Our first island visit in Thailand was only a brief one but was worth the visit of Koh Samui. After a two and a half hour ferry ride we arrived at what was for me a beautiful island. For Lou, it was her second time back in under a year and was her least favorite in terms of beaches due to its vast westernization (Chaweng beaches lined with resorts and jet skies). So different from what we are used to, the first view of the island was a mountains covered in thick lush greenery down to the small local village surrounding the port. With the main purpose of our visit to the island being to experience the nightlife, we headed round to the opposite side of the island to Chaweng, the main backpackers area. 

 

    With little appeal in going to the beach due to the great western influence, we decided to enjoy our first authentic Thai meal and a relaxing afternoon in the small centre before heading out in the evening. After the much anticipated wait the four of us had delicious meals at The Loft, a local restaurant with mine being a Massaman curry and Lou’s being a Paneng. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

    Prior to our night out in Chaweng, we had dinner at the local market where we had a repeat of the meals from lunchtime (amazing once again) aswell as a wonder around the different stalls of souvenirs, watches, glasses etc.

 

Despite the short stay on the island, the purpose of the visit was definitely well worth it with a very different type of nightlife to what we are used to. Initially we met up with a large group of backpackers in the market where we had a few drinks before heading to Ark Bar, one of the main beach bars. The bar was right on the beach front where they had continuos fire acts all evening. Being my first experience of a proper fire act on the beach by the locals, it was pretty impressive to watch but was made even more local with the constant haggling of young local girls wanting to sell glow sticks, play naughts and crosses and call you Lady-Boiiiiiiiiiii. It was exactly what you would want from a beach bar, a bar that opened out onto the beach where you could sit on large comfy lounges with a drink whilst watching the fire acts and listening to loud remixes of current music.