Today was our second and last full day in Ko Samui. Since we did the beach thing yesterday, Tang and I decided to hike up to Na Mueng waterfall on the southern part of the island.
First, to get there, involved hailing a songtaew, which is an alternate mode of transportation you find in Thailand. Songtaew means "two rows", and it refers to the two rows of seats in the bed of a pick-up truck. These trucks drive around pre-planned (ish) routes like buses, and people flag them down to get where they need to go. Our trip took about 30 minutes from the hotel to the entrance of the park area.
Once to the park, we walked up some pretty steep roads to the waterfall area and then hiked through some jungle to the actual waterfall itself. This waterfall - Na Mueng - has a pool at its base that you can swim in, and it felt wonderful after a sweaty hike. We also grabbed lunch at a little restaurant next to the waterfall.
Back down at the park entrance, I got to feed an elephant some bananas! There are several elephants at the park entrance that are used by some adventure companies for treks through the jungle. While we didn't do an elephant ride, we were able to get close to one and feed him bananas. I know the trunk is like another appendage and all, but it was weird to watch the elephant pick up food with his nose and toss it in his mouth.
Finally, we came back to our hotel and rested, then went to dinner along the beach. Many restaurants do seafood specials at dinner where you can pick out your fish, shrimp, lobster, scallops, etc and get them cooked up barbecue style. Very yummy!
Back to Bangkok tomorrow!
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| View from the back of the songtaew |
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| Elephant! |
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| Coconut trees on the walk to the watefall |
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| Crossing a narrow bridge to the waterfall |
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| Taking a rest at the waterfall |
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| Na Mueng waterfall |
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| Swimming Pool |
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| At the waterfall |
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| Lunch - Clockwise from top left - som tum (green papaya salad), gai yang (Thai grilled chicken), larb (a spicy Isaan-style minced meat) and rice |
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| Feeding bananas to an elephant |
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| Dinner - tiger and king prawns |
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| Grilled barramundi |
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| kluay bod chi - bananas in coconut milk inside a coconut |
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