Ik ben Kelly
Ik ben een vrouw en woon in Antwerpen (België) en mijn beroep is Freelance HR Consultant.
Ik ben geboren op 22/06/1981 en ben nu dus 43 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: Bootcamp Pilates, Spinning, Bodypump, Bikram Yoga, travelling, cooking, reading.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained
Follow us on our trip around the world!
16-04-2011
4 days on Koh Samui
Hello everyone!
Our initial plan was to stay 1 week on Koh Samui so that Mr B could follow a diving course (which would be my present for his 30th birthday) but things didn't go as planned....When we arrived on Koh Samui, the weather was nice, it was a bit cloudly but apart from that, we had nothing to complain about. That was the first day...from day 2 until the day we left, it rained te ENTIRE time!! During the night it got really bad and the electricity shut down a few times so we didn't know what to do. We decided to do some sightseeing on day 2 and 3 (day 3 was Mr B's birthday) so instead of following the diving course (this wasn't an option because of the bad weather), we went for a massage, had a nice lunch and sat at Starbucks for a while before heading back to the hotel where we had dinner with Cat & Tom, the Australian couple and Chris & Emma, the British couple. I had ordered a surprise cake which was delicious and in the end, we had a great evening. Because it didn't stop raining, we decided to take the train back to Bangkok a few days earlier than planned.We went to a travel agency but apparently everyone was trying to leave Koh Samui so there were no seats available on the train for the next 5 days.... the only other option was to go by bus which would take us 5 hours longer and which was a lot more expensive. Since staying wasn't really an option, we decided to book the bustickets and we left on Sunday. The bus was supposed to pick us up at the hotel at 11 am but instead, it arrived at 12.45 because of the bad weather. It took us almost 2 hours to arrive at the Pier where we took the boat to Suratthani. When we arrived at Suratthani, another bus took us to a restaurant where we had to wait for 30 minutes (in the end, we waited for 1,5 hours...) then we took a tuk-tuk to another restaurant where we had to wait another half an hour until the bus to Bangkok finally arrived! We left Suratthani at 8 pm and we arrived in Bangkok at 5 am. The busride wasn't very comfortable because it rained inside so we didn't sleep at all and both of us were a bit cranky when we arrived in Bangkok We took a taxi to the hotel but we couldn't check in until 1 pm so we decided to leave the luggage in the hotel and go for breakfast at Subway. We stayed there until 7.30 am and then we went to the Indian Embassy to drop off our passports because if we left them there before 9 am, we would get our Indian Visa the same day. Afterwards we went back to the hotel where we stayed in the lobby (luckily that had wi-fi) so both of us used the computer until we could check in. When we got into our room, we took a shower and then went straight to bed because we were a 'little bit' tired We woke up a few hours later and decided to go out for dinner: McDonalds seemed like a good choice so that's where we went...it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either After dinner we went back to the Embassy to pick up our passports and our Indian Visa! When we arrived back in the hotel, we decided to book our tickets to Delhi so that we could leave on Wednesday. when this was done, we watched a movie and went back to bed. The next day we woke up at 11 am, had breakfast and then went out because I wanted to buy a Lonely Planet of India. We went to a few shops and finally ended up in a secondhand bookshop where I paid 5 euro for an almost new copy of 'The Bible' In the meantime, we had arranged to meet up with Fabrice and Vivi (a French couple we met on the bus on Koh Samui) so we went back to the hotel to take a shower and then off for dinner and drinks. We ended up in a Mexican restaurant and had a great night! The next day we had to leave the hotel at 1 pm so we checked out and decided to go for a massage. After the massage we took the MRT because we had arranged to meet Fabrice and Vivi again for coffee before we would go to the airport. At 4.30 pm we took the MRT to the airport and arrived there half an hour later. On the train we met Hanna, an American tourist who had sold all her belongings 6 months earlier and decided to go travelling We would be on the same plane to Delhi so we decided to stay together until we could board the flight. When we finally got on the plane, it wasn't fullybooked so all 3 of us took a seat at the end of the plane where it was a bit quieter than in the middle (India had just won a cricket game so everyone on the plane was a 'bit' excited ) We arrived in Delhi at 10.30 pm and a taxi was waiting to bring us to our hotel. It had been a long day so both of us were really tired and couldn't wait to get to bed...
What happened in Delhi will be posted in a few days.....
It`s time for an update of our 2nd stay in Bangkok! We arrived at our hotel around 9pm on the 18th of March. This time we booked a studio/apartment in a gorgeous new hotel near Sukhumvit soi 2. We had our own kitchen, a seperate bedroom and a large bathroom with a washingmachine and a dryer which came in handy because we needed to wash some of our clothes
On our first night we ordered roomservice because we were too lazy too go out, so we watched a movie and went to bed early. Next day we woke up at 9 am, had breakfast in the hotel and took a tuk-tuk to the trainstation where we had to book our traintickets to Koh Samui (Bart wanted to celebrate his 30th birthday on a sunny island;-) There were no traintickets left for the 20th of March so we booked tickets for the 21st and decided to stay 1 extra night at the hotel. The traintickets (+ bus and boat ticket) were 1900 baht for both of us, which is about 50 euro so very cheap The train would leave Bangkok at 7.30 pm and would arrive in Suratthani at 6.30 am where we had to take a bus to the pier and then the boat to Koh Samui. We knew that it was going to be a long trip but we were looking forward to it! We left the trainstation and wanted to take a tuk-tuk to the main shopping street so we negotiated a price with the driver but when we were on our way, he told us that he needed to get gasoline and that we had to look at 1 shop while he was busy (all the tuk-tuk drivers want to show you at least 1 shop....) I got really annoyed because it must have been the 15th driver of the day who wanted to show us `only 1 stop` so I told him that we would just get out of the tuk-tuk (without paying) and he agreed. We were not even halfway our destination but I didn`t want to take another tuk-tuk so we walked to the Siam centre (which must have been about 3km...) By the time we got there, I was thirsty so our first stop was Starbucks (you find them on almost every corner on Sukhumvit Road). We walked around in the big shoppingmalls for a while and then we decided to take the MRT (train) back to the hotel. There was a small shoppingcentre at the corner of the hotel and they had a supermarket were they sold cheap beer and winecoolers (wine mixed with fruit; verrry good!!) so we bought a few drinks, some crisps and some pineapple and then went back to the hotel. We wanted to go out for dinner but wanted to take a shower first and have a drink before heading out but by the time we were hungry, we were too lazy to go out so we ordered roomservice again On our 2nd day we decided to go to the Chatuchak market which is very famous because they sell EVERYTHING (from clothes to books to weapons and yes, even monkeys!) I wanted to buy a few books and that was the main reason we went there..... we walked around for 2 hours (the market is more than 6000 square meter) but we couldn`t find any books. We decided to go back to the trainstation and just before we arrived there, we saw a few bookshops on the other side of the street....I found a great book (in Dutch!) about all the countries in South Asia and only payed 2 euro for it so that was a good buy We took the train back to the hotel but got off 1 stop too early because we wanted to do some sightseeing. We arrived at the hotel at 7pm and decided to order pizza! They delivered right to our door so we didn`t complain On our 3rd day in Bangkok we went to the Indian Embassy to apply for a Visa (we didn`t do this while we were in Belgium but you cannot enter India without). We had to fill in a couple of papers, pay 130 euro for the both of us and then leave our passports there so that we could pick the Visa up 4 days later (together with our passports) but we could not leave our passports behind because we were going to Koh Samui so the only other option was to go back to Bangkok after our trip to Koh Samui, drop off our passports before 9 am and pick up the Visa on the same day after 5 pm... We went back to the hotel afterwards and enjoyed a few hours beside the pool. We were too lazy (again ) to go out so ordered roomservice (I think that we tried everything on the menu!) We had to check out at 1 pm the next day so we enjoyed a nice breakfast at the hotel, packed our bags so that we could leave them in the lockerroom and then went to the roof for a few relaxing hours beside the pool. It started raining at 3pm so we went downstairs and waited at the reception area until 5 pm and then took a taxi to the trainstation. Traffic was horrendous and it took us 1 hour to drive the 8km.....luckily we only had to pay 180 bath (4.5 euro). When we arrived at the trainstation we ate noodles in a small shop and then bought a few sausagerolls and bottles of water at a shop inside the trainstation. Then we got on the train, searched for our seats and got ready for the loooong trainride! About half an hour after arrival, someone asked us if we wanted to order dinner and because Bart is always hungry he ordered himself a meal and a big bottle of beer and I ordered a winecooler. The meal was not bad but then came the bill..... it was 190 baht for the beer (it cost 56baht in the supermarket) and the winecooler was 80 baht instead of 32 baht in the shop.... we were relieved that we didn`t order a 2nd drink because those prices were ridiculous! At 10 pm they came to make up the beds and everyone got a pillow and a blanket. The bed was actually quite comfortable and I slept from 11 pm until 6.30 am. It turned out we still had 2 hours to go because the train was delayed. When we finally arrived in Suratthani, we got on the bus and about an hour later we arrived at the pier where our boat was waiting. It wasa sloooow boat so it took us 1.5 hours to get to Koh Samui. When we arrived there, we took a big tuk-tuk to Chaweng Noi (it took us about 45 minutes) and there we called our hotel to pick us up (no taxi would drive to the hotel because it was in the middle of the jungle and you could only get there by 4x4). By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was 1 pm so 17.5 hours after we left Bangkok! We were a bit tired but the hotel was great and the view was magnificent! If anyone is planning a trip to Koh Samui, just book a hut at the Jungle Club. It is amazing!!! But don`t stay there too long because it is very difficult to get there (only the hotel jeep can pick you up) and there are no shops around the hotel so you are almost obliged to eat/drink there (which isn`t a punishment because the food is excellent)but it is 2 times as expensive as eating in Chaweng... We stayed at the Jungle Hut which is very basic (the shower has only cold water!!!)but it is also very romantic and suprisingly clean, I only saw 1 spider in the bathroom
Anyway, I should go now but I`ll tell you all about Koh Samui in a few days... watch this space!!
The train would leave Bangkok at 7.30 pm and would arrive in Suratthani at 6.30 am where we had to take a bus to the pier and then the boat to Koh Samui. We knew that it was going to be a long trip but we were looking forward to it!
