Koh Samui Island

Our first stop on our cruise is at Koh Samui Island. Not that long ago this was a place that no-one had heard of - even the Thais didn't come here. But in the past several years it has grown in popularity and is now the second most visited location in Thailand, surpassing even Phuket. We took a tour around the island - it is quite small and we saw most of it. Lovely white sand beaches.

Our tour included a visit to an elephant park, where we went on a ride on an elephant through the forest (much less strenuous than our previous elephant encounter. Wilf played a quick game of soccer with one young elephant lady and was rewarded with an elephant massage for his efforts.

We also visited the aptly named Big Buddha and enjoyed a lunch ashore. It was (allegedly) 10degrees F cooler than Bangkok, but even 94 is a bit much for this gal - our cool cabin was looking very good by the end of the day!