Hello everyone....Last time, Latte Pun Yen Yen took you to visit Samui Island and stayed at a chic resort like X2 Samui. Today, I will take you to travel around Samui Island. And let's find out how good is this island.

This is the first time to take a trip on this island. We read a guidebook, look at a GPS, and guess on directions. If there is something wrong on this, please accept our apologies and kindly give us a recommendation.^^

Today we travel with Air Asia airlines flight FD 3231 from Dong Muang Airport at 14.30 PM and arrive at Surat Thani Airport at 15.40 PM.

We arrive to Surat Thani Airport, claim our baggage and walk straight to the exit door. Then, we buy bus + ferry tickets from Pantip Travel company with a price of 350 baht / person.

We travel by bus around 1.5 hours if I remember it correctly. Please accept my apology if I am wrong. ^^

Finally, we are able to take a ferry around 18.00 PM.

In order to cross the sea to the island, we have to spend around 1.5 hours on a ferry, which is quite long. Therefore, we choose to sit in an open-air area of the ferry for breathing fresh air and seeing the blue sea.

However, it's coming to the evening time soon, so the sky is getting dark and it is going to rain too. We have to accept the fact that travelling to the sea and the islands during Monsoon season is difficult to predict the weather. Besides, we visit Samui Island in the middle of May.

We arrive to the island safely. Our relatives come to a pier to greet us and take us to get a rental car. Luckily, we already know somebody in this rental car company because normally they don't allow any Thai people to rent.

The rental price is only 1,000 baht per day with Toyota Avanza. We choose this model because we are going to travel with the whole family, also with children. After getting a car, we pay 500 baht for petrol...Then, we drive to Bophut Beach because today we are going to stay at Ibis Samui. ^^

We didn't take a picture of the car because we check-in to the hotel very late at night. So, we would like to compensate with pictures of this little kid while enjoying her time at Ibis hotel.

The building that we are staying is on the right hand side. It's just few steps from the lobby. Today, we choose to stay on the first floor.

There is a small door where we can walk from the back of the building to the grass lawn. The atmosphere is really serene with sylvan surroundings.

The atmosphere in the morning is really good. Let's take a walk around the hotel area and walk down to the beach.

There are many big trees along the pathway. It looks so green and natural.

The Ibis Samui Bophut Hotel is located on Bophut Beach. This beach is situated on the northern side of the island, next to Maenam Beach. The Bophut Beach is curved along the line of the Bophut Bay. It's suitable for relaxing because the beach area is quite tranquil.

At Ibis hotel, we only booked a room without breakfast. If we want breakfast to be included, we need to pay 250 baht / person.

Let's have a look at the room...We booked a connecting room, which has 2 rooms connected together by 1 door.

My room is a twin-bed room with a TV, a wardrobe and a safe box.

This is a bathroom, which is quite small like a typical Ibis style.

It's time to travel around the island....Before leaving the hotel, let's take a walk around the lobby for a while.

The lobby area is decorated with simple and modern style with colorful furniture.

If you want to use the Internet, there are some computer sets at the lobby for you to use, or you can request a wifi password at the reception to use on your own devices. Besides, the Internet connection is quite fast here.

It's time to find something delicious to eat. The restaurant that we choose for today is "Krua Chao Baan Restaurant". This restaurant is located along the main road (Thaweerat Pakdee Road) next to Sila Ngu Temple down to the south.

We don't really know how to reach to this restaurant, so we only use the GPS....LOL.

This restaurant is located on Lamai Beach. The sea has small currents and it makes me really want to swim....

Seeing a hammock that has been tied between 2 coconut trees next to the beach makes me feel like we are on the real Samui Island. Imagine that there are many coconut trees with hammocks, where we can lie down and relax... It's right here....

If you like local southern food, don't forget to visit this restaurant. It has been opened for years and the food has a taste of authentic Samui cuisine, which is quite spicy and tasty.

Let me combine all pictures to be just a single picture because I took these pictures with my mobile phone, so the pictures are not high quality.

We order many dishes an we can't eat them all...LOL.

Krua Chao Baan's omelette, spicy and sour soup with sea bass and coconut palm tip, clear soup with mince pork and seaweed, fried sea bass with fish sauce, papaya salad with blue crab, steamed fish with curry paste, yellow curry with sea flower (Hed Loub), fried shrimp patty with salted egg.

The most delicious dish is "Krua Chao Baan's omelette. It looks like round cake, which you need to use a knife to cut out a piece of triangle. It's very delicious beyond any descriptions.

The business hour of this restaurant is 10.00 AM - 22.00 PM. When we arrived to this restaurant, it was just opened and we are the first customer for them....It's like this restaurant is our private place....LOL.

We don't forget to visit and worship sacred items of Samui Island for our auspiciousness and comfort.

The Laem Sor Pagoda was built by the intention of Luang Por Daeng, a monk that many of Samui islanders highly respect. He passed away because of a shipwreck in 1976. The pagoda is decorated with golden tiles. Moreover, there are the Buddha's relics inside the pagoda.

The Laem Sor Pagoda is located next to the sea between Taling Ngam and Na Mueang sub-district.

A wax model of Luang Por Daeng.

Today, the sky is very clear and blue with sunshine.

We're going to worship Luang Por Daeng at Khunaram Temple where the mummified body of Luang Por Daeng is placed. Luang Por Daeng is a Thai Buddhist monk who passed away while meditating in 1973.

After he passed away for decades, his corpse is still incorruptible and his mummified body is on display at Khunaram Temple till now.

His corpse is still incorruptible and remains in a meditation posture, which is quite sacred for locals and tourists to pay homage and pray.

Photo credits by http://www.thailandholidayhomes.co.th/

One more picture.

Let's visit Hin Ta Hin Yai, one of the most popular spot on Samui Island. Today, the weather is really hot with much sunshine.

These amazing rock formations of Hin Ta and Hin Yai are located on Samui Island's south coast between Lamai and Hua Thanon Beach. Many years ago, a group of locals made the discovery of these rocks. The rocks are well known for resembling male and female genitalia, thus they are known as Grandpa (Ta) and Grandma (Yai) respectively.

The Hin Ta Hin Yai legend is a tale of tragedy tinged with hope, as described on a signboard near the rocks: "A folklore of Samui Island tells the story of an old couple by the name of Ta Kreng (Grandpa Kreng) and Yai Riem (Grandma Riem) who lived with their son in Pak Phanang, Nakhon Si Thammarat, which is located in the southern province of Thailand. Since their son named Khong, had come to age, they felt that it was time he got married.

One day they decided to sail to the neighbouring province of Prachuap Khiri Khan to ask for a daughter of a man named Ta Monglai to marry their son. They sailed a boat with their son's friend named Prab, who was a boat helmsman. During the sea journey, their boat arrived around the area of Lamai cape and the boat was capsized by a storm. All dowries drown into the sea and suddenly disappeared along with all relatives and friends who traveled together, and then became small islands around Samui Island.

Also, many of them were washed away by the storm and became Ang Thong Islands. Khong was washed to the direction of Cherng Mon Beach and became Khong Island. Prab caught a part of a boat and floated to the direction of Baan Don Gulf. Once he arrived to Baan Don Gulf, the boat sunk to the sea and became Nok Taphao Island. Also, Prab eventually drown and became Prab Island.

Ta Kreng and Yai Riem were washed to Lamai Beach and they were still alive. Both of them were so sorrow and were afraid that Ta Monglai would think they didn't keep their word and broke a promise. Finally, they prayed for being a symbol that Ta Monglai could realize and prove that they didn't break the promise. After that, they bravely decided to jump into the water at Lamai Beach for a suicide and they finally became Hin Ta Hin Yai until now (Thai story).

Thanks for the information from: http://www.thetrippacker.com/

A beautiful sky and a clear blue sea are such a heaven on earth for tourists like us.

The next place is Wat Phra Yai, known in English as the Big Buddha Temple. This temple is located on Bang Rak Beach, Faan Island. If I remember correctly, it is located on the same way to the airport.

We are going to take a bunch of flowers to the Big Buddha for paying homage. However, we have to walk up the stairs for just 60 steps.....

The statue of Buddha is in the attitude of subduing Mara with 10.23 metres width, enshrined on Faan Island

The view on the top is very beautiful. We can see a view of Phangan Island clearly as well as magnificent panoramic sea view around the island.

Surrounding the Big Buddha, there are many statues of the Buddha in different postures such as a reclining Buddha as you can see in this picture.

The view from the Big Buddha....Beautiful and serene.

We are very tired today. Let's go back to the hotel and swim in the pool.

There are 3 swimming pools here, where we can swim and enjoy looking at beautiful sea view.

The spa area is located next to the swimming pool area. It's such a great atmosphere to have a massage while listening to the beach sound.

Moreover, the prices are really cheap even though it's a hotel's spa.

There is a pool bar in the evening, located just next to the main pool, where we can swim and drink in the pool while listening to good music...It's really far from stress indeed.

It's time to return to our room for taking a shower because we have an appointment with our relatives who live in Samui Island. They invite us to have dinner with delicious southern food at home.

After I see the food, I hurry taking a picture of the food quickly. The picture is a little bit blur but I don't care...Just want to make you feel hungry....LOL.

By the way, we are in the 2nd night on Samui Island and we want to say goodnight to everyone with a picture of this extremely delicious southern food.

It comes to the 3rd morning of staying on the island.....Let's wake up, have a sip of hot coffee and breathe in fresh air at our room's balcony.

Let's bid a farewell on Bophut Beach one more time, before we check out and travel to other beaches.

We already checked out from Ibis Samui Bophut Hotel. After this, we will check-in to another hotel. On the way, let's visit a view point for relaxing our eyes from driving....So good.

Here is the Lard Koh Viewpoint, which is the most beautiful viewpoint on Samui Island. It's located between Chaweng Beach and Lamai Beach. If you come from a direction of Chaweng Beach, it will be on your left hand side.

You can enjoy panorama view of the island. Actually, it's considered to be the best view point in Samui.

We have a look at this young traveler who enjoys his time while seeing sea view...So inspiring.

We attempt to climb up to the top of this rock, of course the outcome is worthwhile. We can see better view than what other people can see from the bottom.

On the way down is really fast and easy but on the way up....

Farewell our trip with this beautiful picture.

Finally, the first review of Samui Island by Latte Pun Yen Yen has been completed.....Actually, on the 3rd day, we stayed at X2 Samui Resort, which is located on Hua Thanon Beach.

However, I already wrote a review of this resort and you can read the review on the website below (in Thai language) --->> http://pantip.com/topic/32332096

Before saying goodbye, let me summarize my stay at Ibis Samui Bophut Resort.

Advantages:

- The check-in time is very fast. The staffs are friendly and helpful.

- There are full amenities in guest room such as a TV, a wardrobe, a safe box, a set of tea and coffee, a refrigerator, and a fast Wi-Fi connection.

- The hotel is located on beach. The swimming pool also has sea view, which is suitable for our relaxation.

- The prices of food, drinks and spa are acceptable and not really expensive.

- There is a balcony with chairs for sitting and seeing the view of the garden behind the building.

- There are computer sets for the Internet service at the Lobby.

- There are connecting rooms where 2 rooms can be connected by 1 door. It's really suitable for family.

- There is a car park in the hotel.

- The room price is not very expensive.

Disadvantage:

- The room and the bathroom is quite small but it can be compensated by the comfort that has been provided by the hotel.

Now, it's time to say goodbye.....Next trip, I will take you to travel around Chiang Mai.

Good night everyone ^^