We did our obligatory raiding of the breakfast buffet in order to sustain us for the maximum amount of time possible. We decided to take advantage of our rental car and experience some culture outside the Conrad. Our first stop was Wat Phra Chedi Laem So, a small Buddhist temple and pagoda on the coastline. It’s not a major stop on the tourist trail, and we were basically the only visitors when we arrived.
I simply saw the spot on Google maps, thought it looked interesting, and decided to check it out. Its location on the beach is also an added bonus. Beyond those details, I couldn’t tell you anything historical or factual about it other than it looked cool. It was relatively sunny at the time of our arrival, though we knew that time could be fleeting.
Next up was the Guan Yu Shrine. Again, didn’t know much about it other than it looked interesting. It was flanked strangely amongst some cafes and and other shops, which seemed a bit out of place. My limited amount of research (or by reading the English text on the front of the statue) yielded that Guan Yu was a Chinese general who was both a real historical figure, but also a sort of god-like myth wrapped up into one. He cuts a rather unfriendly looking figure either way, and clearly has not applied a judicious amount of sun block for this type of climate.
Next, we were simply trying to reach an area with some tourist shops. Incidentally the only cluster of them within reasonable driving distance was next to two famous rock formations on Koh Samui known as Hin Ta Hin Yai (Grandfather and Grandmother rocks). I had known about them ahead of time, but didn’t even think it was worth a stop. It was, however next to the shops, so we gave it a glance. There is nothing significant about the formations other than their passing resemblance to various bits of anatomy. Bricole, everyone’s favorite celebrity couple, are far too classy to be snickering about such things as others may have been.
Our final stop on our mini roadtrip was Tarnim Magic Garden. We had to climb up some rather steep roads during a strong downpour in a Toyota Yaris, which somehow managed to make it all the way to the top. When we parked, the rain stopped. But because it had just been raining a lot, there was no one else to be found. The garden itself was essentially an old man’s retirement project back in the 1970s. He wanted to create a nice peaceful garden space with statues and small houses for traveling monks should they pass by. Despite being of relatively recent construction, the rain and humid climate of Koh Samui have made the statues look like something from centuries earlier.
The pathway around the garden wound its way on two sides of a stream and proved to be a nice diversion from the motorbike chaos on the roads down the hill. It took us just under thirty minutes to get back to the Conrad where we had some snacks outside before spending the rest of the afternoon in or around our shockingly large pool. I swam some laps to deal with an old basketball inquiry I sustained while in Brunei.
The Conrad certainly has a nice room, but it was good to get out of it today. The difference in prices within the Conrad and without is staggering. Last night, I went to an ATM to take out 1200 baht or the equivalent of about $30. With that $30, we bought two dinner entrees, three Thai beers, numerous snacks, paid for our laundry service, paid for parking at the rocks, bought some souvenirs, paid for two tickets to the gardens, and I still have about half of that money left. That wouldn’t even get you a pizza at the Conrad.
At Conrads, you are paying for an “experience,” but that experience doesn’t come cheap. As Nicole swam back and forth in our room’s shockingly large infinity pool, I said the vista looked like something out of a Bonvoy ad like they play on United after you select a movie. She was quick to point out that, Bonvoy is Marriott’s competing rewards program, and should not so readily be confused with Hilton Honors. As a diamond member, this is something she is obligated to say.
We had dinner back at Azure, a Mediterranean-themed restaurant within the Conrad. We split a sparkling water and a pizza. We are doing our best to foil the Conrad’s efforts to extort all of our money. We do wonder, however, where everyone else is eating. We were the only ones at the restaurant. There are other restaurants, and it is possible that people just eat later, but we did find it a bit odd. As I told Nicole, I don’t think there’s a lot of crossover between people who stay at Conrads and people who eat at a place like we did last night.
After dinner, we went for a walk along the base of the Conrad paralleling the beach. There were numerous lanterns lit up and it looked quite nice at night. We were the only people present except for a couple who evidently paid money to stoke their own fire pit near the beach. Today is effectively our last day of “vacation.” The next couple of days will involve at least two flights, maybe three, hopefully not four. We are bound for Hong Kong as we reasoned that it’s a big airport and we can go a lot of different places depending on loads etc.
We shall now slowly be working our way east and north back to Los Angeles. We will have to check out fairly early tomorrow, but not before hitting up the expansive breakfast which is included thanks to Nicole’s status. She’s a diamond member you know.
passports & pepto bismol 