Leaving Koh Samui

May 16, 2015 / Lara Mulady

Today we leave Koh Samui. For now. We'll spend 28 days on Koh Phangan, and then come back here for another two weeks before heading home. It's strange to think we've been here for two weeks already. It's been so very different from what we're used to. Gone are the days where we would get up and spend the whole day sitting on the beach, swimming in the sea, and enjoying cold beer as we watched the sun go down. Instead, they're mostly about being with Melvin, and taking care of the little guy. But that's OK. That's what this trip is all about.

There's no rush with anything - that much hasn't changed. Our mornings might be earlier, but so are our evenings, and our days, while spent with Melvin, are fairly lazy. Of course that'll change when he figures out what his legs are for, so we're making the most of his immobile state.

Our accommodation standards have certainly changed. The first time we went to Thailand together as a couple was in 2009. Below is our room.

I remember we thought it was fantastic. It was a little bungalow, with a very small sitting area outside the door, and a shared bathroom down the path. No A/C (clearly), a bed as hard as stone, no towels, no sheets, no nothing - just walls and a roof.

Now look at us.

A video posted by @twesterby on May 11, 2015 at 11:41pm PDT

We've been incredibly happy with our stay at Briza. With off-peak prices, we booked a villa made up of a large bedroom, outdoor bathroom (with bathtub sunk into the ground), two sinks, an outdoor living room with separate toilet, and - best of all - a private plunge pool. The food is good, the staff extremely friendly and polite, and it's just a few minutes walk down a path to the beach and sea. The sea itself is very shallow for about 50 metres out, and only then does it gradually begin to deepen.

As a result, the water near the beach gets really quite hot by the afternoon, hot enough for us to think twice about putting Melvin in it, but seeing as he's not the biggest fan of the sea, that's not been a problem (although we did take him out in the morning). He has loved the plunge pool, however. He's discovered that he can make a splash, so he kicks away with great abandon as I hold him up. Great fun.

The nappies we've been using over here (MamyPoko - sold in every 7/11 and Family Mart in Bangkok and Koh Samui), have been fine. Melvin's not had any reaction to them at all, but they don't seem to last a full night so we've saved the ones we brought from home to use during the night. I'm not sure if it was the nappies not being tight enough around his legs, or the force of Melvin's poo, but we did have a slight emergency one morning at breakfast when he decided to empty his bowels at the table, only for it to squirt out and on to Thilde. It was messy, and a shower job to get him clean, but what can you do. Fun times.

We took a good long stroll along the beach and to central Chaweng, which in low-season and daylight looked clean enough, but it was fairly easy to imagine what it could be like. Seedy bars and dubious massage parlours abound, and huge speakers were pumping chilled out lounge to vast empty dance floors even early in the afternoon. We struggled a bit with the stroller - just a lot of up and downs over high pavement edges - ate, and then took a taxi back to the hotel for a cup of tea in bed.

So here we are, about to leave for the ferry. Our next stop will be very different from this, and we're looking forward. Onwards!

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categories / Holidays, Baby
tags / Briza Resort, Koh Samui, Thailand, Koh Phangan

Koh Samui with a Baby (Part One)

May 12, 2015 / Lara Mulady

Here we are in Koh Samui. Bophut, to be exact. We’ve been here for 5 days now, after an uneventful trip from Bangkok.

We left after a pretty lazy day of waiting and making the most of the AC in the hotel, and took a taxi to the airport with hours to spare. Good thing really as the first thing that happened - inevitably - was traffic. We weren’t worried though, and sat listening to The Eagles telling us to take it easy (Melvin was wearing his Route 66 babygro from Winslow, Arizona), and other classic country the driver had playing. The airport was quiet and we were hurried through any kind of queue thanks to Melvin (that also happened when we arrived at Bangkok. We were ushered to a much shorter immigration queue. Yay for babies!). I had a donut, Thilde had a cookie, and Melvin threw up some milk which missed my t-shirt completely and landed in my pocket. The boy’s a good aim.

The flight was only half full (again), but didn’t have seatbelts for babies, which was odd. No-one seemed too worried though, so we decided to just go with it. Melvin was perfect during the flight but got upset as we landed and wasn’t happy until we had picked up our luggage. A bit annoying as the airport on Koh Samui is lovely, and we were looking forward to it (how often can you say that about an airport?). Anyway, off to Smile House Resort and Spa. A very big room, with two beds, a balcony, fridge, and lots of space. They had even put a cot out for us, which was very thoughtful, but we’ve resorted to co-sleeping as it’s much easier to give him his night feeds that way. Maybe we’ll use our travel cot later on - provided he’s not wanting three meals a night! - but for now, the three of us in bed is working just fine.

On our first day we had an unintentionally long walk around the back of Bophut and came across a man using a monkey to pull down coconuts. It was quite something. You can't see the monkey, but he's there, I promise (Thilde took a video). It was all very nice until I came across the Samui Monkey Theatre on TripAdvisor, and I thought the poor little guy was probably from there. Not so nice.

So far Melvin has avoided mosquitos. Shame the same can’t be said for Thilde. She's sporting nine bites on one thigh. I have a few, but am lucky enough to not really be bothered by them. We’ve got some repellent the doctor recommended (Autan), but on the back it says it’s not suitable for children under 3. Hmmm. We spray the stroller and his trousers in the evening, and so far, so good. We’ve had a few good thunderstorms, impressive lightning and some magnificent monsoon rain. It’s quite lovely to hear it pouring down. We sit on the balcony and watch it streaming from the palm leaves. It all feels very exotic. The heat is a little more bearable, especially after the storms, but it’s still hot and humid. I think we’ve just adjusted a bit.

As we thought would be the case, we are often relieved of Melvin. No matter if it’s breakfast, lunch, or dinner, at some point, someone will come and ask if they can hold him. They take him off to the kitchen, or back of house, as Thlide cranes her neck anxiously and I pretend to act cool. He always comes back smiling.

Bophut isn't quite what I expected. I’m not entirely sure what I expected, mind you. It’s hard to find a meal under 200 Baht (40 Kroner/£4), which might not sound much (and isn’t), but it’s more than we’ve had to pay before, and things just seem catered to a different kind of tourist. I suppose that’s life, inflation, and tourism. We’ve found a little spot down at the end of the street called The Hut Cafe, which has a little table with a fan, perfect for the three of us. Anyway, I’m getting a bit too specific.

Country seems to be the music of the trip, and I listen to The Eagles, Carl Perkins and Aaron Tippin as I steal an hour alone on the beach. We’ve taken Melvin down to the beach once, and had him in the sea for a few minutes, but he wasn’t too keen on it. Thilde took him back to the room as I stole my hour, and on my return I found out he had wailed for 20 minutes. This is new for Melvin. In fact, I think the longest he’s cried before is perhaps 5 minutes. I felt very bad, but when he woke up (as he had cried himself to sleep), he was all smiles. The beach can wait.

He’s perfectly content with a swim in the pool, however. We’ve GoPro-ed ourselves to death, and thankfully no-one else seems to mind his squeals and roars.

In all honestly, we’ve done very little. Our mornings go by in a flash, despite us getting up at about 6.30/7. Once we’ve all eaten, we’ve worked out, and Melvin’s napped, it’s almost time for lunch. The afternoons are spent on a walk, a swim, maybe a quick sunbath, and lots of playing with Melvin. Friday was fairly different. In the evening the main street turns into a heaving market, with stalls selling just about everything - including lots of food. We headed out towards a restaurant but never made it, instead just eating from the many stalls: spring rolls, fried chicken, rice cakes, ice-cream, curry puff things, grilled pork - you name it. Thankfully we’re here for another Friday.

Today (Monday), we’re off out on an excursion to a temple, and another town close by. It’ll be our first trip out in a taxi with no baby seat. I’ve no doubts it’ll be fine, but I’ve also no doubts we’ll both be worried, but seeing as we’ve got 7 weeks left (!), we’d better get used to it.

We like it here, but it’s not quite us, and we’re not exactly sure why. We’re both looking forward to heading to Koh Phangan on Saturday, where we’ll be staying at the Orion Healing Centre (don’t laugh). The photos on their website look much more us. Hopefully we won’t be disappointed. Thilde is doing a yoga thing and Reiki thing, and I am doing a sitting-around-and-not-doing-anything-thing. We’ll be be so relaxed we’ll slide out of our bottoms (that’s one of Thilde’s expressions, not mine).

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So now it’s the next day and it turns out we’re moving. Our trip to Chaweng, Koh Samui’s most popular beach and busiest town, proved to be rather good, something which surprised us immensely. We thought it would be a tourist hell, and in a way, it is, but thanks to it being the low season, the town is all but empty, and things - from curries to foot rubs - are far, far cheaper than in Bophut. Who’d have thunk. We wandered along the beautiful beach for a good hour (the stroller was fine on the compact sand), and happened upon a beachside restaurant where we stripped Melvin of his clothes, and had us a cold drink.

Then we took a taxi from the lobby and on the trip back, decided that we had seen enough of Bophut and we would move to Chaweng. That means we’ll have four nights there, so we’ve upped our budget a little bit and will be staying at Briza Resort, which seems lovely. I’ll have to report back later.

We also visited Wat Plai Laem yesterday, a sort of Hindu/Buddhist temple complex, with a number of huge (and kitsch), temples. Very pretty.

Melvin was set upon and had his photo taken. I tried to take a photo of Melvin having his photo taken but I felt a bit daft so it didn’t come out very well.

Anyway, it was nice. We also conquered the first drive without a car seat. It was fine and we are alive. In fact, on the way back there weren’t even any seatbelts so even if we did have a car seat it wouldn’t have made much different. The taxi drivers have all - regardless of car seat or not - driven really well. I suspect it’s because of Melvin. No speeding, not a single overtaking, and no going very fast at all actually. We’ve felt fine.

So here we are in bed on our last morning in Bophut. We’ll miss the Friday night food market, but we’ll deal. It’s been a good stay, but as mentioned before there’s something not quite right about it here - for us, at least. It’s a great room, a great resort, lovely people, good food…but it’s just not quite us. Hopefully Briza will be more us, even though it looks even more upscale, which is odd as usually we’re after things a bit more hippy. Maybe it’s Melvin. Yes, blame him.