On our last day in Koh Samui, we decided to spend our time at the Southern part of the island all the way from Chaweng passing through Chaweng Noi, Lamai and Hua Thanon. We believe it has lots to offer as a destination away from the tourist populated areas of the island. We definitely not gonna miss our times here to explore the third largest island in Thailand too! As usual, we definitely opt for a motorbike where it will be easier for us to move around instead of taking the public transport. Plus, it’s cheap as our pocket money has drained down. Just nice to keep our self to travel back to Surat Thani.
Hilly road with sharp cornering at certain area. To be extra careful while riding. We wore our helmet all the times and riding motorbikes can be a little bit risky if you’re not good at it. Abide to all the rules and regulations as on our way back to the hotel, we passed a police roadblocks. You never know.
I stopped FF when i spotted a view-point on our way to Lamai Beach. The view-point is overlooking the two bays of Chaweng. There are designated parking lots at the view-point as well.
We knew that we finally reached the Muslim Village as we saw a bunch of locals with hijab and ‘kopiah’. I told FF, this is it! And few minutes later, we could see the beautiful mosque of Masjid Nurulihsan. It was the only mosque in the heart of Koh Samui and it’s strategically tucked just behind the market of Hua Thanon. We parked our motorbike exactly in front of the main gate and we were welcomed by the ‘jemaah’ and locals around. Feels like home. The people here in the village extremely accept you with a warm welcome and they are glad to see people who come to explore their way of life.
We spotted their dialect which sounds similar to the Kelantan dialects (with a little bit of Thai accent). And yes, there’re the Pattani Malay. Although the Pattani Malay represent a small percentages of Thailand’s population, they are the majority population within the Southern Thailand which is Patani, Narathiwat, Yala and Songkhla.
Masjid Nurulihsan, the only mosque in Koh Samui.
We strolled down the Muslim Village just to get a glimpse into what daily life is like for the Muslim community here in the island. As observed, fishing would be the main activities with a major source of income besides dry seafood, seafood restaurant and others. If you’re lucky, you could spot fisherman fixing their boats and repairing the nets under a palm tree.
As we’re there early in the morning, we ended up having our breakfast at one of the stall. Nothing to worry when everything is all Halal there.
We got fascinated interacting and communicating with the little one there too! They keep admiring at our gadget and maybe they got surprised to find tourist having breakfast at one of the stall there. To be exact, the stall is just at the inner road of the village and we sat just in front of other people houses. 😀
After a few hours there, it’s time for us to move on. It was such a delightful place just to watch the locals way of life.
Our next destination is definitely the HinTa HinYai stones, an odd looking stones which lies on the Lamai Beach. These two stones are known as the Grandfather and Grandmother stone which resemble the male and female genitalia. We found about this tourist attraction while browsing through Biqque blog. It’s very easy to spot on as directional sign can be easily seen from the major road. The road leading to the area is lined up with souvenirs shop too.
We ended up at Chaweng Beach just to kill the time before we catch the afternoon ferry. Chaweng has the longest beach and it is the busiest town on the island. It can be so crowded at night and if you prefer some quiet spot, this is not the place. It’s full of energy, life and entertainment.
On our way back to Surat Thani, we choose to use different ferry operator who brought us to the island, which is Seatran Ferry rather than Songserm Ferry. Plus, it’s a joint ferry and bus joint ticket. It would be easy for us as they will transport us directly to Surat Thani town. The ferry is much bigger with several decks. It could transport and accommodate cars and even buses too! It’s slightly similar to what we have in Penang as well. It took us about 1 and 1/2 hours to reach the mainland.
In overall, there’s a lot that Koh Samui could offer! Oh ya, the island only experience a short raining season and it would be a great getaway to those who love beaches and sun. Finally! It’s a wrap and say hello to Surat Thani.
Simply us,
Zara AB & FF
The Province of Chroma