'Hammer time' with Sandra!

I was very lucky to get to spend Christmas and New Year with a best friend from home, Sandra. Sandra has been working in China for the past two years, so being in my neck of the woods, she got a flight over to Thailand to spend her Christmas holidays with me!!

We met up on the island of Ko Samui in our hotel 'Nora Chewang'. Sandra was in charge of booking our Christmas accommodation and it was obvious! When I arrived at Nora Chewang it was like I had finally gone on 'holiday'! Our room was big with comfy beds, air-conditioning, a TV, a bath(!) and a HOT shower!!! We even got our room cleaned everyday- such a treat! After a nice long shower we went to explore 'Chewang beach' where we were staying. I have to admit that I had no interest in visiting Ko Samui as I was aware of it's 'touristy' reputation and after a walk down the strip it was clear that the reputation is well deserved; Chewang beach is definitely touristy, (and for me) hideous. We spent a day sunbathing on the beach, which was really quite pretty but I couldn't help being irritated by all the hawkers trying to sell me souvenirs and tourist tat while I sunbathed. This beach didn't quite have the quiet charm as some of the beaches on the Andaman coast. In the afternoon we decided tp treat ourselves to some bargain facials and spent an hour being massaged and pampered, (by a lady boy!) which I thoroughly enjoyed! Sandra and I also attempted a night out in Chewang, but were immediately turned off by the huge clubs and blaring music, not quite the fire shows, buckets and dancing on the beach I had become accustomed to. We still gave the night a good go and ended up meeting a few interesting characters that became the butt of our jokes for the rest of the holiday! On Christmas Eve we moved hotels to an even fancier place, Nora Buri, which Sandra had booked as a Christmas treat. If Nora Chewang was fancy, then Nora Buri was just plain posh! We had our bags taken as we got to the entrance and delivered to our room after check in! (Such a treat, my bag is heavy!) We then had complimentary drinks and cold flannels to refresh ourselves while we checked in! Definitely luxury for a backpacker. Our room was so big, with two double beds, a TV with multiple English movie channels, a HOT shower, and a very fancy bathtub!
I realise that this may sound standard in a nice room, but having stayed in some interesting accommodation previously, where toilet paper and towels are a treat, this was another world!

The weather wasn't superb when we checked in so we spent the day lounged on our beds watching movies (Nanny McPhee 2 and Sex and the City 2) and eating cake delivered by room service! It was the best possible way to spend Christmas Eve, and similar to what I would have done if I'd had been at home. In the evening we decided to head to another part of Samui to see if the rest was as awful as Chewang. We caught a bus to Bo Phut fisherman's village and had dinner and drinks there. Both Sandra and I loved Bo Phut and were so relieved to find a nice part of Samui. Bo Phut had a lovely village ambiance with cute shop houses and funky restaurants and bars, it was a world away from Chewang. Quite a few restaurants were advertising Christmas menus, and as we liked Bo Phut so much we decided to book a table there for Christmas dinner. Christmas day got off to a lovely start, with an excitable Sandra waking me up wearing a Christmas hat, and holding a stocking full of little presents for me!! We then headed down to breakfast at the hotel restaurant which again was AMAZNG! It was an all you can eat mass spread of both Asian and Western breakfast foods. I opted for a number of yummy things including a made to order omelet, croissants and nutella on toast! A very apt start to Christmas day! We then spent the rest of the afternoon making the most of the hotels facilities, swimming in the eternity pool, and relaxing in the sauna and steam room. In the evening we went over to Bo Phut for Christmas dinner which was literally AMAZING!! I was sure the Chef must be British because the food was exactly as it would be in the UK, with none of the strangeness you often get with Asian interpretations of Western food. We had breaded brie with caramelised onions to start, roast turkey with all the trimmings for our main, and a chocolate fondant for dessert, all washed down with a gorgeous bottle of white wine! It was by far the best meal I have had all trip!! We then moved onto a Sangsom bucket in Bo Phut before heading back to Chewang to have a rather random but thoroughly enjoyable night dancing in a Thai gay bar with the crazy staff!!

The next day after a lot of negotiation with various travel agents we booked our ferry tickets to Ko Phagnan to begin the next part of our adventure together!!