Christmas Day With a Difference, Then Farewell To Ko Samet & Thailand

All good things come to an end.

Ko Samet Village 

I must admit though, that by the end of our ten days in Ko Samet, the mosquitoes were making a meal of me and in the last two or three days there, I was having to cover up big time. The bites on my legs and arms swelled up and I looked like I was being ravaged by a tropical skin disease. (After a month, the marks can still be seen on my skin). Presumably they craved my blood type.

local school 

we think they mean Gulf Seafood ... The green trucks are the main means of public transport on the island (taxis)

Port at Ko Samet - unloading mostly done by trolley and motor bike



Despite the hostile insect-life, I was sad to say good-bye to our tropical paradise. Centuries ago this island in the Gulf of Thailand, was an island frequented by pirates.


'It is believed that once upon a time, Ko Samet was the home of pirates and that until this very day there is still lost treasure buried somewhere on the island'. (Wikipedia)


It is very easy to imagine wooden sailing ships off-shore, the skull and cross-bones fluttering in the wind.

Christmas eve dinner on the beach

The white, coral sand. The sun. The nearness of a peaceful ocean. The fireworks and lights at night. The walk along the beach to choose which beach cafe to have a meal. Waking up to the sound of an island waking up. And sharing all this with family. All this I loved and now miss. The chances of us ever going back to Thailand are very slim indeed.

Our grandson loved the fireworks at night. The Japanese word for fireworks is hanabi - pronunced 'harna' 'bee' - sounds a little like 'honey bee'. It literally means 'fire flower'. Whenever the fireworks started up at night, two-year-old R. would look at them in awe, shouting, "Hanabi! Hanabi!'

Christmas Day on Ko Samet

We were now heading to Kyoto, Japan, where we would see the new year in. As it is winter in Japan, chances were high that we would be swapping silver sand for snow.