Koh Samui - A fisherman's village & a speedboat

Koh Samui airport is so dinky. Upon arrival, a small and colourful train-like vehicle takes passengers from the plane to baggage claim. Maeve & I decided to stay in BoPhut while on the island. BoPhut is a little fisherman's village on the north-east coast of Koh Samui. We arrived at our accommodation, aptly named Eden, to find orchids strewn over our pillows and pretty flowers adorning the shelves. It was a far cry from our pixie-pad living arrangements in Koh Jum. So, delighted with ourselves, we headed out for dinner. We found a pretty restaurant over-looking the sea. It was ever so rosemantic, soft ballad music, candlelight, orchids bringing a pop of colour to every table. We came to the conclusion that we were in honeymoon heaven. After a lovely meal we decided to skedaddle into Chaweng (or as we like to say "schwing, Wayne's World, party time"). Chaweng is the biggest town on the island. It is well known for its nightlife. Maeve felt it was quite like Ibiza. We found ourselves a bar on the beach that had low-lounger-like-seating. A man walked past and put a monkey on my shoulder and said we could pay to have our pictures taken with it. Maeve was so upset for the little monkey; she asked the man if she could buy the monkey and set him free, the man said 8,000 baht.... I guess everything has a price. I told Maeve that the monkey would probably run back to the man anyway; the monkey still cuddled his owner and held onto him for protection. It's sad considering the man is cruel bringing a little monkey out to loud bars when all the monkey wants to do is sleep.

The following day we came across (our soon to be favourite restaurant) The Happy Elephant. This restaurant is amazing, beautiful dark teak timber, intricate stained glass chandelier, and an abundance of elephant themed decor. The staff are so helpful, happy, and polite. We loved the restaurant so much we actually bought their t-shirt! (no kidding). There was an elderly Thai man singing Elvis songs in the restaurant. Maeve and I put in a request for a couple of Elvis ballads. We clapped and smiled after he finished each song. He was delighted with our enthusiasm. He then broke into the Roy Orbison classic, Pretty Women, and was pointing at us and smiling. After he finished his set he came over and thanked us as it was his first night singing in the restaurant. 'Ah! Bless!

For our activity, we joined a tour going to Angthong National Marine Park. We had an early start and the itinerary included breakfast on the ferry. Maeve was up, eyes open, walking around but she really wasn't awake. The women can't function without breakfast, it's like breakfast is her batteries and she needs some battery fuel before her engine fires up. Two croissants, a banana, and two cups of coffee and bing... Maeve was awake! We met a bunch of Kiwi lads on the boat, they were similar minded and just laughed and joked and took the piss out of everyone. It was 8am and the guys were a barrel of laughs. A German was on the boat drinking beer for breakfast with the full Bayern Munich strip on, he was a sure target for ridicule. It was a fantastic day; we kayaked, climbed a 500m vertical height, and snorkeled. Did I mention we climbed a 500m vertical height..... I'm not kidding it was so difficult and dangerous. We had to hang onto a rope the whole way to leverage ourselves up. The climb got increasingly difficult as we got closer to the summit. Thankfully, we made it in one piece and the view was phenomenal.

We were due to travel to Koh Phangnan for the full moon party but we discovered we could stay on Koh Samui and take a speedboat to the party. We loved our honeymoon land so much we decided to stay. Lucky for us we did, as we met the loveliest couple that evening. Luke and Vicky are from Brighton. We were seated next to them for dinner. Maeve & I had decided to try a carafe of Thai white wine. We got what we ordered and it was utter plonk. I said we'll just pretend that it was the Australian wine we ordered and pour this muck back in the carafe. Luke was sitting beside us laughing, seeing the brazenness of our actions. We got our Australian wine and from there we struck up conversation with our new buddies. We all decided to meet at The Happy Elephant (but, of course) for dinner the next evening and then catch the speedboat to the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangnan.