Noon Report:

• Location: N 09° 32.30′, E 099° 53.70′
• Speed: Anchored
• Course: Anchored
• Weather: Overcast
• Temperature: 26º C, 79º F
• Wind: ESE 18 knots, 21 mph

This morning we were anchored at the Thai island of Koh Samui – a stunningly beautiful jewel in the gulf of Thailand.
It was fun and interesting that local regulations specify that local tenders be used. So our lifeboats remained stowed and we got to sit on the top open air deck to take a photo of a passing tender.

You can also wave to the ship crew who help us get safely back and forth.

Cheryl was impressed by this sign in the tender. She wondered if the first Thai symbol is descriptive of the function.

Randy had an early morning excursion time so we slept in. (That’s cruise ship logic at its best.)
After a quick breakfast I packed up my “let’s go look at fish” gear and headed to the Theatre to wait for my excursion to be called.
After tendering to shore we loaded on small busses for the 20 minute ride to the boat dock. There we boarded speed boats for our Island Hopping adventure.

Our first stop was a beach at a neighboring island.

After a half-hour or so to enjoy the beach it was back on the boats and off to our snorkeling destination.
Here we tied up to a platform some distance from the beach and swam toward a rocky shoreline. Here are a few of the best shots from the day

Following a way-too-short 45 minutes of snorkeling it was back on the boats and off to lunch.
Lunch was served at a resort on a nearby island and it was an outstanding Thai buffet. The Massaman Curry was great and the Seafood Coconut Soup was the best ever!

The ride back to the dock was fast and choppy. They really turned on the speed and we were thoroughly banged and bounced. From the dock to the bus to the tender port and we were about 45 minutes late – well after “Back On Board” time. But the ship waited for us.

While I was off on my snorkeling adventure Cheryl went to the beach:

The beach tour required a 30 minute ride on the ferry (local) tender boats before we were were switched to 10 person RVs to drive us up over the mountain pass to the other side (facing the mainland) of the island to one of the resort beaches (which took another hour). The drive up was interesting but I would hate to be an electrician here as the wiring (as is the case all over Indonesia) is strung all over. I like how clean everything is – no trash lying about.

Koh Samui is Thailand’s 2nd largest island. The main religion in Thailand is Theravada Buddhism (not Mahayana Buddhism which is what China and Japan have) where the karma you accumulate during your life affects what you will be reborn as (good incentive to behave well toward others. Thais are very tolerant of gay people as they could have traits left over from being the opposite sex in their previous life). Thai people also believe in nature spirits and build “spirit houses” where they offer treats to the spirits – every home has a “spirit house” and most businesses have one out in front of their building.

At the beach they had “hawkers” selling massages, jewelry, food & drink, beach chairs & umbrellas, sarongs, beach towels, and one lady walking around with a pole from which dangled ostrich-like puppets bobbing and waving their wings as she walked along the beach.

The “red flag” was out-meaning the ocean was very rough with possible rip tides. I tried just wading along in the surf and just barely avoided getting knocked down with my cell phone while taking pictures of the waves. Strangely enough I couldn’t find any sea shells, however hundreds of cuttlefish “bones” were all over the beach. In the cuttlefish (who is actually a cousin to a squid), the cuttlebone is the internal “skeleton” and is filled with gasses that helps control its buoyancy in the water.) I also found a huge dead parrot fish on the beach -it’s vivid colors of blue, purple, pink and green were fading but you could still see the very pick-like teeth that it uses to tear chunks of coral off a reef. It chews up the coral for the coral polyps that it eats and poops out the granulized coral into the water where the ocean currents deposit it as a white coral beach.

When Randy got back to the ship, Cheryl was nowhere to be found. But it was 4:15 and the Port Talk on Singapore was scheduled for 4:30, so he figured that she was in the Theatre holding a seat for him. So he augured on down there.
She, on the other hand, wasn’t expecting his tour to be back yet and was up in the Wintergarden enjoying afternoon tea (with sandwiches and scones).

Eventually we met up back in the stateroom.
Having nothing else on the schedule, we threw in a load of laundry, filled out the required on-line Singapore Entry Forms, and started reviewing photos and videos.

Following dinner, there was no BBB because everyone was down in the Star Theatre for the Oscar Watching Party. Not being big Oscar Award fans we skipped that event and headed back to our stateroom to read, study, and set our clocks FORWARD an hour. This brings us into line with Singapore time (and makes us 12 hours ahead of Eastern Daylight Time).

So that’s our exciting, interesting, restful day 1 in Thailand.
We’ll be back in Thailand (on the Indian Ocean side) next week after visiting Singapore and Malaysia.

But for now we look forward to Singapore.

Pro Tip:

People looked a bit surprised when I started showing up at morning lectures with a travel mug of coffee. But as the cruise has continued I’ve begun to see more people breaking out their travel cups.
I wasn’t really sure how much use I’d get out of it, but it has been great at keeping the drink warm and there’s less spillage (and it holds more than the ship’s cups).
This travel mug will be part of my standard cruise packing list from now on.