Koh Samui day 6

Winds still buffeting the beach and the skies are overcast. The beach-front establishments have plastic windbreaks up and the beach has all but disappeared at high tide. Hire a bike for three days to see more of the island. Today we visit Fisherman’s village on Bo Phut Bay, Big Buddha Bay and the Big Buddha just off the coast and the lovely Choen Mon beach in the north east corner. Book accommodation for the boys arrival on 23rd. We hire a bike for three days so that we can see more of the island. The weather is still overcast with some occasional sun and the wind continues to blow in off the sea creating large waves and making it impossible to swim. So with no prospect for sunbathing we are going to take a closer look at the north-east corner of the island and also try to find some accommodation closer to the airport and the ferry terminal for the night the boys arrive. This will allow us to get an early ferry to Koh Tao the next day. But first we stop off at Fisherman’s Village on Bo Phut Bay. This turns out to be an attractive little bay and a couple of narrow streets lined with bars, restaurants and the usual tourist shops. It’s a pleasant enough place, but restaurants serving Thai food seem to be at a premium – with most serving European food of one sort or another, with full English breakfasts in the ascendancy. We find one of the few places serving Thai food and good food at that, and have a delicious lunch. The ferry pier is on Big Buddha beach and after finding some accommodation for first and last nights of the boys’ visit, we take a look at the gigantic gold seated Buddha that gives the bay it’s name. The Buddha is located on a small island in the bay reached by a short causeway. It turns out to be on the itinerary of all the commercial tours of the island and there’s at least half a dozen or more mammoth four-wheeled drive tour jeeps in the car park and a surprising number of shops selling clothes, shoes and souvenirs. The view from the top of the terrace on which the Buddha sits provides a sweeping views of the bay to the west and north. We continue round the coast road to Choeng Mon, a small bay with a beautiful white sandy beach – this is what a tropical beach should look like. Disappointingly, a walk along the shore reveals unsightly attempts to prevent the erosion of the beach – frayed sandbags half buried in the sand and rows of old tyres strung along the edge of the beach. This small, quiet , undeveloped and otherwise picturesque bay is in the process of transition – a huge complex of villas and apartments is under construction and there are others on the surrounding hillsides. The days of the small bars which currently front the beach are surely numbered. In the evening we return to the bar we found yesterday – only to find a new menu and prices that had increased by 30 to 50% overnight. Now that’s inflation Thai style!