Wat Samret (Temple)

Wat Samret - off the beaten track.

https://theitravelchannel.tv/samret-temple-samui-thailand/

After visiting the temple we cycled to Villa Chocolat for a decadent dessert.

A few videos from my GoPro

Biking through the market area of what's called 'Muslim Village'.  Most of Samui's fishermen live here. We like to take a shortcut through here to avoid the main road and busy intersection.

Kayaking between our beach and a the beachside bar called 'Bob Marley'.

Update

The rain doesn't want to stay away.  We have occasional episodes of dry days, and even had blue skies yesterday.  This is an abnormally large volume of rain.  Should have been into the dry season before now.  We have been able to bike ride and went out in the kayak once.  No swimming yet though.

This morning at 6 we went for a bike ride.  Few cars and the air is still cool then.

Yesterday we went for a walk on our beach and were hopeful when we saw blue skies.  However, today is pouring rain.

A visit to my favourite Buddhist site (temples, pagodas)

Pagoda Khao Chedi is a Srivijaya-style chedi situated on a hill above Laem Sor.  Laem Sor Pagoda is a golden pagoda on a beach.  The pagoda on the hill is white.

The site conists of many statues of the Budda including a golden reclining Buddha, a pagoda, statues of monks, a baby Buddha, and a display of the Buddha sitting and teaching several monks sitting at his feet. 

A few shots

Guan Yu Chinese God of War - just down the road from us in Hua Thanon

Guan Yu Shrine

The infamous foot

Got the kayak out today

Things to do and see

One of my Facebook friends asked what the million+ tourists per year do on the island when they come.

This is the most popular of the Gulf of Thailand islands for tourists.  The past decade it has become more and more built up for tourism.  There are several areas of the island that are crowded with resorts and other tourist shops, restaurants, bars, etc. and have long, wide beaches.  All kinds of tourists visit here - families, groups of age 18+ kids, retirees, couples in every age group.

High season is when we come - Dec - Feb.  Where we stay is a quiet area, but we visit the more crowded areas sometimes for shopping, souvenirs, restaurants.

We love the Buddhist Temples and the giant statues of the Buddha, Chinese Gods/esses, etc.

Other things to do:  beaches, water sports, cycling, hikes in the forests and mountains in the centre of the island, etc.

Top 10 attractions

More of things to do

Attractions

Just discovered this link.  Nicely done and lots of info on it.

Good stuff

Update

I think the flooding is over.  Yesterday morning we had a short downpour around dawn, then sunny the rest of the day.  Bike riding has commenced!

There are no Christmas decorations anywhere (something they do for the tourists).  I don't know if there will be any at all.  The country is in mourning for the loss of their King and will be for an entire year.  Photos of him are everywhere, more than usual.  We still see quite a few Thais wearing black.

We haven't been in the pool or the sea yet.  The pool is where we chat with our neighbours, and we've only chatted so far with our neighbour across from us - the permanent German resident, Wolfgang.

A few shots I've taken so far:

Danny's pic while on bike ride

Floods

Our island declared disaster area:

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1022042.shtml


Reuters - floods in southern Thailand

BBC dozens killed in floods

A video of floods in the area north of us.  Very bad by us right now.  We can't leave the house unless we paddle the kayak!

Very heavy rain

It's been raining almost the entire 4 days we've been here.  Roads around us are somewhat flooded, but the photo in this article is about 10 miles down the road.

Southern Flooding

Arrival

After the flight from hell - British Airways - we caught Bangkok Airways for the short flight to the island.

After more than 24 hours without sleep we finally fell into bed and slept nearly 14 hours.

Haven't seen the sun yet.  According to our neighbour we brought rain with us (although we didn't have that much in Scotland before we left).  Thailand rain is a hard rain, not showers.

Everything we stored here is now put away and organized.  Ready to jump in the pool, go to the beach, go for bike ride, wander around temples, start going to the gym.....

We have our breakfast in our house but always eat lunch and dinner out, and it's almost always Thai food. We had dinner last night at one of our favourite restaurants and had curries with tofu.  The waitresses and cooks gave us both a hug on our return.

Gardeners planting new trees even in pouring rain.