A Pool and a Pond

The sun just set in Koh Samui and the third day of our stay will be coming to an end tomorrow morning as we are taking a ferry to Krabi.

We arrived here Sunday around noon and checked into our boutique hotel, The Privilege Hotel Ezra Beach Club. The hotel is located in Ban Bang Rak area of Koh Samui. We have our own private pool in our beach front room. We also have a pond, actually it is the Gulf of Thailand.

We spent Sunday hanging out in the pool and the Gulf. The Gulf water is breathtaking. This is one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been.

Sunday evening we walked around Ban Bang Rak and had a dinner at a non descript Thai restaurant. After dinner we went to Secret Garden. We fit right in with the average age of the crowd.

We hung at our pool during the day on Monday. Before sunset we headed over to Chaweng. This is the party area of Koh Samui, a younger crowd. We had a drink at a waterfront bar and walked the strip of bars, restaurants, clothing stores, massage parlors, and weed dispensaries. We had dinner at Galanga and then went to a bar for an after dinner beer.

On the drive over to Chaweng, our Grab driver (SE Asia ride share app) drove by some squalor. The living conditions of many of the houses we passed was disturbing.

Motorcycles and scooters are the most popular form of transportation here. Since we are of a certain age (and read about tourist scooter disasters) we are either walking, taking a Grab, or taxi to get to our destinations.

Today we spent the day on and in the water. We took Insea Speed Boat to Angthong Marine Park where we snorkeled, hiked to the Emerald Pool, and swam in some beautiful beaches. We saw many different colorful fish and coral while snorkeling.