![\"Big](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/snappingtheglobe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/Big-Buddha3.jpg?ssl=1\")
<\/a><\/p>\nFirst on the itinerary was the Big Buddha.<\/p>\n
The temple, Wat Phra Yai, sits on a small rocky island, Koh Faan, off of Koh Samui\u2019s northeastern corner.\u00a0 Build in 1972 and one of the island\u2019s most popular attractions, the Buddha stands almost 40 feet high.\u00a0 It can be seen several miles away and by arriving flights into Koh Samui airport.<\/p>\n
Colorful dragons lead up to the platform area on which the Buddha sits.\u00a0 There are also two other Buddha images adjacent and many Buddha devotees come daily to make offerings.\u00a0 Entrance is free and donations are accepted.\u00a0 Long shorts or trousers should be worn and shoulders should be covered.<\/p>\n
At Koh Phra Yai, we encountered a monk who invited us (for a donation) to receive a blessing. \u00a0We knelt in front of him and then he allowed us to have a picture taken. \u00a0He tied a good luck string on our wrists and blessed us with holy water using reeds dipped in the water and patting our wrists. \u00a0Then, we were sprinkled with the holy water while waving the reeds back and forth. \u00a0As he was touching our wrists, it sounded as if he were saying, “Good Luck, Good Luck, Good Luck” only it sounded more like, “G’luck, G’luck, G’luck”. \u00a0He must have sensed that we needed some luck because he chanted it an awful lot! Next, we visited the Wat Plai Laem Temple, which is very near to the Big Buddha.\u00a0 Located on Koh Samui\u2019s northeast coast, the Buddhist temple features an impressive white 18 arm image of Guanyin, the Goddess of Mercy and Compassion.\u00a0 Surrounded by a tranquil lake, Wat Plai Laem is a live and active temple where devotees come daily to pay homage to Guanyin and Buddha, who is also depicted in a number of statues and murals around the temple.\u00a0 Entrance is free, however donations are accepted.\u00a0\u00a0 Conservative dress and behavior is expected.<\/p>\n My friends weren’t really interested in Hin Ta and Hin Yai (Grandfather and Grandmother Rocks) however, I talked them into visiting since it was on the way to the Mummy Monk and the waterfall. \u00a0Five minutes, I told them….jump out see it and jump back in the cab. \u00a0Well, well, wouldn’t you know who got a kick out of these? \u00a0I think they took more photographs than most tourists. \u00a0I really don’t need to describe these, check out the photographs and make of it what you will.<\/p>\n Next was the Mummy Monk at Wat Khunaram.\u00a0 There are many mummy monks throughout Thailand, but Loung Pordang, who died in 1973, is probably one of the most highly revered.<\/p>\n He died in a seated meditative position and has been on display in an upright glass case at the temple ever since.\u00a0 He was very accepting of death and saw it as an opportunity to be reborn into a better place.\u00a0 He was said to have told his followers before his death that if his body were to decompose, that he wanted to be cremated.\u00a0 However, if it did not, he wanted to be put on display as a reminder of Buddha\u2019s teachings.\u00a0 He has been on display ever since at Wat Khunaram.<\/p>\n Lastly, we visited the Namuang waterfall. \u00a0These falls are not extremely high, only descending for a total of 300 feet between the two parts of the waterfall, Namuang 1 and Namuang 2. \u00a0Because of the purple shade of the rock faces, these waterfalls were so named, Namtok Na Muang or Purple Waterfalls. There is a small pool at the base and I had previously seen pictures of other tourists taking a dip. \u00a0We had not brought our suits or towels, so swimming was not on the agenda.\u00a0 Admission is free and there are many souvenir and food shops on the premises. While in town, we always walked by the Starz Cabaret. \u00a0Usually, there was music playing through the upstairs open windows and more often than not, an elaborately dressed drag queen standing on the sidewalk handing out flyers for the show.<\/p>\n I had heard about the Kathoey (Lady Boy) shows in Thailand, but had never attended one. \u00a0So after returning from our tour, and getting a nice dinner, we decided that tonight was our chance!<\/p>\n We weren’t extremely tired and the location was close to the hotel. \u00a0Entry was free with a required drink purchase. \u00a0Drinks were not overly expensive…about 250 baht for a beer ($7.00), compared to 50-90 baht ($1.50-$2.50) at most restaurants, so it was as if you were paying a $5 cover charge.<\/p>\n The venue was quite small, so everyone had a pretty good view of the stage. The performers consisted of four males who were back-up dancers to the 8 main attractions. \u00a0Lip syncing was the norm, but I have to say, they were quite entertaining! \u00a0Now, there were some that I could see were males, dressed in drag, however, some, I would have never known were not a woman had I encountered them on the street.<\/p>\n A forty five minute show is performed every night\u00a0at 8:30,\u00a09:30\u00a0and\u00a010:30\u00a0and afterwards, you are invited to take pictures with some of the performers…for a tip…of course!<\/p>\n Check out more pictures on my Facebook page, Snapping the Globe.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After breakfast on our third day in Koh Samui, we decided to do some sightseeing on the island. \u00a0Although there are tours that provide either 4 or 6 hour itineraries, we opted to not be part of a tour group as we wanted to tailor the trip to our tastes. \u00a0No need for a monkey … Continue reading Buddhas, Monks and Kathoeys! Oh My!!!<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42,10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-koh-samui","category-thailand"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=199"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8802,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/199\/revisions\/8802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/snappingtheglobe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}<\/a>
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