Thailand Part 2: Surat Thani-Koh Samui

This is the continuation from Part 1: http://meilinxo.blogspot.com/2013/01/thailand-part-1.html

So in Part 1 we went around Bangkok town and visited the historical Ayothaya.

Part 2 is just a short relaxing trip to Koh Samui, 3 days 2 nights

Domestic flight taken from Bankok (Don Meung) Airport to Surat Thani Airport.

Because we arrived quite late, we stayed a night at Surat Thani town.

A piece of advice, Surat Thani town is quite "deserted" after dinner time. 

During our arrival, we stayed at Tapee Hotel, Surat Thani.

They have tuktuk from the airport, I booked few days earlier while still in Bangkok.

This hotel is however quite old and has a musky smell but we stayed there afterall
because it was just an overnight stay before we depart to Koh Samui.

We didn't take photo in Surat Thani upon arrival because we were too tired to go around.

Upon arrival, we told the receptionist that we would like to go to Koh Samui.

We paid in advance for the bus + ferry which was around 500baht.
Receptionist arranged a pick up van from the hotel to the bus terminal, which was very early.

From the bus terminal, we took a bus to the jetty at Don Sak.

Getting to Don Sak Jetty by bus takes more than 2 hours, it was a double decker bus. 

The ferry we took was the Lomprayah ferry.
The ferry system was not really organized.
Do not expect the best service as they just pile your bags together.

Seats view inside the ferry. You can sit inside or enjoy the air/view outside...

of course someone like me would opt for something more tourist-y ;)

bags were just stacked, since most were backpackers.
If you are more of a "luxurious" travelling, speedboat or private boat would be a better option.

The ferry ride took almost an hour to Koh Samui.

And there could be long waiting for the ferry's arrival, bring some snacks with you.

Upon arrival at Koh Samui island, you can take tuktuk to your hotel.

The tuktuk driver may request you to share with other tourists.

I do think it is best not to go with other tourists because you will be making many stops.

We also got scammed because we didn't actually know the exact location of our hotel.

He just stopped somewhere and we paid.

We showed him the map and address, he acted like he knew but brought us to the wrong location.

Make sure you approximately know where is the location of your hotel.

We took another tuktuk from the wrong location to the right hotel.

At Koh Samui we stayed at CS Park Hotel.

This hotel is really recommended. The staff is friendly and the location was 

walking distance to the beach and night market.
It also has a pantry with dining table (though no stove or cooking allowed)

There are many things you can do at Koh Samui as there are package trips.

Like on most islands, you can rent motorcycles or bicycles to go around the island.

But all we did was roaming around the night market and enjoying the beach due to limited time.

Too bad we couldn't make it for a Muay Thai show

Rent a motorcycle or scooter and move around! It's an island, you'll never get lost :D

Jetski for rent

Sun tanning chairs are provided for free! (as long as you manage to get one) or just lie on the beach since it's super clean. Like many other islands, they have oil massage on the beach. There are also little huts for extra privacy

To get back to Surat Thani, we requested from the receptionist to get a taxi.

So we took taxi to the jetty and took the same ferry back to Surat Thani.

The best view which I love love love about trips are sea and sky!
Seeing the combination of these 2 (other than mountains) totally makes life worth living ^^

The ferry

From the jetty, there are already buses waiting to depart to many destinations.
This time we did not take the package so we just asked the driver which bus is going to town.
We took the bus and it was open air bus O.o
We were feeling okay because there was a family with little kids seems to be enjoying the ride.
But the bus stopped somewhere really random (doesn't look like a proper bus terminal)
At first we were not sure whether we were at the right stop but the driver
asked everyone to get down. So we all did.

There were already some tuktuk waiting to get the tourists to their destinations.
So we made an agreement with a tuktuk, with one young backpacker, off we went.

Again we stayed at Surat Thani for one night, but this time at SR Hotel.

SR Hotel. Really recommended, it was really nice and great deal for our budget

This hotel was much better than the first.

It was near a Korean restaurant!

The restaurant name is "Sarang" (Love) ^^

Of course not the highlight and we didn't eat there.

There was a night market nearby and we bought soooo much food that night.

You can find most of Thailand local food there!

of course, what's Thailand without this exotic food. Ate some in Cambodia so this was my 2nd try! 

Pretty lamps for sale on pathway between our hotel to the night market

will plan for a more proper koh samui trip in future :)

(Because all of the trips were quite impulsive and my parents paid for them,

thus I didn't take much note on the budget.)

Koh Samui Travel Summary:

Departure to Koh Samui
Arrival at Surat Thani airport
Tuktuk from Surat Thani airport to Tapee Hotel (overnight)
Next day, van from Tapee Hotel to Bus Terminal
Bus from Terminal to Don Sak Jetty, Surat Thani
Ferry from jetty to Koh Samui Island
Tuktuk from Koh Samui jetty to CS Park Hotel

Arrival from Koh Samui
Taxi from CS Park Hotel to Koh Samui jetty
Ferry from Koh Samui to Don Sak Jetty, Surat Thani
Bus from Don Sak to some random spot(?)
Tuktuk to SR Hotel
Flight back to Kuala Lumpur

Places to go: 

upon arrival at your hotel at Koh Samui, you can arrange for tour or rent a motorcycle.
To see places around, 2-3 will be sufficient.
If you missed out the crocodile show in Bangkok, you can try the one in Koh Samui.
Watch a Muay Thai show if you manage to make it at the right time.

p/s: photos are not HQ because I just copied from my Facebook album, lost the folder with resized photos