Day 6- Last Day in Koh Samui

We woke up again in Koh Samui with nothing to do besides lay by the pool. Tough day. We inquired about taking a boat over to another island, but we decided against it as we just wanted to relax and enjoy our last day by the pool. I enjoyed Pad Thai for breakfast along with 2 fried eggs. Yes, right before I put on a bathing suit. Idiotic, but ridiculously delicious. I actually got off my lazy keester and made my way to the gym to burn a few calories. It was so hot and steamy in Koh Samui. I have never sweated so much so you can only imagine how ridiculous it gets when you are working out. We constantly drank water. Probably close to 6 bottles during the day. After a dip in the pool, we walked to the Bophut Beach pier. Shiesta.

 That can’t be up to code. Julie? We just looked and didn’t walk on it. I wasn’t trying to have to use our temporary insurance policy. We mentally prepared ourselves for the bartering in the market and we went in to buy some of the junk they were selling. It was fun and we got some silly stuff to give away as surcees.

We later enjoyed happy hour on some pillows on the beach at the Cocunut bar. We watch the sun go down (we were on the East Coast so no sunsets for us) and watched some soccer on the big projector on the beach. Dinner was at Samui Spice and we were again at a table directly on the beach. G and I shared a local seafood platter and it was amazing. As we made our way back to the hotel, we popped into the Elephant Water bar for dessert.  Our hotel offers another happy hour at 9:30pm so we went back to the Chill Lounge trying to make it to 9:30 for a BOGO free wine. We were impatient and were trying our darndest to keep our eyes open so we just bought a glass to share and then turned in for the night. Thank you Koh Samui and Hansar for allowing me to relax for a couple of days. Doesn’t happen often.

Day 4 and 5 - Total Relaxation

I can’t think of a better feeling than waking up sans alarm clock, next to your husband, in Thailand, with a view of the ocean, at 9:30am. I was officially in ‘honeymoon mode’ and was ecstatic about my day in which the only thing on my agenda was laying by the pool with my iPad and ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’ waiting on happy hour to start at 1:30. Yes, 1:30. Our package included breakfast so we made our way down to the ocean-side outdoor dining area and buckled down for what would be the most eclectic breakfast buffet you could imagine. There’s nothing like binging on breakfast food and then getting into your bathing suit. Yikes. But delicious.

The hotel offered yoga at 4:00pm so we decided that we would actually put that on our schedule. Well that was until we found the upstairs outdoor lounge area that served champagne. Yep, champagne trumped afternoon yoga. Imagine that.

G and I took a leisurely stroll down the beach. And by leisurely, I mean, it was quite the work-out to trudge through that sand. I frequent SC beaches. This is not a SC beach. It was deep and gave with every step. Within yards we were exhausted. So what do the Gillespie’s do next? Ah yes, stop for a beach cocktail at the Calm Beach Bar. We met some other honeymooners from New Castle, England and enjoyed trading stories.

 On our walk back, we strolled upon a local woman who is on the beach, toting her little charcoal poor-excuse for a grill selling spring rolls and grilled corn. A grilled piece of corn is one of my favorites. How did she know? Yall. It was amazing. If someone is looking for a new profession, please move to The Isle of Palms and start a grilled corn business on the beach. Please.

We headed to dinner in Fisherman’s Village. We stopped by and enjoyed a cocktail as the sun was going down. We found some fun swings at the bar closest to our hotel. We decided to buy a ‘balloon’ to light and send off. It was quite the process to get it good and ready and then finally let it go. We watched it for well over 10 minutes. It was pretty cool. We saw lots and lots of them being sold and sent afloat. They actually were very pretty. We had dinner at Starfish (recommendation from the hotel). We both got fish and were served the entire Red Snapper. Absolutely delish.

We went to bed and did a repeat of the day previous. Groundhog Day, if you will. I bought some fun earrings in the gift shop for me and mom. We decided after the previous day’s hard work that we deserved a beach couples massage. But this is not just any massage. It was a Thai Massage. First of all it was 250 baht per person for 1 hour. That is less than $8.50. Yes, thank you.  And we got beat up...in the best way possible. They use their hands, elbows, knees, anything that will dig deep into the tissue. They also pop every possible joint. The weirdest part was when she sat me up, told me to put my hands behind my head and then she used her entire body to whip me around in some awkward contorted positions. It was amazing. It really was. We woke up the next morning and could barely move. Rebecca, meet Thai massage (not to be confused with a ‘normal’ massage). I enjoyed corn again today, but made G get his own because it was so good that I didn’t want to share. We retreated to our wonderful beachfront porch and watched an amazing storm come through. It truly was beautiful. It didn’t last long, but it was aggressive.

We headed to Chewang Beach for dinner. A friend had recommended The Tree Tops at Anantara Lawana hotel. We took a cab over there about an hour before our reservation and had a glass of champagne at their beachfront bar. This hotel was absolutely beautiful and the view was marvelous. We walked over to the restaurant still not knowing what we were getting into. We climbed up this little walkway until we got to our private tree top table. I honestly think that they have used this experience on The Bachelor. And if they haven’t, they should. It was amazing. It was not only romantic, but the food was to-die-for. They did a salt presentation and we got to pick the different salts that we wanted to use. These were salts from all over the world. Who knew? We did a salt taste-testing and you really could tell a difference. This concept was completely new to me. And I loved it. The food reminded me of the food at Nobu. Small portions of the most delicious food you put in your mouth. We enjoyed multiple courses over a lovely bottle of wine. THE MOST PERFECT NIGHT!

Day 3- The 'real' honeymoon starts

After a not-so-good night of sleep for me (very unusual...must still be jet-lag), G and I worked out and had our amazing complimentary breakfast (more sushi again today) and we were ready. I was more than ready. We were on the way to the airport for our domestic flight to the island of Koh Samui (Sam-we). We flew on Bangkok Airways for our 1 hour and 5 minute flight (seemed like seconds compared to our previous flights). They were a great airline, kept everything simple, and served us a meal (yes, a meal on a 1 hour flight). I tell you this because this meal is the reason for the funniest thing that has happened so far on this trip. It included a small salad, sweet black bean something, and an entree consisting of sticky rice wrapped in a green leaf and chicken on the side. I wasn't hungry and thought the chicken looked fried so I just ate a couple bites of sticky rice. G was across the aisle from me and when I looked over, he was eating the sticky rice, leaf and all, like a baby burrito. Now this 'leaf' was not edible, wasn't meant to be eaten and that was quite obvious to everyone except G. I apparently caught him after bite 2 and the poor plastic leaf was in shreds and he looked very confused. (must insert picture, yes I pulled out my camera. It was that good) We laughed for about 20 minutes and by the end of the flight I was in tears. The flight attendant was as confused as G was about that leaf when she came and got his tray. Anyway, such a G moment.

We landed in Koh Samui and immediately fell I love. The airport was more of what we would think of as a private airport. It was all open air and we literally got off the plane and got our luggage within minutes as we were the only plane there. The airport was completely open to the outside and we were immediately introduced to Koh Samui's heat and humidity. Being from SC, this is comparable to a hot, muggy August day....but the beautiful landscape here makes you forget about the overwhelming humidity.We took a taxi to our hotel, Hansar Samui in Bophut Beach for 500 baht (about $17). The ride there reminded me of a cross between St. Kitts and Costa Rica. The economic levels of each outside of our respective resorts seem very similar. Our resort was more than welcoming the moment we stepped out of the taxi. Again, the lobby is completely open with no walls, just simple, and perfect. There is a library that contains some books and 2 Apple computers that sits adjacent to the lobby as well as the infinity pool, again just perfect. There is no way to describe this place besides beautiful. I have many pictures that I will insert later, but they don't do it justice. Our room is simply amazing. Everything is open with a tub in the middle of the room. We sprung for a beachfront room and are now very thankful that we did. We spent the afternoon by the pool and enjoyed the view, some cocktails, and each other.  We walked to a near-by beachfront bar called The Frog and Gecko Pub and enjoyed a glass of wine. After a bad night of sleep and a 'long' day by the pool, I found myself on our oversized bench/bed on our perfect porch and was asleep in minutes. G joined me and it was exactly what we needed before we headed to dinner. It's very interesting how this resort is situated. There is a little road/walkway that runs between the pool and the beach that connects all the resorts here to Fisherman's Village.We are the last resort before Fisherman's Village so dinner, shopping, convenience stores are just a 5 minute walk away. We went to dinner at Krua, which is a Thai Seafood restaurant situated directly on the beach. Our table was about 10 yards from the ocean and the only light we had was from tiki torches. I honestly felt like I was in a scene from The Bachelor. Corny, I know, but it was that amazing. I had the Grilled White Snapper served with veggies, pineapple, and sticky white rice. Nom nom nom. G ordered duck and I didn't even realize until later that I was so obsessed with mine that I didn't even try his. There were fireworks down the beach and there some locals selling a kite-looking object that is made of tissue paper that you light on fire and then send up in the air. You can watch the ball of fire for about 10 minutes and it really is beautiful. We didn't buy one, but we enjoyed the ones we saw.

I still feel like the luckiest girl in the world. G and I keep saying, 'can you believe we are married' or 'hey wifey' Still hasn't sunken in yet, but we are both having the times of our lives and we couldn't be more thankful for these experiences and the time we have to reflect on our past, present, and future. G did make me aware that he will have missed the majority of the NCAA basketball tournament and the final four (have fun Dad!!) will be played while we are en route home. Poor boy.

A few interesting observations about Thailand...

-most bathrooms require you to step down into them (leading to multiple trips into the bathroom by both me and G...providing cheap entertainment) -these said bathrooms also have a sprayer attached to the toilet. Very similar to the one beside most kitchen sinks. Haven't found the use for it yet, but I'm assuming it is only used when actually cleaning the bathroom/toilet???

-our hotel rooms have required that we put our room key in a slot situated on the wall immediately when you walk in. This allows the lights, air conditioner, etc to start working. A great concept really and doesn't waste all the energy when we are not in the room. 

Rebecca Long