Sunday 16 December Ko Samui - Thailand

A bit later start today as we didn’t have to be ready until 7.30.  Today we had to use tender craft for a 20 minute ride into port before boarding our bus and heading to Wat Phrayai being home to the massive 39 foot Buddha.  On our drive there the skies opened and the rain teemed down.  The roads flooded and there was mud everywhere.  We pulled up at the Temple and the rain stopped.  How lucky.  We spent 50 minutes here.  You had to climb 70 stairs to reach the level the Buddha sat on.  Returning to ground level we looked through the stalls around the area.  

Back on the bus and off to Funny Days Safari.  We left the bus and went to the area to ride the elephants.  Before the elephants came over the rain started and it poured for probably 20 minutes.  We all had on rain ponchos so looked a treat.  The rain started to ease so we boarded our elephant.  

Normally it is a 30 minute ride through the jungle but the track was too muddy and the rain commenced again so we went out on the road and through a paddock before returning to our starting point.  We had to pass under the electricity wires which were so low our elephant driver had to lift them up with a stick so we would fit under them.  No health and safety here!  We all only had a 15 minute ride because of the weather.  

We then moved to the arena to sit on wet concrete steps for the elephant show.  They had a 2 year old and a 5 year old elephant performing tasks.  Dancing, stand up on their hind legs, then a hand stand, twirling a hula hop around their trunk, giving volunteers from the audience a massage with their trunks, kicking soccer balls.  It wasn’t bad although went on a little too long.  We then trudged through the mud and rain to another arena where a monkey came out and showed us how they are trained to pick coconuts.   We re-boarded the bus, all of us looking like drowned rats.  The trip back to the dock took 15 minutes longer due to the flooded roads.  I was watching a motorbike travelling in front of the bus and the water came up to the seat of the bike.  Our guide said it would take about 2 hours for the water to drain off the road.

Caught the tender craft back to the ship for a late lunch.  We got talking to the waitress.  She has a contract with the ship for 9 months.  She works everyday for the 9 months.  She has to do breakfast starting at either 5.30 or 6 am and finishing around 10.30 am.  Then she waitresses in one of the restaurants at night from 5.30 pm until they close.    She then has 3 months off before repeating it again.  She has done it for 7 years.   

Seeing we had such a late lunch we went to the show, an Australian singer Karen Beckett, before having dinner.