Adventure!

I was determined to see the island. And what better than a tour?

Normally I loathe tours but this was on the back of an open top jeep. Wahey! I was in!


First stop.... Grandfather and Grandmother rocks. So called beacase one rock was naturally formed to look like a dick. And the other... well... apparently had a crack down the middle that looked like a coochie. This is the only shot I bothered to take of the dick rock.


No coochie shots because I was fascinated by the waters! Will you look at how clear it was! OOOOooooo! I could have passed on the tour and stayed there the entire day! I clambered all the way down to splash in the water and it was warm!


Then it was off to the "safari". I did elephant trekking! Ok, I knew it was just going to be an elephant ride but I thought it was a good way of supporting the elephants. They are facing tremendous problems in Thailand because logging is no longer done the natural way and it is a struggle to keep them supported.

To my own surprise, I laughed all the way! You are higher up than the elephant seems. I kept on slipping forward and for a very brief moment, I wondered what it was like to tumble off the elephant :o But it was fun!


Sitting on the elephant per se was amazing. It was like sitting on a brush!


There was the standard baby elephant show.


There was also a crocodile show WHICH WAS AMAZING. I thought it was going to be another one of those tacky thingies. But the 2 men were funny, the crocs were HUGE and it was just absolutely amazing to see these guys just prod the cros so damned nonchalantly. Like you would prod a box or carton with your foot. This will be a post all by itself.

The safari area also had some wildlife. But lookit, you guys, I'm used to the open, gorgeous, well-planned Singapore Zoo. Award winning, beautiful, and with the animal's welfare clearly at heart. I was deeply disturbed by what I saw on Samui. These magnificent predators were chained to their perches by about a metre of chain. That's barely enough for them to get off the perch and walk around. And will you look at the water in those containers!!! Argh! Filthy!


There were also primates in chages the size of my BEDROOM.... come on guys! Primates? Those guys who go out, climb trees, forage and live in large social groups? Disturbing.... very disturbing :((

There was a monkey show at the safari but I declined to view that. The primates really weren't treated well at all. Thankfully, we didn't stay long at the safari premises.

We were off to see a famous waterfall! Or so they said.
What they *didn't* say was that we had to bloody trek to the waterfall. Halfway up the hill. Over rocky inclines where I found myself literally scrabbling vertically on hands and knees :o That's when I found out how out of shape I was!! GGggrrrrrrr..... No more knees after that! But the view was worthwhile though! Pretty! But I was so pooped out by the hike up, I didn't go right to the top.

There was more trekking to come.... The next hill and thankfully, just steps. *whew*

On the third hill, we came across this ruin.
It was just sitting by itself, slowly being overtaken by the surrounding jungle. The strange thing was that the steps to the second floor were around the back; as if it were meant for a different occupant. How weird.

The tour was supposed to take in all 4 hills on Samui, and the last one was an exhilarating 4WD up steep dirt tracks. w00t! You sit on the back and the bloody jeep bounces you around like crazy. No pics or clips because I was too busy holding on for the ride of my life! Easily the best part of my tour! HHahahahaha! I think I really am a sucker for these adventure rides. Heh.

At the top of the last hill, we stopped for lunch. And it was a great view. And it wasn't some puny hill like Bukit Timah Hill. About two-thirds up, there was a distinct drop in temperature. Most excellent!



We also took in the temples, or wats. Samui is predominately Bhuddist so we saw loads. I have to confess that .... erm.... to me? You see one temple, you've seen them all. They're prety much the same. Thai architecture is interesting, but they do follow a certain set pattern.

Have a look for yourself.... Yes, all taken at different places on the same tour.






What was cool was this mummified monk. Aw yeah!


We ended off on the last temple, and as the group made it's way, I slipped off to try and find a coffee. A quiet corner. Just to reflect.


With a view like that almost everywhere you turn....




.... yeah, I think Koh Samui is my new favourite place to hide away :))