Koh Samui Wet Trip: 06 Kuala Lumpur

"I'm not tired of challenges. I’m tired of people challenging me for nothing...” — Ces Peta

(Lunch at Ida Mee Udang, Sungai Dua) 

Day 06: Friday, 29 September 2023

Route: Hat Yai - KL

Distance: 530 km

We walked to Restoran Maliam for roti telur and nasi lemak breakfast. Earlier we planned to stay a night in Pattani and exit Thailand via Sungai Kolok. We will cross the border today instead to avoid the crowd and the traffic jam tomorrow when everyone will be heading out at the same time.

(Roti telur for breakfast)

(Driving out of Hatyai on a cloudy day)

By 8.30 am we checked out and headed to the border. Stopped at Danok to buy some tidbits to bring home. There was no crowd at the border. The clearance process was smooth on both sides. Paid B30 at the Thai immigration counter.

(A brief stop in Danok)

(Fast and efficient border clearance)

Refuelled at Petronas Changlun then drove on PLUS highway towards south. Stopped at Ida Mee Udang Restoran at Sungai Dua for lunch. We ordered Mee Goreng Udang and Nasi Goreng Ketam. Both dishes were tasty.

(The viral Mee Udang restaurant)

(Tasty lunch for hungry tummies)

It was raining dogs and cats àlong the way. We made a stop at Taiping Hentian Sebelah for Zohor/Asar prayers. We performed our Magrib/Isya solat at Ulu Bernam R&R and had Mee Kari for dinner.

(The surau at Hentian Sebelah Taiping)

(Rainy and misty day)

(Delicious mee kari and Ulu Bernam R&R)

From Ulu Bernam we drove direct and reached our Bidara house around 9.30 pm.

Alhamdulillah...

(Home sweet home)

Koh Samui Wet Trip: 05 Hatyai👉👉

Koh Samui Wet Trip: 05 Hatyai

"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing...” - Albert Einstein

(Koh Samui beautiful beach)

Day 05: Thursday, 28 September 2023

Route: Koh Samui - Donsak - Hat Yai

Distance: 314 km

Hotel: China Garden Hotel, Hatyai

We had buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant.

(A heavy breakfast before a long-haul journey)

(Ready to check-out)

Checked out and drove towards Raja Ferry Terminal taking another route different from the way we came. Our tickets were already pre-booked for the 11.00 am ferry. We arrived early just in time to board the ferry. The ferry was punctual on the dot.

(Taking another route to the pier)

(Arrived at the pier just in time)

(Waiting area and the restaurant)

(Time for embarkation)

(The ferry was quite empty)

Arrived at Donsak terminal almost at 1.00 pm. We drove to Restoran Ameena Halal Food in Donsak for lunch. It was a very hot humid afternoon. We were sweating profusely while having our meal.

(Ready for disembarkation)

(Driving out of Donsak Raja Ferry Terminal)

(A good lunch at Ameena Halal Food)

Drove towards Nakhon Si Thammarat to look for a mosque to perform our solat as we may reach Hatyai late in the evening. Stopped for prayers at Masjid Nurul Syuhud, a small mosque along the Nakhon Si Thammarat bypass road.

(The mosque signage hidden behind the bushes)

(An airy small mosque)

We made a few stops for refuelling and comfort breaks along the way before we reached Hatyai around 7.30 pm. It was a long Maulidur Rasul weekend break and most popular hotels were fully booked. We managed to book online the China Garden Hotel for a night. We were lucky we booked earlier as there were busloads of Malaysian tourists staying here too.

(A short distance to Lee Gardens Night Market) 

After we checked in, we took a tuk-tuk to Asean Night Market. Initially we planned to have dinner at the food court but there was a large crowd of tourists at the night market. Even the food court was extremely overcrowded. There were long queue at the food stalls and there were no sitting place available. Bought a few t-shirts and took a tuk-tuk back to Lee Gardens Night Market.

(A brief visit to the night bazaar)

Malaysian crowds were everywhere. Even leisure walking was made difficult. I am not an enochlophobia but crowds give me anxiety. To avoid the crowd we decided to look for dinner elsewhere. We were lucky that Restoran Maliam, located very near our hotel was still opened. We had light dinner of roti telur and roti pisang.

(Roti telur for dinner at Restoran Maliam)

👈👈Koh Samui Wet Trip: 06 K Lumpur

Koh Samui Wet Trip: 04 Koh Samui👉👉

Koh Samui Wet Trip: 04 Koh Samui

 "Truth is like a surgery. It hurts but it heals. A lie is like a painkiller. It gives instant relief but has side effect forever..."

(Lad Koh Viewpoint, Koh Samui)

Day 04: Wednesday, 27 September 2023
Koh Samui Free and Easy
Hotel: Samui Verticolor Chaweng Beach

Had a heavy buffet breakfast at the hotel restaurant. Today we planned to visit a few of Koh Samui tourist attractions, most of which we had visited before.

(Halal food served at the hotel restaurant)

(Ready to explore Koh Samui)

The first on our list was the Big Buddha Temple. The temple sits on Koh Phan, a small rocky island off Koh Samui's northeastern corner. Known locally as Wat Phra Yai, its golden 12-metre-tall buddha statue sits in the Mara posture, with the upward-facing palm of the left hand resting on the lap and the right hand facing down. There are many souvenir shops and eateries around the temple to cater for visitors.

(The Wat Phra Yai on Koh San island)

(Steep steps to the top)

(A reclining Buddha at the foot of the hill)

(The rustic predator and Samui map)

(A brief description of the Big Buddha Temple)

From the Big Buddha Temple we drove on highway 4169 to the Lad Koh viewpoint for some photo shots. There is a steep stairs leading to the Tessellated beach. We only took pictures from the top as it would be too strenuous for our knees to climb down to the beach.

(Lad Koh Viewpoint)

(A steep staircase to the rocky beach)

(A more gentle walkway to the beach)

(The tessellated rocky beach from the top)

We passed Lamai Beach and missed visiting the the Hin Ta and Hin Yai famously known as Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks. This is among the most popular attractions on Koh Samui. Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks are just simple granite rock formations. The reason why they are so famous is because the rocks resemble male and female genitalia... ha ha...

(The beautiful white sand Lamai Beach)

(A peaceful picnic area at one corner) 

Next attraction was the Guan Yu Shrine , located at Hua Thanon area nearby Lamai Beach. Here, there is a big impressive statue of Guan Yu in armour suit standing at 16 meters height which is the biggest bronze statue of Guan Yu in Thailand. In the Qing dynasty, Guan Yu was widely regarded as a “Holy Deity”. Nowadays, Guan Yu is still worshiped by many Chinese Buddhists, Confucianists, and Taoists around the world.

(Worshiped by Buddhist,Confucianist and Taoists)

(The imposing statue of Guan Yu)

(Many eateries and souvenir shops)

Our next destination was to Koh Samui Central mosque, also known as Masjid Nurul-Ihsan. This photogenic green and gold, domed mosque, built in 1984 is in Mughal style. The mosque sits in the heart of Ko Samui's historic Muslim village. The main prayer hall is carpeted. There is a wide, pastel green mehrab. Two Corinthian-style pillars and Arabic inscriptions decorate the mehrab where there is a beautiful carved dark wood mimbar. We were invited by the locals to join them in celebrating the Maulidur Rasul tomorrow. Unfortunately we had to board the 11.00 am ferry and had to be at the pier an hour earlier.

(Koh Samui Central Mosque)

(Masjid Nurul-Ihsan)

Today's lunch was again at Faria Halal restaurant. Other halal restaurants in Chaweng were either closed or not as tempting. The afternoon was spent napping and resting in the hotel room. 

(Lunch at Faria Halal Restaurant)

At night we had an hour of therapeutic thai massage to release tensed muscles. After, we had banana cashew nuts crepes and ice-blended smoothies for dinner at one of the boutique bistros along Chaweng main road.

(Fly me to the moon at Chaweng Beach)

(An hour of Thai body massage)

(Crepes and iced blended fruit juice for dinner)

👈👈Koh Samui Wet Trip: 05 Hatyai

Koh Samui Wet Trip: 03 Koh Samui👉👉