.

And as for the island? In true Thai fashion it was almost surreal. Sometimes dusty and dirty, sometimes a piece of dirty Vegas on the beach, other times beautiful and mystical, it was a sensory overload. If that makes any sense.

One of the first areas we headed was the Fisherman's Village, because the kids were tired and hungry and it was a sure-fire place to find decent food. So we walked on the beach until we found a restaurant we liked. By then the boys had made new friends with some local kids playing in the surf. Sandy and wet, they were happy to eat some good food.

We didn't have much of a plan for this long weekend, just hoping to renew and refresh a bit. I think getting away from the city, as much as I love Bangkok, was extremely good for all of us. Especially my handsome husband. I was happy to see the stress and exhaustion disappear from his face, and having all the time in the world to explore a new place and have adventures made us ALL feel young again.

Oh but the food! It was hard to decide where to stop for any of our meals!

The next few days we explored the island in our rental car (sooo cheap), stopping at jaw-dropping temples, basking at a resort for the afternoon to be waited on and pampered. And enjoying the sunset from the BBC (Big Buddha Cafe) before returning to Duplex M for another dip in the pool. This shrine, in particular, took my breath away in its gleaming white and golden details.



Every evening we marveled at the gorgeous sunset from our vacation rental. It was peaceful, quiet, spacious. And totally ours for the weekend.

(I can't tell you enough how much I prefer vacation rentals over resorts and hotels. Two floors of privacy, no housekeeping knocking on the door bright and early in the morning, and a view that only the few selected guests ever get to enjoy. In my opinion, its more exclusive than any luxury hotel. But for less.)



Every day was pleasant and breezy, the air was clear, the water gorgeous.



And these were just the first two days.



I also laughed myself silly a few times over this shrine. I know its totally serious, but at first we thought it was some kind of theme park or museum. Then on our second go 'round we thought it might be a restaurant.

As it turns out, its the Quan Yu Koh Samui Shrine. Which, of course, is described all in thai on the sign, so I had to Google it. And I found this little blog article about the guy with the big red head: http://www.travelfish.org/blogs/thailand/2012/10/12/guan-yu-shrine-ko-samui/

Apparently, this fellow will eventually have a body as well. But its good to start somewhere. After all, it would be even more confusing to encounter this place topped by a giant pair of red feet.