Koh Tao

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My journey to Koh Tao started with a 9 hour bus journey from Bangkok to a town called Chumpon. I sat next to an English guy (Ant) who was on his way down to do some volunteer work for a town north of Phuket which is still having restoration work done for the effects of the tsunami. We had a good time chatting on the bus and watching the ever so thrilling 'xXx II'. At 3 AM the people heading for Koh Tao had to get off the bus, and we were left in a waiting lounge to wait for the 6:30AM boat.
I slept like a baby in the lounge. On the bus to the ferry I sat next to another English guy. He had been to Koh Tao a few months ago to do his PADI training, and now he was going back to get a bit of sun before his 24.07 departure back to England. We ended up chatting for the entire 3 hour ferry ride (much to the annoyance of all the tired people on the top deck of the ferry , I'm sure). Turns out he had also lost his passport, and he was also trying to save the cash. So we decided to share the cost of the cheapest bungalow on the island.
I'm not sure if we found the cheapest bungalow, but we definitely ended up on a beautiful beach. The weather wasn't so great when we arrived, so we decided to have a look around the island on a scooter. The scooter - christened Harriet - took us to lots of places on the island,...although it couldn't go up the steep hills to the hidden beaches we wanted to explore!
That evening we went into the main tourist beach on the island for dinner. We ended up skipping 'Finlandia' - an expensive restaurant on the beach, although all the signs were showing we should go there. What we DID do, however, was visit the bar next to it, which was giving out free drinks to get more people in. As we sat on the beach sipping our drinks, I noticed a raindrop had dropped onto my hand. Following that first drop, it took exactly two seconds for the skies to open, and for me, and everyone else on the beach, to be completely drenched!!
We all hundled under the bamboo roofing of the bar, until that started to leak...and then Tom and I decided to make a run for it. We ran to the main street where Harriet was waiting. The ride home was...interesting. Previous puddles had turned into lakes, and sandy points on the road had become muddy trenches. Who said you should stay indoors when it rains?
The next day was also quite a rainy one, and although we DID go for a few swims in the sea, most of our time was spent in the restaurant connected to our guesthouse, watching movies and drinking fruit shakes! The previous day we had heard of some parties going on on the island, so when the sun went down, we decided to take a taxi the main beach to search for these questionable parties. Along the way we had also recruited a Kiwi named Garth to join the ranks.
The party we ended up at was not the advertised 'Pimps and Hoes' Party (which might've been a good thing), but was on fantastic location up on the hills, and as Garth and I tried to control the dance floor, I bumped into the largest Finnish contingent I've met since the Melbourne Grand Prix!
Turns out the party wasn't very lively, and it didn't get any better during the few hours we spent there (though they DID have some good fire-twirlers doing their thing on stage). We decided to head home...finishing off an expensive night of taxi rides, and made a decision to have a better night the following evening!

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Photos

Koh Tao
Arrival

Koh Tao
the definition of relaxation

Koh Tao
Tom and Henrietta

Koh Tao
Tom and a stray cat that kept appearing in our room

Koh Tao
Fire-Twirler at the party