Three days were spent getting to and from and enjoying the beautiful island of Ko Samet. We take a 3.5 hour bus ride south. The teen sits near the window and complains that it is hot with the sun beating on her. We didn't realize we could close the curtains. Oh well. I enjoyed the scenery, watching it change from city to rural and industrial. The landscape and buildings remind me a bit of Mexico. After the bus we have about an hour to kill waiting for the shuttle boat to our resort. It is HOT! We eat at a little foot hut. The food is so cheap and quite good. We are staying at the Lima Coco resort and the boat ride is about 30 minutes and a welcome relief from the heat. Being on the water in the breeze is very refreshing.
This hotel is situated in a little cove with a few other resorts. It is rather quiet and often we are in the water alone. There is always an open lounge chair on the beach and a resort employee to help you pull it into the shade. This is a little slice of paradise! The water is calm and so clear and warm. Warm is just the way I like water. This is the Gulf of Thailand and we spent a lot of time just floating with our inflatable noodles. We walk along the beach and look at the other resorts and their restaurants, but we end up eating all of our meals at Lima Coco at the open air café. The food was good and the location superb.
Our room has a patio and an ocean view. The rooms are situated on a hill, so from our bed we can see the gulf out the sliding glass doors over the roof of the room below us. It's too hot to sit on the patio, but we enjoy the view from our bed in the air-conditioned room. We spend most of our time in the water though -- floating in the gulf or relaxing in the small and also warm swimming pool. The heat is very tolerable when you're getting in and out of water all day. We also rent a kayak and cruise along the coast a bit. We are saddened to see trash floating in the water as we exit our little cove. There isn't any trash in this beautiful little resort area. My daughter also opts for a Thai massage and mani-pedi. I skip the massage and spend more time just floating in the gulf. At one point we spy some jelly fish and that's it for her -- she's ready for swimming pool time! I think we probably got stung a few times -- very small stings that don't last long, but she was a bit freaked out and didn't get back in the gulf. I did and it was fine. Glad we didn't see the jelly fish until late in our stay!
It's another 3.5 hour bus ride back to Bangkok. We take the Lima Coco boat back to the dock and have about 2 hours to kill in the heat. We shop a bit and miss the bus station and walk too far. Thankfully the locals are very helpful and direct us to the right location. People here really are nice and helpful. Next to the bus station is an open air restaurant with a nice breeze and we have another delicious and very inexpensive meal. This time I get the window on the bus ride back -- it's like sitting next to a space heater. HOT! Even with the curtains closed it is hot.
Ko Samet was so pretty and relaxing. My favorite part of the trip. I love a pretty beach with warm, calm water where I can just float and enjoy the view. So perfect!
