Koh Samui 4th-6th Sept.

Ko Samui island of Surat Thani Province (or Koh Samui, Thai: เกาะสมุย, Thai pronunciation: [kɔ̀ʔ samǔj]), or often, simply Samui as it is referred to by locals, is an island off the east coast of the Kra Isthmus in Thailand, close to the mainland town, Surat Thani and in the Surat Thani Province. It is Thailand's second largest island after Phuket, with an area of 228.7 km2 and a population of over 50,000 attracting 1.5 million tourists per year. It is rich with natural resources, white sandy beaches, coral reefs, waterfalls and coconut trees. . . . . thanks wikipedia.

On Samui we stayed at the Samui Beach Resort - a lovely place right on the beach in an area called Lamai we were spoilt with a clean and clear pool that overlooked an amazing beach and sat beside a very nice bar and restaurant.

Our little cabin/room at Samui Beach Resort was more than comfortable and a great price of only 550 baht per night (17AUD or £11).

Lamai Beach

Relaxing in the pool

The view from the pool terrace at Samui Beach Resort

Storms a brewing over Lamai Beach

Isaac and Sam from Portsmouth - become great friends of our and we travelled together for a few weeks

Samui also hosts some great treks and waterfalls - one day we felt energetic so we tackled a massive mountain to find a nice little waterhole and waterfall - on the way there we had many breathing breaks - on the way back we made our own track.

Mountain Goose

On our way back from the waterfall we stopped at a little family run restaurant the food was great and they really liked having us there - they took a photo of us before we left and told us that we should go and visit a temple just up the road because there was a mummified monk there - which is pretty unique and also amazing. So we said our goodbye and hopped on our scooters to find this temple. Not too far up the road we came upon the temple and shrine. It was an amazing site - the monk sits in a glass box, cross legged with Ray Bans on. You can see him rotting away - slowly, his hair still on his head and his skin slightly dehydrated hanging over his skinny bones.

Later in our adventures around Samui we found the big Buddha (see above) - we also found yummy pancakes, a really nice bar called Karma Sutra and some great Italian food, oh and a book shop selling second hand books that had been brought over from the UK - for double the price they were for sale for in the UK.

Mr Content