We decided to rent a scooter and check out another town called Chaweng. It was slightly bigger than Lamai beach and had more shops and more nightlife in general, but we found little else to do than coffee shop hop. The malls were fairly pitiful and very expensive if you compare them to the markets so it was not somewhere we were going to shop anyway. We did have a very fun and relaxed evening before heading home to indulge in some movie watching.
Again we woke up to sunshine and rushed out hoping for it to stay but this time the sweet reprieve only lasted ten minutes and we were off on the motorbike as always. We thought we might as well see some of the attractions around the island and we had our sights set on the 80 meter tall waterfall simply named, Waterfall 2. As is a theme in Thailand, there was an elephant park at the bottom of the hike offering to take people up to the waterfall and we found a cute baby elephant to feed bananas to. She was just ten months old and had the most adorable spiky hair and at first I tried feeding her the banana whole like the bigger elephants like but she could only eat them peeled and could not grab it by sucking with her trunk but only by curling her trunk around it (see video). Always a fun experience!
As we hiked up to the waterfall we noticed how slippery it was and especially treacherous in our flip flops which should have foreshadowed what was to come. We enjoyed the hike up, using the rickety suspension bridges that seemed likely to snap at any minute and we just absorbed being in the jungle with moss, rocks, and vines all around. About halfway up the waterfall we decided to stop on some rocks and dip our feet into the icy cold water as we had seen many people doing and we regretted that we did not bring our swimsuits so that we could join in the swimming. The trouble started when we got up to leave.
When he got up and stepped onto the next rock, Josh lost his footing on a mossy rock that was dauntingly slippery. In the next second he was grasping onto the slippery rock dangling into the waterfall as I scrambled to grab him but it was too late. To my horror, he fell into the waterfall! He literally fell into the bloody thing! It was quite possibly the scariest thing I have ever experienced and the image of him slipping off is still perfectly burned into my memory. Now to ease any fears, he is very much in one piece. The drop in total would have been about ten meters but was divided by two cliffs so that he had one drop, stopped for a second, and then a second drop where thankfully he found his footing. Since this dear husband of mine seems to have nine lives, he was able to remain perfectly vertical the entire time thus protecting his head from injury and like a cat, he did land on his feet! Although he emerged very beat up with swollen hands, knees, and ankles and with several lacerations, nothing was broken or seriously injured! We were both shaking so bad from the adrenaline we could hardly walk back down but I was so relieved when everything turned out okay. Sometimes luck is everything but since then I can't help but say, "careful Josh" every minute or so.
With our scare we decided to stop sight seeing and enjoyed lunch at a French bakery. Afterwards we found a cute cafe full of guitars that drew Josh's eye from off the road (clearly he was feeling recovered). Josh had a blast playing with the owner of the coffee shop while I enjoyed the ambience and old favorites like Hotel California.
The friends we had met on the beach the day before, Patima and Axel, told us of a Thai fighting event that would be going on that night and we decided to join them. Although this may not be something we are typically interested in, we realized we would not have experienced that part of Thai culture If we missed it. And actually, it was really fun and I can always appreciate a good sport! The women were very tough although it was obvious the crowd found it more amusing than anything else with their audible laughter. The men were fierce with their intense sounding kicks (ouch!) and one opponent finished another off in the first round! Thai boxing is a good way for some people to make money due to betting and at the beginning of the round, the boxer displays the money the are making that night around their neck. We were told that the first famous Thai boxer was a lady boy and that he used his earnings to pay for the surgeries slowly, which I found really interesting! I'm not sure if I would readily go again but it was a good cultural experience.
Luckily for us, our last day in Koh Samui ended up being the perfect beach day and we literally laid on the beach for the entire day (I think we got a little too much sun!). We spent the day planning for our trip to Bali and Lombok and we were getting really excited for it, although it is always hard to leave a country. That night was the Sunday night market again and although we had been the previous week, there is a different feel to going to a market when it is going to be your last one! Needless to say we bought a few things, one of them being a large sports bag to put our purchases in! We met up with Patima and Axel again which was especially great during the market since Patima was born in Thailand and could give us advice on foods to try like crocodile meat (very good and tender actually). We left our friends early that night (as opposed to 3 am the previous night!) because we were due to get up at 6 am to travel to Bangkok the next day.
Up at 6 am, our day was simply a barrage of vehicles from that point on. Minivan-bus-ferry-bus-plane-shuttle bus-minivan all encompassing 12 hours until we arrived at a lovely airport hotel in a residential area. Without wasting time we set off to see the nearest temple which would be our last in Thailand, and it housed a very large white Buddha. Since the temple was closing we had only a few minutes to look around but I was also struck by the lifelike figures in goldleaf around the temple which were images of late monks. In front they had a description (in Thai so we could not read it) and a photo that was spot on with the figurine. It was a little eery to be honest.
Relaxing in the luxury of our hotel room (probably one of the nicest places we have stayed) we were told we could have Thai massages in our room! At first we were a little uncertain about whether that would feel a little bit odd but we quickly snatched up the chance to have our last Thai massage. It actually felt great to be in a comfortable environment rather than a spa and we were able to play our own music. I will miss the Thai massages very much but I hear that Balinese massages can hold their own as well.
In all honesty I was ready to leave Thailand, not because it wasn't great but because I felt like we had done everything we hoped to do in our time. Since we were unable to make the trip to Cambodia work, we had almost a week longer in Thailand than anticipated and due to how it was planned out, we felt like we didn't use the time as well as we could have. Had we known we weren't going to Cambodia we would have spent more time in the north instead of in the islands but trust me, I'm not complaining! The ease of Thailand alone is noteworthy, how everything simply works without having to try too hard. Being such a touristy country, there are so many amazing things things to see or do that other countries might not have set up yet like the Tiger Kingdom which was a highlight. The people are friendly, the price is right, and the food is amazing all leading to a wonderful traveling experience. Now off to Indonesia!
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