A Tour in Koh Samui

On our second day in Koh Samui, we decided to book a tour, because the weather forecast wasn't that good. We opted for one that took use to some sights, a coconut plantation, an elephant conservatory and some kayaking. We got picked up at the hotel and were asigned to the pick-up truck number 4. As predicted, it was raining.

The first stop was the Wat Plai Laem, a Buddha temple at the top of the island, close to our hotel at Chaweng beach. We weren't dressed appropriatly, so we couldn't go very close to the Buddha statues but it was still close enough for some pictures. These Buddhas are very colorful and modern. There is a Chinese-style Buddha with 18 arms. My favorite statue was the laughing Buddha.

Next, we drove along Chaweng and Lamai Beach to the Grandmother and Grandfahter Rocks (Hin Yai & Hin Ta). The rocks showed the "manly body part", explained our tour guide. And the grandmother rock looks like the female one. The legend behind it is not really interesting. Those two wanted to find a wife for their son and on the journey to meet the potential wife, they drownded and were turned into those rocks, showing their intention. The sight was free of charge and there are many souvenir shops around.

Luckily, at this point it stopped raining and we drove out to a coconut plantation where they among other things produce coconut oil. They explained to us that monkeys get trained to climb up the palm trees to get the coconuts. You can buy those monekys already trained. It is the only way for them to reach those coconuts, because the trees are extremly high. The green coconuts are supposed to be good for drinking, because they taste sweet. The workers take the coconut and peel it on a fixed knive. This part is used for furniture and similar things. The coconut inside is white (turns brown after some time probably, then it's better to eat). We drank the water from one coconut and then ate the inside part which was still good.

On the way to the next stop, a rubber plantation, they asked us if we wanted to sit on the roof of the car. Of course. They drove like crazy and we had to go through mud, water and country roads. You really needed and off-road car for this route. We were glad they had seat belts and we held on tight with both hands. I still managed to take some pictures though. :) We took turns in ridding up there and it was one of the best things to do on the tour.

Next to the rubber plantation there was a pineapple field with many small pineapples. According to the guide it is not enough for the farmers to only produce rubber, often they also have a pineapple field or some coconut trees. They collect the rubber in the middle of the night, then add some chemicals, and leave it for 1.5h hours, during which time they go to sleep. After that they roll the rubber flat and put it through a press and let it dry it in the sun.

Then, we drove to the elephant plantation. This ride was quite adventurous because I was again on the roof of the car. On the conservatory we were able to ride the elephant for about 15 minutes. The mahout of my elephant couldn't speak that well English but he told me that my elephant was 25 years old. It was a very nice experience and they had someone taking pictures with your phone. Of course, they expected a tip for this extra service.

Afterwards, we drove to a waterfall in the tropical forrest but it wasn't as spectacular as expected. After 30 mintutes we went back and had lunch, a Thai buffet with steamed rice, red curry with chicken, fried vegetables, chicken with garlic sauce, noodles, pineapple, watermelon.

After lunch we watched a baby elephant taking a bath. He was 7 years old and seemed to enjoy being in the water and being brushed. They ask you if you want to sit on it but then at the same time they ask you to pay extra for it. We also watched a monkey show: They showed us how a money gets the coconut from the tree and again what they do with the coconut.

Our last stop was at a river for doing some kayaking. Although the kajak was for only 2 people, me and my two friends took one togehter. When we wanted to pass someone, we ended up in trees or got stuck in the mud. The second attempt was usually more successful. We locked our stuff in one of the lockers, because we didn't want them to get wet. When we wanted to take our things out, my friend broke the key. 5 people tried to open the locker with us laughing in the background. Luckily, they managed to open it in the end.

We went home for a nap, because the whole day exhausted us. Then we had curry, satay sticks and cocktails (raspberry mojito) while watching the first period of the IT - SWE soccer match.
We walked around and had another drink at the Aussie Bar which showed the match on a big screen. (Italy won 1:0)