A Big Adventure

(this happened on) 24th December 2010 at Koh Samui, Thailand

Na Thon, Koh Samui

I woke up at 7:00am and had a shower and then woke Sofia up.

We had breakfast and then got a ticket to allocate us a tender to take us ashore to the pier at NaThon, Koh Samui.

Sofia did want to go to the butterfly farm but we were told it was a 40 minute drive taxi ride away so it was not really an option as we had just four hours ashore.

That is of course the downside to a cruise like this, you don’t get much time ashore. Sofia and I are treating more like a taster, to help us find places we would like to spend more time.

From the drop off at the pier, Sofia and I set  off to explore, we found some nice shops and after a couple of hours we were ready for some nice Thai Tom Young Soup, as we were looking to make our decision on where to eat we were looking at a place called Lucky Restaurant and we were greeted in a friendly fashion by a guy with a scouse accent. It turns out Steve and his Thai Wife, Nit run the place, so as well as Thai food we could have ordered the classic British Cornish Pasty.

They also had a nice tropical fruit drink, the food, drink and the company were all very enjoyable. So if you are in the NaThon area from the pier turn right and walk along the front and there you will find Lucky Restaurant.

After saying our goodbyes to Steve and Nit we headed out into more shopping streets. Sofia wanted a mani/pedi and I a foot scrub, we found a place and relaxed for an hour as we were looked after.

Sadly it was already time to head back to the tender. The first tender in managed to get a rope caught around the propellor and while that was being sorted out the queue of people grew from a handfull to a full on crowd as we all waited.

Eventually another tender turned up and it was goodbye Koh Samui, it was in honesty much to short a visit, but, it was enough to let us know we would like to go back and have a real holiday there.

Back on board the ship and Sofia and I had a cooling drink and a quick game of cards in the tivoli bar. Then, it was back to the room for a freshen up and rest.

At six we were in the restaurant having our pre-christmas dinner and very nice it was too, especially the wagyu beef, yummy.

I feel at this stage that I must praise the Costa Cruise Staff. They are to a Man (and Woman) courteous, hard working and always smiling. These staff from Italy (of course it’s an Italian ship) the Philippines (of course) and china, India and many other nations all work long hours without visibly flagging.

After dinner it was back to the bar and more drinks and cards, you know how we roll.

We enjoyed very much watching an older Italian couple who every night have floated around the dance floor, she is always in a different beautiful outfit, tonight, early evening she appeared in a long red and white christmassy number and later she turned up in a shorter red and white number and a christmas hat. I estimate her age at possibly 65 but her legs and body would shame many women of 30 years younger. They both seem so happy together and it makes Sofia and I smile. Many other admiring faces I am sure are watching them strut their stuff.

After a few hours of drinking, playing cards and people watching, Sofia headed back to our room and I headed to the Casino.

I did OK winning at roulette and then losing half my winnings at blackjack, eventually walking away with some 15 euros proit, then back to the room where Sofia and I exchanged Christmas Prezzies.