The Big Buddha and Banana Pancakes
Koh Samui, 25th March 2002
I phoned up 'High Sea Tours' yesterday to book a place on a cruise
tour around Ang Thong National Marine Park. This Marine Park is a
dense group of 41, lush, green islands all gathered in the tranquil,
deep blue Gulf of Thailand. There are loads of amazing sights,
beautiful beaches and untouched natural places.
They picked me up at my bungalow at 8am and we drove over to Na
Thon, from where the ferry would leave. I'd asked earlier if it was
ok to pay by Visa, and she said yes. But just in case, I'd taken
enough cash with me too.
When I was about to board the boat, I had to pay the owner. She said
I could not pay by Visa, I could only pay by cash. So I handed over
most of the money in my wallet. Then I was told I needed to pay the
200B National Park Entry Fee to another guy, but looking in my
wallet, I only had 120B left! Not my fault! I was told I could pay
by card! After she looked blankly around for a few minutes, I took
my money back, and said I'd have to get more cash and go tomorrow
instead. So I walked off leaving her sitting there bewildered with
one empty space on her cruise. Oh well, at least I got a free ride
into the capital, Na Thon.
I had a quick look around the town, but it's not a very interesting
place. It's dirty, grey, cramped and I soon decided to go elsewhere.
I decided to go to the 'Big Buddha' beach, where a very famous, huge
statue of Buddha sits, looking down over the beach. Note, that a lot
of ferries come into Na Thon, so if you come to Koh Samui here, you
won't get the amazing view of golden beaches that I got when I
arrived on the island further south.
Yeay! Sawngthaew ride! After a quick journey around the island, the
Sawngthaew drove right up next to the Big Buddha statue and dropped
me off. I wandered into the inner temple area and towards the
statue. A sign said 'Respectful clothing must be worn', and a rack
of shirts and trousers for hire sat, untouched. Looking around, I
saw a number of other tourists climbing the steps, and they were
wearing shorts and T-shirts like me, so I assumed what I wearing
must be ok. I took my shoes off and climbed up the steps. Wow, that
really is a BIG Buddha. It's a huge, very impressive statue. I can
see why it's such a tourist attraction. I've taken some photos to
put on the site later.
On the way down, I passed a stall manned by a monk in orange robes
where you could buy bricks for a 20B donation, then write your name
on the brick. These will then be used to build or pave something,
I'm not quite sure what though! I thought I might as well do it for
20B. So I scrawled my name on a small blue brick, and sat it with
the other ones.
The rest of the day was quite uneventful. I walked around for a bit,
taking in the atmosphere of the quiet beaches on Koh Samui. Then
when the sun came out at about 2pm, I headed straight to the beach
for some tanning and swimming. Well, what else can you do on a hot
day in Koh Samui!
One thing of interest though, was this mobile stall selling Thai
pancakes on the road to my bungalow. He made up a banana & coconut
pancake, right in front of me and he's obviously a pro! It's quite
entertaining watching him make it. He was then REALLY generous with
the filling and he wrapped it up then topped it with sugar and some
condensed-milk/cream/stuff. It was absolutely DELICIOUS! I highly
recommend it for anyone who comes here! What's even better, is that
tourists are generally discouraged from eating at road-side stalls
because of partially-cooked, contaminated or day-old foos. But with
the pancakes, he makes them up fresh, and unlike meat, it doesn't
matter if bananas are only partially cooked! Yummy! I've got to go
back again! A bargain at 25B (about 40p).
After that it was a quiet evening, just a bit of reading and
relaxing. I booked the tour of the marine park for tomorrow, again.
But this time on the phone she emphasised the price, the fact it was
cash only and that I needed to pay a 200B entrance fee. Well at
least they learnt from yesterday's experience!
Night night!
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