Gremma's Travels: Family Time in Ko Samui

Our pool at Baan Grand View

We had a wonderful time in Ko Samui with Greg's family flying in from different countries. His brother, wife and new daughter (whom none of us had met yet) flew in from London, Greg's parents from NZ, and his sister, husband and their 2 girls (and us) from Aussie.

We spent 8 nights at Baan Grand View, which is an awesome 5 bedroom house up in the hills above Bophut. Most of our time was spent lounging by or in the pool. It was SO hot, 34 degrees and above most days, and the humidity was 96%. We had a lovely time catching up with the family, and it was so nice to meet and have cuddles with our gorgeous London niece. All three little girls loved being in the pool, and we spent many hours playing with them, and doing "Big Jump!" with little miss 2.

Baan Grand View

Not a bad place to watch the NBA

Greg the barman

Cuddles with the London niece

Greg and the London niece

The house came with two wonderful staff, Aoy and Namid, who were amazing. They cooked us breakfast every morning, cleaned up after us, and even made us cocktails by the pool! We had dinner there 3 nights as well, and the food was absolutely outstanding.

Delicious Penang Curry made by our chef Nimad

The most amazing Thai style fried chicken wings

We also tripped into Bophut a couple of times for drinks and dinner, and had an afternoon at Chaweng, which was the nicest beach by a long shot, though very touristy with lots of beach vendors trying to sell us trinkets, and massage places every few meters with the ladies calling "Massaaaaaaage?" to us from each one. On one day we also had a very hot pit stop at the Big Buddha.

There were a couple of dinners out, the first to Orgasmic, which was anything but. It was in a nice enough setting, but quite expensive and the food was disappointing. The second was at Chez Francois (yep, we went to a French restaurant in Thailand), and it was so good. There was no real menu, instead the chef brought out dish after dish of deliciousness, including an incredible array of desserts.

Bophut

Greg and his dad in Bophut

Greg's folks in Bophut

Chaweng

Night Markets in Bophut Fishing Village

Drinks with Greg's parents in Bohput

The Big Budda

Dinner at Orgasmic

We also took a day trip with Gregs parents on a (very slow) boat out to the Marine Park. It was a great day, but it's so sad to see how little they care for the place, with beaches covered in rubbish. We hiked up to the viewing platform to see the green lake, which although hot was worth it as it is beautiful. Then we continued round to a secluded bay where they prepared us a yummy lunch - the highlight being the paddle crabs! So delicious, but very hard to get into. Luckily our guide was super skilled at it and helped us out. We went for a kayak off the boat in under the overhanging cliffs which was awesome. It was nice and cool in the shade, and we found a little cave to go through.

Green lake in the Marine Park with Gulf of Thailand behind

The family split up for the second part of the trip, with Greg and I spending the last 2 nights at a lovely resort called Tongsai Bay in a room with our own private pool - it was bliss! We didn't do an awful lot except relax - slept in until the last minute before breakfast finished, lie by the pool, drink cocktails etc. We did go out the last night for one of the best dinners of the trip at a place called 69 (and ran into T&C picking up takeaways to take back to their villa). The food was amazing - so super tasty, and a great way to end the trip.

Our thoughts on Thailand... it was a fun trip, but it's so sad to see so much rubbish everywhere, and lots of places are half built or run down. The food was a highlight, and most things are very cheap (except wine). Would we go back? Not sure. If we did I'd like to explore a different island, and probably go at a time of year where it's a little cooler, or at least lower humidity!