Day 4 - Safari!

We went on a 4wd safari island tour today. It was brilliant. We were going to get scooters and go around the island ourselves but every single person who we've told that we're doing that has said "Ooooh, it's dangerous, I don't recommend it" so we decided to just go on a tour. It ended up being really fun.

We were picked up from the hotel in a jeep (which we sat in the back of and simply had to hold on for dear life or we'd slip off the back) and headed over for an elephant show. This was good but I did feel sad for the elephants being tied up and working.

We headed from here to the Grandfather and Grandmother rocks - which are named due to their looking like private parts. Another silly photo opportunity! haha.. We had a little wander, took some piccies then headed on our way.

Next stop - a waterfall. It was really nice, we had a big of a jungle walk to get to it (I think I'm losing weight!) and then sat around while some people in the group had a swim. We also got to see some rubber trees and how they get the rubber. They have little buckets at the bottom and they cut into the tree so that the sap all drips down into the buckets. After about 3 hours the bucket fills up and then they mix it with water and let it dry on a tray, then put it through things that look like big pasta makers to roll the sheets flat and thin. A lot of effort I reckon.

After the waterfall it was off to the Magic Buddha Gardens... This was really sweet, a very magical place indeed. It was green and mossy with little waterfalls and old stone statues and building. Apparently its a place where people meditate and they can sleep in the little stone huts if they stay the night. I'm not sure if they still do this, it might just be more of a tourist attraction now.

We ate lunch at a restaurant at the top of the mountain, with amazing views out over the island and the bay. After lunch, off we went for some real 4 wheel driving. We were all holding on for dear life, hoping that we wouldn't crack our heads on the bars down the side of the jeep. We went around dirt roads along the mountain ranges - it was pretty darn cool!! We had a great time. I was glad that we didn't go on scooters, something bad would have happened for sure! hehe... (it would have been fun though)

We headed down to the Big Buddha. This was big and gold and you can see it from the top of the mountain ranges. The island is actually a bit bigger than I thought it was, and there's so many coconut trees here! Ko Samui is also nicknamed "Coconut Island" - very appropriate. There's approximately 2 million coconut trees here.

The final stop was the monkey show. We were going to go for an elephant ride but there was a mixup between the tour agency and the safari guide so we didn't go on but ended up getting our money back. We saw a monkey show which was pretty lame, he pulled some coconuts out of a tree (the thais put the monkeys to work here gathering coconuts) and shook our hand.

Back home and off to find a nice place for dinner - more Thai food - yay!! :-)