From the moment I arrived on the island, I was in love. Even the airport was one of the cutest, tropical airports I've visited and how can you not been impressed with 'free wifi'.
Chaweng Beach area is very busy. The main 'strip' has a variety of fancy restaurants, street stalls selling food, plenty of shops selling good 'fake' goods and also some shops selling the real brands. Not to mention the array of bars!
Now that was the main strip along the road, the beach is also lined with plenty of bars and restaurants. There were so many romantic tablets set up along the beach for dinner. The first night I wanted to eat on the beach and I opted for the least romantic looking one, plastic chairs and no silk canopy was a winner.
Although each time I sat down and asked for a table for one, the look generally was 'really for one?' I got used to it. It did bug me occasional when they asked 'why?' but the 'I got dumped' line tend to do the trick... I even got a free cocktail once- winner!
I was a big fan of Ark Bar. It was right on the beach and had a great DJ and vibe to it. It was pretty quite to start with but after 11pm, the party really started.
Ark is where I met a new friend, Or. That's actually his name! A cool Officer in the Army from Israel. My ignorance of Israel was very evident, especially when I said he was a trained killer, he didn't take too kindly to that. However, it was really nice meeting new people and leaning more about a coy try I knew very little about.
I learnt it was there New Years holiday in Israel, hence why there are so many people from Israel. I also learnt that military service is compulsory, that even includes the girls. There were a group of younger girls and guys on the able next to us on the first night doing lots of silly dares, the girl started talking to me and Or explained that they were going to try and include me in their game, I think it was to kiss a girl, so he started talking to me in French. I don't think they had realised he was from Israel.
It's been so easy chatting to people and I honestly haven't felt lonely at all, how could you in such a beautiful place?
I didn't explore Samui as much as I could have. I did do a boat trip which included kayaking, hiking and snorkelling. The kayaking was fun and because I was on my own, I got paired with the guide. It was really good as he took lots of pictures for me and knew the best places to go.
We took some very steep steps to the Emerald Lake. It was very beautiful but the stairs were pretty scary, so steep. I was wearing flip flops and just had visions of falling.
When we got to the snorkelling spot, I was pretty disappointed that it was off the beach. I didn't see anything at all! I've been really spoilt with snorkelling before. In St. Vincent in March this year, we saw so much whilst snorkelling from lion fish to honeycomb eels.
The best part of the boat trip was jumping off the boat. I jumped from the middle, which was still pretty high, and a screamed the whole was down. It was so much fun! I could jump from the top as I would've been so scared!
Something that bothered me a lot whilst out on the boat was seeing five/six military ships on the horizon. I'd spotted one in the port and that was intimidating but actually seeing them lined up with their massive guns were pretty unnerving.
You can see there has been a hostile situation in Thailand of late but the locals really do just try and get on with it. They are very religious people but they do not through this in your face. They also work incredibly hard and are thankful for tips.
I loved Samui and I'll definitely return to Thailand at some point but I'd love to explore some more of the mainland and the islands. It's shocking to say I didn't visit one Temple. I would like to learn more about the Thai culture. Hopefully upon my return I'll have a travel companion, one that isn't a rubber Ducky!
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