March 15, 2016 – Ko Samui, Thailand

Upon leaving Singapore, we completed Segment 3 of the World Cruise and started heading northbound on Segment 4 (Singapore to Shanghai), leaving the Southern Hemisphere behind. This is the halfway point for the 102-day adventure. We were told that 400 new passengers boarded the ship in Singapore, but we don’t know how many disembarked; it must have been a similar number. 

Yesterday evening (Monday, March 14), we went to Prego and shared dinner with our friend Frank Main who is a nearby neighbor at Shell Point in Ft. Myers. We run across him occasionally on the ship but had not had a chance to talk at length until last night. This is Frank’s seventh consecutive World Cruise on this ship, and he has a circle of friends on board that he met on past cruises. He’s been enjoying the cruise and has been getting some sun, as he spends a lot of time exercising in the pool every day.

Today we anchored offshore of Ko Samui, an island off Thailand’s east coast (see the map below). This is Thailand’s second largest island, Phuket (on the west coast) being the largest. We signed up for a shore excursion titled, Ko Samui Kaleidoscope. Ginny has come down with a head cold and didn’t feel up to the tender ride from ship to shore and the 5½-hour tour; so she canceled out. Jim went ashore without her and was very glad he did, as it was a great tour – circling this scenic island on its only paved road and experiencing the rural settings.

Interestingly, there are no buses on the island of Ko Samui. Our excellent guide, Sally, told us that they had been planning for our ship’s visit for the past three months, and the buses we rode today were all shipped here by ferry boat from the mainland of Thailand for our use. There are many beach resorts on this island, as Ko Samui is fast-becoming a playground for the youthful set. However, these visitors don’t take bus tours, as beaches are the big draw for these people. Sally told us that the population of Ko Samui is 50,000, but they have more than 1 million international visitors per year.

Here are some more interesting facts from our guide: 80% of the people are Buddhist; there are two seasons – hot and very hot (they dream of visiting the U.S. in winter and touching snow); family pets on the island are monkeys and water buffalos. Their local attitude is “never mind.” For example, there are five traffic signals on the island, but none of them work. The favorite form of transportation is motorbikes. With one motorbike, she claims you can carry your whole family. They produce no food on the island (other than coconuts); everything else must be imported. If Ko Samui people want to visit Bangkok, they must first take a ferry boat to the mainland (2 hours). Once there, they can take a train (which is never on time) or it’s a 12-hour drive -- there is air service, but it’s too expensive for them

The Kaleidoscope tour began by riding to an elephant show at Island Safari. We were each given a coconut and a straw for our welcome drink. Then the elephants did various tricks, including hula hoops, basketball, and an unusual elephant version of a Thai massage for several of our brave (foolhardy) fellow guests. 

As suggested by our guide, after the show Jim fed his coconut to one of the elephants, who seemed to enjoy crushing it and eating the fruit inside.

After that, we drove to see Wat Phra Yai -- a very large golden Buddha statue located on a small island connected to Ko Samui by a long, dirt causeway. The statue is nicknamed “Big Buddha.” This is a meditation center, not a temple, but we still needed to remove our shoes before climbing the 75 steps to get a closer view of the statue itself and the pretty views from the top. Those who didn’t climb to the top had loads of shopping opportunities at the base of the stairs.

Next on our around-the-island Kaleidoscope tour was a remarkable complex called Wat Plai Laem, which is a living and active temple, where local Buddhists and visitors come daily to pay homage to Guanyin and the Buddha, After we removed our shoes, hats, and sun-glasses, Sally brought us into the prayer room, where she explained how Buddhists pray to the Buddha for guidance.

Outside the temple, within the extensive grounds, were many statues, shrines, and elaborately decorated buildings.

The largest statue is of Guanyin, the goddess of compassion & mercy. This is a towering white structure in Chinese style set in the center of the temple grounds As you can see in the photo, the goddess has 18 arms that fan out from her lap to above her head. Her many arms apparently represent her ability to reach out and provide help across the world. Jim understood that she is also thought of as a fertility goddess; many who come here pray for her help in bearing healthy children.

Also on the grounds is the Fat Chinese Happy Buddha. As Jim understood it, within the Chinese culture, a fat Buddha represents wealth and prosperity. The statue is also very tall, about 100 feet high.

Next on the tour, we rode to the Nora Beach Resort & Spa, a pleasant facility with low-rise buildings made of native woods, perched along the beach. We entered the reception area and walked down a lengthy hill to the beach, passing individual guest bungalows – all of which had picturesque views. One interesting note, they all seemed to have outdoor showers (behind walls, for privacy). We enjoyed an excellent buffet lunch with a large number of Thai or Western options, while we overlooked the swim pool and beach. This is a very nice hotel on the eastern (touristy) side of the island called Chaweng Beach.

Lastly, we greatly enjoyed a short visit to a small coconut plantation to watch a demonstration of how well-trained monkeys are used to collect coconuts for their masters. Ko Samui is known as the Coconut Island, because it’s biggest crop is coconuts. We were told that three million coconuts per month are shipped from Ko Samui to Bangkok. Sally told us that only boy monkeys are used to collect coconuts. Each family on Ko Samui is allowed to own one monkey, which must be registered with the local government. The monkey goes to school for six months to learn how to climb the trees and loosen the coconuts so they fall to the ground.

Ko Samui was a very good port stop. We encountered happy, smiling people, clean and functional villages, popular white sand beaches, and colorful, fascinating Buddhist temples.

The good life continues aboard Crystal Serenity. Nightly entertainment has been wonderful. Especially good was Jon Courtenay – an excellent pianist with a unique comedy style. We really enjoyed his show, with great songs and almost nonstop laughter. Appearing on a different night were the MacDonald Brothers – musicians from Scotland who played contemporary songs as well as Scottish standards. We have seen these brothers perform aboard ship in the past.

Of course, every night there’s informal venues with music all over the ship. The Astoria Strings Quartet and Glenn Amer (piano) alternate appearances throughout the night, from 5:15 pm to Midnight. In the Palm Court, the Crystal Sextet plays for dancing from 5:15 pm until 12:30 am. In the Avenue Saloon, Steve Doyle plays piano and sings from 7:45 pm – 8:30 pm and 9:30 pm – 1:00 am. In the Pulse Nightclub, there’s Karaoke from 10:00 pm – Midnight and a DJ spinning the latest hits from Midnight until “late.” At the Hollywood Theater, there are movies generally at 8:00 pm and 10:30 pm. When not in port, the casino operates until 2:00 am. That gives us lots of choices, but we’re almost always in bed and asleep by 10:00 pm.

Jim & Ginny