Christmas in Koh Samui and New Years in Takayama

As I sit here, drinking a beer in Shenzhen Seaworld, and reflecting on my adventures during the Christmas holiday I cannot help but feel mixed feelings.  On the one hand I am overjoyed that I had a great time and enjoyed some new places while on the other I feel a a little bit of ennui with travel.  

The winter break began on December 21st.  I caught a flight from Hong Kong to Koh Samui via a short layover in Bangkok. 

Upon landing in Koh Samui late in the evening I took a taxi to the Chaweng Cove Beach Resort.  Then I set out to the nearest dispensary for some herb and returned to my hotel.  

The first night I was restless and unable to sleep.  The bed and pillows were uncomfortable and the hotel restaurant was under construction so I could hear a circular saw buzzing away almost all night.  Furthermore, since it was my first solo trip in a long time, I missed Faye and the king sized bed felt empty.  I finally fell asleep at almost 3am.

I woke the next morning and got breakfast at the hotel.  Then I took a quick look at the beach and pool area, booked tours for the next couple of days, asked the front desk to put some extra padding on the bed, and complained about the construction noise and asked to change rooms.  They were gracious enough to offer me a new room for free but I would have to wait one more day to change it.  I ultimately decided not to change rooms because it was too much of a hassle and thankfully the night-time noise stopped after I complained.  I then rented a motorbike and went to Central Samui to buy a power bank for my phone.  Afterward I got a late lunch of a beef pasty at an Irish pub called Tropical Murphy's.

I went back to the hotel to relax by the beach for a while before getting a massage across the street at Jutatip Health Massage.  The massage released a lot of tension and combined with the extra padding on the bed I was able to sleep soundly the second night. 

On the morning of the 23rd I woke up and once more enjoyed breakfast at the hotel before using their gym.  I had arranged a ziplining tour at 2pm so decided to kill some time until then by going to the Overlap Stone.

At 1:30 I went back to the hotel, a ride which took about 15 minutes, and packed up for my ziplining tour.  They picked me up at the entrance and the drive took a little over an hour with periodic stops to pick up other tourists.  The ziplining experience was awesome.  After the ziplining was over I went and checked out the waterfalls.  Then I relaxed at the cafe, where I fell asleep and kept the rest of the tour group waiting for an hour and a half.   I felt pretty shitty about that but in retrospect it was more annoying to know that they couldn't find me for an hour an half despite the fact that I was napping in the cafe at the entrance to the ziplining park. 

When I got back to the hotel I ordered a falafel on grab and hung out at the hotel for the rest of the night. 

For Christmas Eve I arranged a full day tour of the islands that make up Mu Ko Ang Thong National Marine Park near Koh Samui.  So I had to get up early and missed breakfast at the hotel.  The tour however provided a light breakfast on the boat. The tour included kayaking, sightseeing, hiking, and swimming.  While it should have included snorkeling the water was still a bit too cloudy from choppy seas that had accompanied a storm prior to my arrival.

After the tour was over I was returned to my hotel where the reception desk graciously provided me a meal voucher for the restaurant to make up for the noise complaint I made two days prior. 

On Christmas I decided to take a ride around the entire island of Koh Samui.  The ride took up most of the day as I stopped at various landmarks to enjoy the scenery, have a smoke and a drink, or get a bite to eat.  Rather than recount the entire experience I will share the photos and videos below.  They are not in sequential order.

For my last day with the motorbike on the 26th I went to Coral Cove Beach and spent most of the day there. 

Afterward I got an aloe massage at Jutatip because I had a mild sun burn. 

On the 27th I flew back to Shenzhen.

It was nice coming back to Faye who I had missed dearly during the trip.  We spend the 28th preparing for our flight to Japan and on the 29th we flew from HKIA to Nagoya.

Our first night was uneventful as we just checked into our hotel near the airport and went to bed. 

On the 30th we met up with my friend Felix at the airport and picked up the rental car.

Then we drove to Takayama.  We picked up our rental skis on the way.

We dropped Felix off at his hotel and on the way to our hotel got in a minor fender bender.  

 

Nobody was injured and the damage was not serious but it would end up costing me about 830USD later when I returned the car and now I am hoping I get reimbursed because I had full insurance.  

After checking in and getting ready we met up with Felix in the lobby and went out for some tempura dinner at a restaurant called Ebihachi. 

Then we had a few beers at a local bar call AL Beer Stand that would become a part of our daily routine.  

Then we walked around a bit and went to back to our hotels to turn in for the night. 

 

On the 31st we went skiing at Mont Deus and Faye took her first lesson.  Afterward we got lunch and then tried to visit an onsen but because Felix and I have tattoos we opted to instead use the one in my hotel. 

In all honesty I have been working on this post for almost the entire week and am growing tired of typing.  I will provide a brief summary of the rest of the trip from here on.

We went skiing at two other resorts.  We did Hirayu Onsen Ski Area on new years day and afterward enjoyed the awesome Hirayu Onsen.  On January 2nd we went to DynaLand, which was much bigger than any of the other resorts we had visited the previous two days, and afterward we returned our skis and got a partial refund for early return.  On the 3rd Felix left and Faye stayed at the hotel while I walked around.  On the 4th Faye and I check out of our hotel and took a short hike to Takayama Castle Ruins before driving to Nagoya.  We flew out of Nagoya on the 6th. We ate lots of awesome food and I would be happy to provide recommendations to anyone who has any intention of going to anywhere I have traveled.  Takayama is a beautiful little town.  We had a lot of fun playing in the snow.  In lieu of recounting the entire trip in intricate detail I am just going to share the rest of my photos and videos below.  They are not in any particular order as uploading them in order is part of why posting this blog is such a chore. 

It was an awesome trip to Koh Samui and Takayama, but as I said before traveling is starting to make me weary.  We have another trip coming up in a couple of weeks and the process of planning and executing the these trips is taking a financial and physical toll.  I usually do not get enough rest on these trips, I usually indulge in drink and food, and also engage in physical activities the deplete my and Faye's energy reserves.  That said we both really do enjoy the experiences we have, they are just exhausting. 

Our CNY plans are to hike the Maclehose trail in Hong Kong and then go to Thailand.  Fortunately after that we won't have another holiday break until April, and even that is just a three day weekend.  We might try to take some weekend trips to cities in China that I have not yet visited like Beijing or Shanghai.  Or we might check out the indoor ski resort in Guangzhou.  

I might post again between now and CNY but it is not likely.  From now on I think I will aim for less words and more photos.  This blog was meant to be a space for me to share my experiences, but with such a small audience of consistent readers I am not seeing the point in highly detailed accounts of my escapades.  Furthermore the blog has strayed from its original intention in that I am sharing more about my travel experiences than I am about life in China.  I would greatly value the input of any of my consistent readers on this.