Koh Samui (with videos)

When we arrived at our accommodation on Koh Samui, we were greeted by a friendly Australian guy who showed us to our beach bungalows. He owned the row of five huts and lived with his wife and toddler in the house on the end. We were definitely jealous of his laid-back life of paradise on the beach!

The bungalows were quite basic, but it was great being just a few metres away from the sea, and so close to the bars and restaurants running along the beach front.On our first night we had a few beers on the porch and  sampled some amazing Thai food at a nearby restaurant for just 80 baht a meal (£1.70)!!:

Here's a video clip of the beach we were staying on:

We spent the next couple of days doing the touristy stuff - we visited Koh Samui's famous "Big Buddah", wandered around the markets of a local fisherman's village, travelled around the island on a Songthaew (basically a tuk-tuk like pick up truck), and went to see a mummified monk who's dead body has been displayed for thirty years to encourage people to become buddists... not sure if it convinced us!

After a hard day of sight-seeing we headed to the island's nightlife hot spot of Chaweng. Within five minutes of being there Amy was accosted by a couple of six year old boys who wanted to sell her a  homemade flowery necklace for 100 Baht! She bought one as they wouldn't leave her alone, but then the second boy wanted her to buy one from him as well! When she said no he started throwing the necklaces over her head like a lasso and asking for money, and when she started walking away he hugged her and would not let go.. unfortunately Amy's a weakling and couldn't prise him off, but with a bit of help from the boys we managed to get away and start our night out. Here are photos from a couple of the places we ended up in:

Now on to the next island - Koh Phangan, home of the Full Moon Party!