Koh Samui: Secret garden! On the Mountain. Secret secret secret garden!

Our second morning on Koh Samui. As far as I know there is nothing better than an early morning breakfast by the beach. And mid-morning found Manda and I sitting in the shade, books in hand. Maybe a little booze too. No judging, we were on vacation!

Suddenly a shadow, blocking our sunlight. Monica had come. Monica, the only person I know who would not be content to lounge on the beach. No Monica insisted that we go find ourselves an adventure. "There must be more to this island than the beach!" she said. As if we needed anything more than the beach...

But Monica would not be swayed. So we put away our beach towels and books, slapped on some more sunscreen, and slipped on our hiking shoes. Turning our backs on the beach we headed inland, up the main drag of Lamai beach in search of a temple or hike.

A mile or two up the drag from our hotel we came upon a sign for Lamai beach view point. A view point? That must mean hiking! We were on that like milk in coffee or some other appropriate metaphor.

Manda on the hike up to the viewpoint

The view point was owned, or at least controlled, by a guest house. They collected an entrance fee from us; it was quite small, around 40 baht. A couple bucks American. I feel like if Monica wasn't desperate for an adventure we wouldn't have paid for a viewpoint. We'd've probably found something free. Unfortunately, she really needed to hike.

Hiking up the trail was markedly different than Khao Sok. No leeches for one. Score. The vegetation was a lot sparser. And the air was significantly drier. In fact, if you ignored the oppressive heat it could have been a hike in the States. Not enough fir trees to be Western Washington, but maybe somewhere in California.

The hike was short but brutal. Probably a mile or two, straight up. The gradient coupled with the temperature meant that we were panting after only a couple minutes. But the view was worth it. On top of a large boulder, with rough footholds cut out, we could see the entire eastern shore of the island and far out to sea.

Now you would expect, since Monica had had her "fun" sweating, we could go back to the beach to have "fun" our way. But no. No, a single hike doesn't do it for Monica. So after a brief break for lunch and a bit more reading in the shade Monica came back with a brochure for the "Secret Garden".

What the Secret Garden actually was, we weren't totally sure. The woman at the front desk told us it was a statue park, the brochure described more of a personal collection of artwork. Whatever it was it was, it was vague enough to be an adventure for Monica. So we piled into a cab and took off into the dry hills of Koh Samui. The change in terrain from the coast to the interior of the island was startling. The coast is everything you would expect from a tropical island: lush green plant life, cool breeze, gulls, etc. But the interior felt more like a desert. Everything was brown and parched. And the heat was pretty extreme.

Overall the cab ride made for a pretty uneventful start to our adventure. Although we did drive thru a durian plantation. The smell was terrible, made all the worse by the extreme dry heat.

But we made it to the Secret Garden with little drama, always nice. What the secret garden actually is, I'm still not sure. It was situated in a little ravine, cut out of rock by a mid-sized stream. There were trees and all sorts of greenery that created a very much enclosed area. It really did feel like a secret garden. Situated all around the ravine were statues. They didn't seem to be in any particular order or set up. There were statues of Buddhist idols, Thai legends, animals, famous people, and wacky modern art-esqe shapes. It was the oddest assortment of carvings I've seen.

Monica had to pose by the scary statue

Clamoring over rocks 

We clamored around the ravine checking out the statues. Posing by them. Hanging out in the shade. Dipping our feet in the stream. All in all it was an enjoyable way to spend the afternoon. And maybe a little bit more memorable than sitting on the beach drinking. But don't tell Monica I said that.

Finally, shade!