Birds of Southern Thailand

While visiting the Big Buddha temple on Koh Samui, I saw a small tortoiseshell cat gazing intently at something. I stopped to watch for a few minutes and soon my patience was rewarded. Just above her in the foliage was this pigeon. I think it might be a little green pigeon, though am unsure as there are lots of similar pigeons, short billed, wedge tailed, white bellied etc. If I had not noticed the cat, I would have missed this guy. Goes to show that taking time out sometimes has its rewards. We do forget to slow down and look around us sometimes.

Bird life in Southern Thailand is abundant and as many Thai people keep caged birds often I have seen the birds this way rather than in the wild. That said, those kept in cages often seem to correlate to those found naturally in that region. We also saw white rumped shama in cages and also a few hill mynahs. These large black birds have amazing bright yellow wattles on their heads and are easy to teach to speak. As for having birds in cages, it is not my thing, but each to their own. 4.2.2013

Phalauy Seafood

Lunch was pretty amazing. We were taken by boat to a genuine fishing village on an island.

We selected our fish and seafood from the mornings catch, negotiated the price and how it was to be cooked, then walked through the village while our lunch was cooked. We saw, real fishermans huts, a pet monkey, pet tortoises, a couple of birds that I haven't yet seen since being in Thailand and got to try Jack Fruit for the first time. All before lunch!

The meal cooked for us was great. We were served a Thai style soup to start, then we had our grilled seafood and fish.

Yum yum. Funny how good food (or an elephant) can bring a smile to my face! 4.2.2013

Monkey Island

Next island stop was "monkey" island within the Angthong Reserve.

This island is set up for paragliding, catamaran hire and camping, however if you are very lucky you might also see Thai monkeys in the wild. A nice change from the macaques chained up at the monkey show, or the tiny gibbon baby we saw in Chaweng. The scam there being to pay to have your photo taken with the sweet little baby. Ethical issue for me being that the baby was probably no more than six weeks old and should still have been with mum, not hanging off some tourist! Anyway, we didn't see any monkeys, however did see beautiful black butterflies with white detail, and red flashing from under their wings. So, even though I took a dive getting from the boat to the beach, the injury I sustained was worth it.

I had to get cleaned up at the camp site first aid hut and had to sign my name in the First Aid book. Not everyone gets to do that! 4.2.2013

Lake Island

We stopped at one island known for its interior lake. The challenge is the "staircase" you have to climb to access the top of the island to look down into a view the lake. I use the term staircase loosely. Ladder might be more appropriate. It was extremely steep, with rungs being a better description than steps. You even descended backwards as you would a ladder.

The lake looked amazing, but it is inaccessible, so you expend the effort to look only.

If you want to swim, you paddle at the ocean edge, navigating the tourists who arrive from larger boats via smaller traditional Thai longboats, packed to the gunnels with tourists. I was ever so thankful to have just the crew, Frank and I on our boat. Tourist pack mentality seems to ensure the loss of manners, which I find hard to tolerate.

4.1.2013

Marine Reserve

It is an incredible thing to swim with, and hand feed, fishes. This was just one of the highlights of our day. We took the opportunity to explore the Marine Reserve off Koh Samui so hired a boat for the day. Daeng, our local guide put us onto the Captain, who is a mate of his brothers. Given Daeng's brother manages a dive company, a good contact to have. The boat is available for diving tours or day trips. With 42 islands in the reserve, 17 of them are considered large. Many of them you visit for a specific purpose, like to snorkel or kayak. So, first stop for us this morning was within the cove of the best island for snorkelling. Hence the opportunity to feed the fishes. Daeng had very kindly stopped to get some bread on his way to pick us up, and it turned out to be the perfect thing to attract the fishes.

Using a mask and snorkel even I was able to see the fishes as they came right up to you, literally bumping into you in the frenzy to eat. Two main varieties were there in numbers, one a striped variety, the other a little less common was a spotted species. Not knowing my Thai fishes I am unable to identify the species at this stage. We did however have lots of fun and I am determined to try snorkelling again at some stage. 4.2.2013

Chaweng

Immediately you arrive in Koh Samui, the vibe is different and there are more tourists. I should have expected this, but am surprised still. Especially by the amount of tourists and their daredevil antics on motorbikes. At least the locals know what they are doing when they stack loads, extra people or children onto the motorbike with them. Unfortunately one gets the feeling that these idiots have never sat on a bike before let alone been let loose riding one. Many adopt the local custom of not wearing a helmet. Disaster waiting to happen.

We went to Chaweng to explore and have a look around. This action zone runs either side of the road for a kilometre or so. Many variations of the same restaurants, bars, massage places, cheap t-shirts, souvenirs and imports, including of course the obligatory fakes. You can buy Havianas, Rolex or Chanel as cheap as you like. I was interested to not that as we came through Koh Samui airport there was a sign warning that some European countries have stiff penalties for bringing fake designer goods in. Be warned. Actually Chaweng reminds me a little of Surfers Paradise. The place to be seen on the Gold Coast, but locals don't go there. Under the glitz and glamour it is a little tatty. Not my choice of destination, but you need to see it once, so we sat for a while with a cold beer in the famous "Bondi" Aussie Bar and watched the passing parade. Quite an eye opener. 2.2.2013