Thailand- Ko Samui day two

Buckle up, this is going to be a long one! 

We start our day off with a leisurely breakfast and get ready for a long day with a private tour guide. John had agreed to go on an excursion so, last night, I review them and the customer reviews to ensure I was going to be booking a fun day for us both. Well.... It turns out that they all use these open air "Jeeps" (trucks with benches in the back along the sides of the beds & on top of the van). This I didn't find out until seeing them during our private tour. That was definitely a near miss! Can you imagine John riding in the back of a truck on a bench with several other people for six hours in the muggy hot Thailand climate? Or worse yet, on the top of the cab? The knowledge of this( that would have been received too late) is not what alerted me to a possibly catastrophic attitude. I was diligent enough to learn (through the reviews) that they have water gun fights between passengers on all the "jeeps" during the tour. I think John might have gotten off and gotten a taxi ride then and there. 🥴 

Instead, I booked a private tour through trip advisor for $150 for six hours, going anywhere we wanted on the island. No trucks with benches, no water guns, no groups of messy humans! Win win.

BTW... the bananas on ko Samui are larger than the ones on Krabi but smaller than the ones we traditionally enjoy at home.

Our driver shows up as scheduled at 10am to start our day of adventure. His SUV looks clean and comfortable. He speaks great English and is kind. This is going to be a great day! 

We start our by charting out a course around the island of everything we'd like to see. 

Our first stop is the Big Buddha. To be clear, I have had no interest in visiting Buddhist temples but our tour guide was insistent and I felt like it might be helpful in understanding the foundation for Buddhist worldviews. This had been a focus of the colson program and I've found it helpful for sure. 

This particular statue is said to be 51 years old. The Buddhist and some tourists purchase a bundle of three thin sticks of incense and one long slender candle. They then take them up to the shrine and burn them. Our driver told me they signify long life, health and off course the Buddha. Google says something different. What I found interesting is the consistency in numbers and symbolism throughout religions. I wonder whether God wove these into our fabric much as I believe He wove into us the desire to find Him. Is this why so many religions were created? From a blind and often misguided desire to find Him? BTW, the number seven also shows up in the story of Buddha.

This beautiful bell (and a smaller version that I find in a gift shop) remind me of a brass bell that mom had in our home growing up. I think she might still have it. It hangs in a dark/black intricately carved wooden stand. 

Next, we stop at a place that has three shrines to the different religious depictions of their god's. Buddha, Hinduism and the Chinese god. I find the fish the most interesting. We feed them fish food and they go CRAZY. I'll upload the videos when I get a chance.

I wonder how God must feel at the prospect of so many people (His children), praying to peices of metal and indicately carved wood. Disappointed and heart broken would be my guess. I googled what Buddhist believe about the creation of man... It doesn't appear that they have an opinion of belief on the matter. That is at least according to Google.

Around the temple are square cases that hold the ashes of people long past. The picture above shows some of these. And more in the photo below. 

On our next stop, we go to a spot called -the Hin Ta & Hin Rai. The grandmother and grandfather rocks. I had no idea why they called them that until I saw. 😬 Grandfather rock looks like a penis and grandmother rock, well ... can't be explained without blushing. You are welcome to Google videos- photos won't do.

I was happy to experience the world best coconut ice cream there served by a local street vendor straight out of a coconut shell with fresh young coconut meat. Something so divine, you have to experience it first hand to understand the solendor! 

My hunger can no longer be put off. We stop for lunch at a cute beach side restaurant along the road to our next stop.

I try the local green papaya salad the or driver recommends. It's ok🤔. That may be skewed by my currently sensitive stomach. It has been a few days now that I've been struggling with eating much. I'm hungry but can't seem to want to actually eat much. 

Guess what this is below... 

Do you give up?

It's an unripe passion fruit! Looks like an apple, huh?

Next stop is an elephant veterinarian? I had no plans of going to an elephant sanctuary here as I've had no time to research and ensure that we would be supporting an ethical one. Our driver ensure us that this one is unique and worth the visit as it's actual the vet that is called when anyone on the island has a sick elephant. We arrive and it's the opposite of the one we visited previously. The elephants do seem pretty happy though. We arrive to several young girls ready to tell us all about their sanctuary through a video and personal presentation. We are then asked to make a donation for the option to spend some time with their two elephants. We opt to give them the smallest donation until we see what it's about. We also don't choose to give them baths, etc. We slice up a few bananas and get some watermelon ready. 

We then walk to the mud hole and give them some snacks. They seem happy and don't have any trainers sticking to their sides like the last place. 🤔

They get hosed down with water which would make anyone happy in this heat. We then travel to a different area and they freely follow. We give then more snacks and see them crack open and eat whole tree trucks of palm? Not sure what it was.

When we ran out of snacks,  they simply wandered off on their own into the brush and trees with no one following. They were very old rescued elephants. One was 53, the other was 72 years old. They seemed very sweet and content. When we got back we got another presentation from someone that stated that she was the veterinarian at the operation. She had a stethoscope around her neck which immediately looked staged.  She did speak very passionately about the rescue and about elephants in general. So much so that the guy had to cut her off as her passion towards elephants was borderline aggressive. Overall, we felt that the elephants were happy and lived in relative freedom. They weren't forced to carry people on their backs and seemed to eat very well. We ended up giving them a donation of $1000 BHT on our way out which seemed to excite the grandma of the operation beyond measure. The grandma's never seem to hold back their appreciation as the younger people try to look dignified and unneeding. Overall, we felt that we were supporting either a true elephant rescue or a very nice family that loved elephants and are simply trying to make a living. Either option was a plus!

Next, we went to the secret garden which proved to be the most beautiful, greenest and surprising visit of day. It was like a hidden pocket of treasures! Green moss covered everything, giving you the feeling of being in a water color painting.

My photos don't give this place near the appreciation that they are due. I recommend googling photos online. I'll upload what I have when I have time. So many more photos! 

Thailand is truly magical!

Next, we go to the waterfall!

Families are swimming in the lake at the base of the waterfall. Our guide tells us that locals and tourists both enjoy this area. The crowds verify this! 

The vines that hang from the yes are so strong, you can literally swing from them. In my case, I simply sit on them😸.

 John is getting tired and wants to go home😥-or at least back to the resort. I tell him that I NEED to make one more stop at the beach. He feels that we have a perfectly good beach back at the resort, which we do, but this is on my list and I can't be swayed. 

We stop at the most beautiful beach that had coral all over it. The snorkeling is supposed to be amazing but we are both tired and getting back is starting to sound nice. 

We take a long stroll on the beach. John holds my hand and I am reminded of the years that have passed and how truly blessed we are.

We get back to the room and see a text from Aurora. Not thinking about the time, we call. I am gently reminded to relax and enjoy our time instead of trying to pack so much into it. So. ..I decide to download a Kindle book that is purely for enjoyment ( that isn't free- I know, shocker, right?). I start reading after dinner and can't put it down.  I sit near the ocean, reading a story of love and heartbreak, I hear the kids screaming in the water as they are being pulled behind jet skis on a banana boat. The sounds remind me of summer time in Washington on the water. I am reminded of why we live on that area in the summer and further convinced to enjoy the water and recreation more this year. I have what feels like an entirely selfish and indulgent evening of simply reading a good book. I forgot how much I truly love this! I force myself to bed at 10-ish. 

* I got up, head to the pool and couldn't stop reading until I finished that book before lunch! It was a tear jerker, full of sadness, broken hearts and God's promise of redemption. I highly recommend it. The book of call called, "When the crickets cry".

It reminded me of something that's been rolling through my mind. As I further my relationship with God, I think more on our time here and what Hell is. It is, I believe, a place one could end up. I also believe it's also a place that you live before you get there... here on earth. It' a place that simply has the absence of God. It's a place of desolation and the absence of love. Where people put themselves willingly and keep themselves out of self punishment and loathing. God wants us with Him, even while we are here. This, to me is Heaven on earth. When we can live, loved, forgiven and at peace, knowing that God is in control and will work everything to our good for simply asking it of Him!