Koh Samui

Hi Bloggers,

Just got back from four great days on Koh Samui. It's changed hugely from when I first went there in 1998, but it's still a paradise, particularly if you avoid the high season and get away from Chaweng, the main beach. Although Chaweng's beach is genuinely fantastic, with its fine grain white sand, etc, the town has gone much the same way as all the other main resorts in Thailand, such as Phuket and Pattaya, i.e. completely overbuilt and with lots of raucous, noisy tourists everywhere. How different from a decade or so ago, when I remember the place was half empty and the town wasn't even fully tarmacked!




Anyway, I stayed on Lamai beach, just down the road. It's slightly smaller, but just as beautiful, and much less crowded (see video). I also rented a motorbike. The automatic ones seem to be the craze now, and I must admit they are easy to ride. In fact, they seem to have some built in function that stops you gathering momentum as you go downhill, which can't be a bad thing! If you take either the south or west routes, you can get right away from it all, particularly if you're willing to venture off down the side roads, where you can still experience the idyllic rural life of old.

I stayed in a bungalow with no hot water, air-con or TV. Can't say I really missed any of them very much. In fact, it was good to get out of that habit of switching on your TV as soon as you get up in the morning! And even though temperatures went up to 35 C in the day, it was surprisingly cool at night, about 26 C. So just a fan was enough.

Anyway, back in Bangkok now to continue working on my diploma. It sure did me a world of good getting away for a bit, though.

Cheers,
Robert

Hot Season Flora - part two

Hi Bloggers,

It's around now, i.e. March and April, that all the trees flower too, making for quite a visual display. One of my favourites is the Golden Rain tree, which looks like it's literally dripping with gold (see pic). There is simply so much diversity in the tropics, and this is one of the things that makes it such a wonderful place to live in.










Anyway, I'm pleased to say I've managed to get five days holiday for myself, and I'm off down to Ko Samui, my favourite Thai island. It's become increasingly touristified over the years, but has still managed to retain a lot of its orinigal charm and beauty, in strong contrast to a place like Phuket, which is now so overcrowded and built up that you hardly feel you're on a tropical island at all. Will blog from there.

Cheers,
Robert

Hot Season Flora - part one

Hi Bloggers,

I've always taken a keen interest in tropical flora. In fact, it's one of the things I like about living in a country like Thailand. There are three main seasons here - hot, cool and rainy. We're currently moving into the hot phase, when the heat and humidity slowly build up to culminate in the rainy or monsoon season.

Interestingly, it's around now that most flora reproduce. It makes for quite a visual display, as not only are there all the seed formations, but also the magnificent and abundant plethora of tropical flowers. For part one, I'm just showing the seeds. Many trees have both male and female seeds, e.g. the palm tree. On my next blog, I'll show some of the flowers.

Hope you're enjoying the weather wherever you are!

Cheers,
Rob