Sea, Spa n Samui

‘Had we landed straight at the resort?’ I wondered as I looked out of the window of the plane. There were flowering gardens, small ponds, neatly thatched rooftops that shaded the small villa like entry points…this was the Samui Airport.

Complete with shopping, small restaurants all lined on either side of a small road, with a village street ambiance, one really couldn’t believe it to be an airport. It got me into the vacay mood right away as I slurped on an icecream as we waited for our bags on the small conveyor belts that were housed under those thatched roofs. It was about a 40 minute drive to our hotel, “Centara Grand”. Situated right on the main street it was perfectly located, for shopping, for spa massages, restaurants and close to “The ArkBar”, the most happening place in Samui.

Since we had only 2 days we decided to make the most of it and headed to the ArkBar right away. During the day it’s a family beach feel, people enjoying water sports, like skyboarding, jet skiing etc. For the couples there are benches and lounge-beds to laze or take massages. One could order iced cocktails , and the longest menu ever, right from pizza, pastas, seafood, thai and Chinese food, lasagnas, to burgers…they really had it all.

I decided to feast on some salmon roses with cream cheese and capers while hubby satisfied his spice craving with the green thai curry as we enjoyed the chill vibe with some lovely retro music. The sun had finally lowered its intensity and we decided to stroll down the beach. Walking on the soft white clean sands was such a delight though one couldn’t not look around and envy the bodies, taut with excercise and glistening with a golden tan…gave me another incentive to concentrate on my workout back home.  But as of now I was on a holiday and we headed to the Dusit Spa for a luxury bodyscrub and massage to get us prepped for the evening. And truly it was an experience of lovely aromatic oils and a super qualified masseur that kneaded my aches and pains away…I truly felt renewed.

As we walked down the street we browsed through the various streetshops. Unlike Bangkok, these stores had mainly beach wear and casuals, barring the most exquisite designer store called “Chandra”…it had the most unique items..be it clothes, jewellery, table pieces and more. To line our stomach, we decided on ‘Sala Thai’ a local cuisine restaurant. Seafood restaurants galore, it had been difficult to choose what I wanted to eat and my hubby being a total vegetarian I had to make sure there was enough on the menu for him too. Just as we were entering a man carrying a huge iguana caught my hand and placed the lizard on me dramatically…. A naughty ploy by my hubby, thinking he would have me screaming my head off. However, there are still things to discover about me he realized, when I turned around and told him quick…. Click me.

The food at Sala Thai was delicious, after which we decided to head to the most happening bar on the street, BAR SOLO. A mixed European crowd bonding over the football game on the big screen with beers, we ended up making plenty of friends and sharing travel stories. The night had just begun. The crowd then slowly started gravitating to the ArkBar, where revelry would continue till 2am.

Entertainers playing with fire ropes and blazing firecrakers, wild exotic dancers and thumping music, it was an atmosphere where one could be a spectator or join in with the crowd…either which way it would be a night to remember. Friday night got to another level as we trouped in with our new found friends to the Sweet Soul Café, a huge barn like structure with a dancing floor and DJ. We grooved the night away into wee hours of the morning. We had missed breakfast by the time we awoke ravenously hungry at 11am the next day. With just enough patience to shower and head to the Central Mall, we had fortunately decided that we would begin our day with chocolate crepes and banana icecream. It was delicious and a perfect kick start to the day.

Apart from the ArkBar there are many such properties dotted along the beach front. There is the Cha Cha Moon Bar, the White elephant and many such lined up on the Chaweng beach, that had our Saturday night set. Two days didn’t quite seem enough as I gorged on some awesome sushi and maki rolls from Zen followed by an exotic oil foot massage, yet again before we bid Samui goodbye. It was the perfect weekend holiday.

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