We decided several months ago that a week at the beach would be appreciated near the end of our 6 month adventure. We initially booked a week on the island of Koh Chang but because it is within 50 km of the Thai/Cambodia border we had to change our plans (our government considers this a “no travel zone” for safety). Koh Samet is easily reached from Bangkok by a 3 hour bus & a 10 minute speed boat ride so we picked a resort on a smaller, quiet beach where we got a beach view villa. C Samet Beach Resort, Villa 142 would be our home for 7 nights, breakfast included for $860.
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| Our spectacular view from our balcony |
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| Bus from Bangkok |
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| Sidecar to pier |
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| Speedboat ride |
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Green truck taxi
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| Strange statue greeting you at the pier |
Good sized room, amazing beach & pool views, nice balcony, fridge, kettle & very efficient A/C (we finally settled on setting it at 27 to maintain a room temp of 20C.) The mattress was on a section of elevated floor so not the best for us old farts. The only downside was the steps up the hill to reach our room, but what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!
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| Our villa |
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| Loved that balcony |
There are only motor bikes, many with attached side carts, & green trucks with benches in the back that served as taxis. The island is only 6.8 km long, there are many beaches with soft white sand & crystal clear turquoise water, surprisingly as warm as a bath. We stayed on Wong Duean beach, approximately 400 metres long, lovely sandy bottom & perfect for enjoying the water. There is a pier so many ferry speedboats coming & going which provided entertainment watching people. Many Thai people visit the island & we were there over a long weekend so busy but by no means crowded. Thai people avoid the sun at all costs so if they ventured out in the water in the sunny part of the day they were well covered up, or they waited till there was shade to play in the ocean. There were restaurants a short walk away down the beach but we found a modest local restaurant on the main road nearby that prepared the most delicious home cooked Thai food, we went there almost every day, we tried every curry on the menu & were never disappointed.
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| Supplies coming in by boat |
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| Map of Koh Samet |
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| The local restaurant, cute chair covers |
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| Tasty green curry |
Breakfast was included so we started the day with coffee on our balcony & then off to a good buffet. We have been in the habit of only eating 2 times/day & kept that up here.
Since we are still on our “let’s get healthier “ kick we spent our mornings exercising & I went for a daily walk/ run on the main road.. The island has a hilly centre so I had to make my way up & down a lot of hills - the worst being a 16% grade!
Research told us there were monkeys on the island but they avoid people & we never saw any. On our last full day some other guests showed us a photo of a 2 ft long snake near to the rooms, so then we were on alert. We did see a bigger one walking home after out last dinner but it seemed to be dead (we didn’t wait around to see if it moved)!
Robin prefers the pool & he spent countless hours skimming leaves out of the water - there is actually a tree in the centre of the pool & many surrounding it. I prefer the ocean so spent my time alternating between walks in the water & sitting in a lounge chair reading or just watching the water. We are fascinated by the tiny crabs that create beautiful patterns with little balls of sand that they scoop out of their holes after every high tide. We were here over the full moon so very high & very low tides which exposed the less than beautiful rocky areas at the end of the beach.
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| Low, low tide |
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| Patterns of tiny balls of sand, moved by tiny crabs |
There were 2 minimarts on the beach so we could buy our Chang beer, 620 ml bottles for 80 baht, $3.45 vs $6.50 in a restaurant & enjoy them on the beach or our balcony.
We took the green truck taxi into the main town area, near the pier for a wander about thru the shops & a meal in town. There are 2 7-11’s across the street from one another plus one more by the pier, a pharmacy, medical clinic & countless hotels & resorts (most no where near the beach). The main Sai Kaew Beach was long, clean, not crowded &lined with restaurants, jet ski rentals , food carts & massage options. We prefer our quiet beach with easy access to the ocean in front of our room.
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| 2 7-11’s across from each other |
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| Sai Kaew Beach |
Our entertainment consisted of people watching, chatting with fellow travellers, bird watching & the epic fire shows put on every evening just down the beach. The young men who twirled the fire as they did some acrobatics were impressive, especially the massive sparks in the finale!
The birds were always making noise, the most annoying being the coppersmith burbat that kept up a continuous tapping noise, approximately a hundred times a minute - much like a loud metronome. The prettiest bird was the greater racket tailed drongo with its long tail with 2 feathers.
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| Beach vendors, we chose to avoid the meat kept in the sun all day! |
The cicadas kept up a steady noise most of the day & night and in the evening our tokay gecko started “talking to us” - a loud to- kay sound, outside but certainly sounded like he was right in there with us! Thankfully he only announced his presence occasionally. No creepy critters inside or outside our room, despite having lots of lovely plants & trees all around.
Our week has come to an end April 8, we have left the island & are bumping along in the back seat of a minibus with luggage piled in the aisle on our way back to Bangkok for our final 8 nights before we return home to “reality” again. We will miss the ocean but we are already planning a family beach vacation for December.
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| Strange piles of sand brought up by?? |
Still more adventures to have as we Live the Dream!
