In my article “Lightning over the island”, I already mentioned a place called Private Park And Trail not far from me. I was there on Friday, the day before my trip on the “Ring Road of Koh Samui”. In fact, I was there the Sunday before that to check it out again and go a little further inside, but it was closed. Just like on Friday. I was so disappointed that this was my second time coming here and the park was closed that I looked on Google in my grief to see what could be the reason for this. It turned out that I had come half an hour before the place was supposed to open. That is an easily survivable time. I went to a nearby cafe and spent the time remaining until opening with a few kind words, a lady with a red hat, a watermelon smoothie and a delicious coffee.
The park itself, as I already mentioned, is not a large area. It’s nice, but there’s not much to see, except for the beautiful, palm-lined view of the China Sea. As you enter the park, the road immediately starts to climb. Until the first bend. Because that’s where it really starts to climb. You have to climb at such a steep angle that it almost felt like I was walking in double gravity, every step is a real challenge. However, once you’re over that incline, you only have to walk twice as much to reach the lookout point. The last pictures in the gallery show the way down.
The viewpoint
Walking towards the viewpoint, I felt like I was walking on a deserted continent. A closed, cracked-floored viewing platform, next to it the cold place of a small restaurant that used to have a bar, a ladder with overgrown trees, a long-closed restaurant and benches fenced off with ropes lined the path.
Finally, I found a place with a nice view of the part of the island where I go to shop almost every day. I took a few pictures from there.
Then I walked a little further to see Bangrak viewpoint itself. Well, there’s not much to see here. Google Maps indicated that I was where the viewpoint was. It was just that I couldn’t see anything. The vegetation had grown so thick that the island was completely hidden behind it. Interestingly, there was also a house where the viewpoint should have been.
The dog situation
It was possible to go a little further, as the road continued up a small hill. I thought, I’ll go up there, see if I can see anything. Three dogs immediately put this thought out of my head. In such cases – based on my experience so far – I take a few steps in the chosen direction and then out of nowhere I hear dogs barking. They also want to be seen, meaning they immediately start towards me. The plural is justified, because it’s certain that more than one dog will attack me. In such cases, I feel it’s worth turning around immediately and signaling to them that I’m not going to argue, I’m going to get the hell away. Of course, they don’t slow down, they keep coming, barking. If I growl at them, they stop, but there’s always one in the pack who keeps coming. You have to talk to him harder so that he feels that I’m leaving, but that doesn’t mean he can come closer.
I escaped this adventure, the pack was left behind. I started back, thinking that there was nothing else to see here. Accessible, I might add.
I was wrong, because on the way down there was a steep path leading up to the right, with rocks on top. And a house. I made another mistake by going down this path. It’s true that I was aiming for the rocks on the right, but the dogs must have thought I wanted to disturb the peace of the house on the left. So they barked at me too. Three of them again. They came so close in an instant that they immediately surrounded me. The only reason not one of them got behind me was because the rocks were there, and there was no fourth. However, there were dogs in front of me, to my right and left. One of them was so curious that he took my hand right away in his mouth. It’s true that he did this carefully, and I can say that he was more of a pressure test on my palm, but despite his playfulness, he still bit me. Or something like that. I didn’t feel like it was the right moment to discuss the situation, so I quickly climbed onto the rocks.
I took a few pictures from where I had reached and decided that I didn’t want to get close to the three dogs again, so I climbed back onto the road on the other side of the rocks.
The next day mentioned in the “Ring Road of Koh Samui” post, I was taking pictures of the shipwreck on Nathon Beach and was already walking back to my scooter when three(!) dogs barked at me. I was quite surprised that they caught me on the beach. Although, there were houses there a little behind the palm trees. After I yelled at them something like, “Please hide the fuck away,” two of them took the bait and turned back. The third one wasn’t so accepting. I had to explain to him in a louder voice that I would rip his heart out if he came any closer. This made me think, he struggled a little to get closer to my feet, but then he went back somewhere.
The next day – Sunday (there will be a post about this day soon) – I drove to an area quite far from everything, where there was a restaurant. Two dogs accompanied me on the last few meters on the way there. Here I looked for a stick and walked with it. I did all this because it was clear that my path led from the restaurant to a house that seemed abandoned.
By now I had learned what to look out for. What is different from Hungary. There, dogs are behind closed fences, except in very rare cases. Well, they are really missing here. And where there is a building, even if it seems abandoned, there will be a dog. So, either you don’t go there, or you arm yourself and prepare for the encounter. They are obviously just protecting their territory – rightly so. If you don’t have to go there, then don’t be curious and don’t go there. If you do happen to go there, then be prepared!
I saw the stick come in handy. I went up to the building, which was a haunted place, I could imagine what a good time people could have here, whether in company or, unfortunately, alone, like me. From there, I went down to a waterfall, and during this short walk I put the stick to good use. Then when I went back to the motorcycle, one of the dogs attacked me. I was surprised that it came alone and the other two were just watching from a distance. Did you count? There were three of them here too! I kept this one away from me with the magic of my voice and the sight of the stick. When I got to the motorcycle, I leaned the stick against the vehicle when another dog came up. If it doesn’t bark, I don’t talk to it either, that’s what happened. When I put on my helmet, the stick fell off. The dog took it in its mouth and took it away. Maybe it didn’t get along with the third person who attacked me and liked the method? I didn’t ask, I gave it to him as a gift, if he took it anyway.
In summary, I can say that dogs in Koh Samui often live freely, without fences. They protect the area around the houses in packs, which is why tourists often encounter barking, attacking dogs. A stick or firm action can help, but the best prevention is to avoid private areas.
Buy me a coffee?
If you enjoyed this story, you can buy me a coffee. You don’t have to – but it means a lot and I always turn it into a new adventure.
Buy a coffee for Steve
Linktree
Short introduction