The Land of Smiles really does live up to its name.
When I travelled to Thailand 15 years ago with a friend it was a holiday we both still look back on fondly.
The whitewashed villas of the Banyan Tree Samui resort trickle down tropical jungle slopes to the infinity pool, with fabulous views over a private bay in Lamai. Its night market is hugely popular with locals and tourists alike. With a Chang beer in hand, we perused the rows of food stalls and picked up gyoza dumplings, tempura prawns, potato spirals and gui chai spinach dumplings, which our guide, Nikkie, recommended, then sat at a picnic table and savoured our food.
Colourful parrot fish munched on coral, giant wrasse poked their heads nervously out from under coral banks, while bright yellow and black striped angelfish swam around unfazed by us floundering humans above them. You can still choose to travel from the mainland, just visible in the distance, to Koh Samui on these brightly coloured crafts.
A delicious and indulgent experience. All too quickly our sojourn in Koh Samui was coming to an end but not before one last dip in my villa pool. Then it was onto Bangkok. I was so pleased we had our guide, Tim, to help us navigate some of the best stalls. We started with a bowl of crab with dragon noodles, mine in a broth, a super simple dish that was very tasty.
More tranquillity can be found at Poomjai Gardens, planted with more than 100 lychee trees, plus many more wonderful plants and the Natura cafe for lovely food and a peaceful retreat.
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