Kho Tao

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After an 8 hour bus and boat journey we arrived into the island of Kho Tao, where we met back up with Nick. I ended up spending 5 days on the island; It's a beautiful place and was a lot more relaxed than Phi phi (and supposedly more chilled than Phangnan and Samui too). Although it's still being rapidly developed and even some photos we saw from 1995 show a completely different island.

It's known for its diving and snorkelling, so one morning we got a long boat to a nearby tiny island called Nang Yuan. You pay a small fee to enter but it means it's being protected and unspoilt. We hired some snorkels and spent the day exploring. I began by accidentally inhaling litres of salty sea water but once I'd got the hang of it I pretty much felt like my childhood disney favourite- Aerial (minus the tail). We walked up to the island viewpoint too, which gave a gorgeous view across the green island, white sands and blue sea.

One of the nights we went to the islands ladyboy cabaret show...which was an experience to say the least! It included numbers such as 'it's raining men' and although I've never been, I imagine it wasn't too dissimilar to a night in Birdcage nightclub in Leeds. Nick opted out of this night out...through the fear of audience participation.

On the Sunday morning, after a hearty breakfast, me and Nick embarked on a walk along some of the other bays on the island (we'd mainly been swimming and hanging out on Sairee beach so wanted to see somewhere new). We'd found a route in the guidebook and after an hour we reached the point where it said 'the real trek begins'. A local woman in a nearby bar said 'don't go that route, everyone always turns back'...but we continued and soon found ourselves scrambling over rocks and through thick jungle. It was a relief to eventually come across a path again, but we were pretty pleased we didnt turn back (we had a high five moment).

Amongst photos of the beach and the jungle trek is one of a random sign about the Queen mum- this was up in Mr Js shop. He's an eccentric old Thai man that runs some bungalows and a little shop on the island, mainly selling second hand books. He had a whole host of crazy signs like this all over the place.

Nick joined me for the trip back up to Bangkok, so we embarked on the 11hr boat and bus ride, with a lunch stop off for spring rolls and curry. It rained for the first time since i've arrived, but the air was still as hot as ever. We marked our last night in Asia together with a few drinks in Bangkok. Every street was busy, lined with food stalls, bars, guest houses and even a few parked up camper vans that convert into bars - which is definitely a business idea that could catch on!

I was sad to say bye to the girls when i left Koh Tao and to Nick too, as i road off in my Tuk tuk waving goodbye: but i am so excited to see a different part of Asia.

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