Day 3 - Koh Samui, Thailand

Day 3 was our last full day in Koh Samui, so we relaxed for the first half of the day, grabbing lunch in Chewang. We called Trev and Mom from the Wifi connection there and got word that they're having a blast in Jiuzhaigou. Then we decided to head about 25 kilometers out of town towards the elephant trekking.

We got all the way there and realized we only had 320 baht on us (the equivalent of about $10). A full 1/2 hour elephant trek costs twice that for one person. I was about ready to give up, but Ming saved the day by chatting with the manager for a few minutes. Eventually the guy agreed that we could both ride an elephant for 300. Lesson learned: if you want to get a deal in Thailand, show up without much money.

I let Ming get on the elephant first. I said I wanted to take this picture, but really I was just making sure it was safe :-)


Once we were both on, we convinced them to take a picture of us, normally a 200 baht charge, but they gave it to us for free (cause we seemed poor I guess).

Our guide seemed capable. He lead us over a stream and out into a field. The ride was definitely bumpy

Once we were out in the field the guide hopped off and took my camera to try and get a few more shots for us. The elephant was wiley though and kept moving towards the guide. He never got far enough away from the elephant to get a good shot... here's the best he got:

After the elephants, we had planned on watching the sunset at one of the upscale resorts on the western side of the island. Our place is on the Eastern side, and we were already half way there. The resort was nice, but our hopes of seeing the sunset were dashed by a storm that was brewing offshore.

We decided to hop on the bike and get back to base before the rain caught up with us. There were a few stinging sprinkles on the high-speed bike-ride back around the island, but we were making good time... until we realized that we were running low on gas. With 20 baht on us, and with a bottle of gas costing 35 baht, we thought we were doomed. That is, until I saved the day by finding exactly 15 baht in coins stuck deep inside my pockets. That last bottle of gas got us all the way back to our resort, where we got a complementary buffet dinner, singing and dancing included.


The guys above were pretty good, but their thick accents made the English songs more comical than intended.


The dancers were pretty interesting. They were able to contort there hands and feet in what seemed like pretty painful ways. (sidenote from Ming: their fingers were bending backwards from their hands -- like double-jointed plastic Barbie dolls!)

Originally we were hoping to do a Yacht trip the next day, but given that the rain continued all night, the trip was canceled. So it will probably be another day of motorbiking and relaxation tomorrow.