Island Hopping

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The night before full moon party was supposed to be a really good one too so we headed down for our 4th night on the beach in a row and had a right good laugh yet again meeting some cool people. Amazingly I got so much love for wearing my newcastle shirt, half of them were swedish but it was all good! Unfortunately we had a bit of an incident whereas katie had put her bag containing bank cards, camera and 6000 baht (about 100 pounds) under the table we were at on the sand and it had been swiped. Great. I managed to lose Rob and Katie but we all spent a while looking to no avail. Back at the hut we sat down, calmed down and figured out what we were gonna do. I lent katie my phone to make the necessary calls and we came up with a plan to make sure she'd be fine for money by using mine and robs, keeping track and then transferring later. As for the camera the most important thing was that no photos had been lost as she'd backed them up recently and uploaded them too. The camera could be replaced by travel insurance and we planned to go down to the police station the next day to get the necessary police report.

After a not so great sleep we scootered down to Hat Rin police station to find a vested man who told us we needed the one 15 minutes away about 2km inland outside Thong Sala. We found our way there and the whole process was really easy and we got the report before hitting the internet for a while. It could possibly have been a bit of a disaster but I think we and especially katie handled it well and we've got it all sorted! Anyway after getting all that out the way we were getting really hyped up and excited about the night ahead of us - the full moon party - and headed back to the huts to grab some food. Walking into town there was a real buzz around the place, nothing like the nights before. Like a really good atmosphere. We cruised onto the beach and had the BEST night ever. Like completely exceded our expectations, couldnt have had a better time. The weirdest part was wandering around the beach and then suddenly it was light, couldnt figure out where all the time had gone! Met some really awesome people and wandered around cracking up at everyone taking naps/passed out on the sand.

Back at the huts the thought of the baking hot room sounded so unappealing so I settled for a nice plastic chair on the decking for my sleep. A few hours later I was being woken by katie in hysterics at my choice of sleeping spot. We woke up with a swim and then got some lunch before I took it easy all day on the beach in a deck chair with my music in. Brilliant. Me and Katie created the ultimate playlist of tunes from the night before and recovered on a wonderful slab of cold marble. After dinner me and katie discovered a new lease of life and decided on going back to Hat Rin in the evening to see how the night after full moon compares! Rob took it easy and chilled out at the huts while we headed in. We were appalled at the complete lack of people and music on the beach, however we ran into some people we'd met over the past few days and hung out for ages. The music did eventually get going as did the big fire skipping rope which was going everynight. I went for a go and didnt get burnt so it was all good. They cracked out a game of musical chairs and I got involved coming 3rd and getting a free drink, no complaints there! Night after was really good fun, so mellow. We crashed out on our last night as we'd booked a boat onto little Koh Tao the next day at 1pm.

We checked out and grabbed a taxi to the pier in Thong Sala. The heat with our backpacks on was unbearable but luckily the catamaran was air conditioned and me and katie slept the entire hour - no surprises there! On arrival in Koh Tao my first impressions were that is was just as naturally beautiful as Pha Ngan but much more chilled out. Looked like the lost island from the boat! It seemed to have a teally mellow atmosphere, because of the amazing sea life in the crystal clear waters its very diving orientated and shops are everywhere. It's a really small island, maybe 3 miles in length and the main concentraion of beach huts, bars and restaurants is on a long beach on the west coast called Sai Ree so that's where we headed in the back of a pick up truck taxi with a bunch of other travellers. We were not prepared for the struggle to find accomodation that was about to face us. Basically we couldnt find anywhere at all. All full or only accepting people who'll take a diving course with them... We dumped our bags on a shady spot and figured out what to do, me and Rob left katie with the bags and had another search. The cheapest we came accross was way out of our price range. A nice geordie guy who was living on the island for his gap year doing a dive course picked up on our situation and said he'd make some phone calls. He managed to sort us out with a room for 1500 baht. Very pricey (yet still only 8 quid each) but we just wanted somewhere to crash for the night. Supposedly 2 days after full moon is the busiest day of the month due to the mass exodus of people from Pha Ngan. The room had air con and an actual bath so I vowed to at least make the most of it and get my moneys worth! We chilled for a bit before heading to a bar to get some food and watch Man Utd v Liverpool. We ran into some people from the full moon party, not for the last time either! Mortified by the result rob demanded to play some pool before we all went to bed in an air conditioned room. Heaven. In the morning I made sure I was up in time to have my first bath in god knows how long. It was brilliant but we had to check out at 10 and start the search for a room yet again! After a big breakfast we left katie with the things and headed off in different directions. About 10 minutes walk up the hill behind Sai Ree I stumbled accross what must be the best deal on the whole island. 700 baht (11 quid ish between 3) for a bungalow which was HUGE! Had bedroom, lounge with cable tv, bathroom, kitchen and crucially... a fridge! It was pretty much a house. Excited we bombed it to 7/11 and stocked the fridge up - now we can self cater and save a bit of money plus we have a way to keep beer cold now. We instantly decided we'd have to have a party here before we left. Spent the day chilling out and catching up on my diary before heading down for a night out in Sai Ree. Started off at Lotus bar, a really chilled out bamboo shack with soft cushy chairs on the beach and good music playing. It got really busy later on and we hung out with these sound guys we'd met on Pha Ngan. I met up with some people I'd met too so we had a pretty decent gang. We moved on down to some other place I dont know the name of but it was a good night but so much more chilled than Pha Ngan which makes a nice change!

Yesterday pretty much spent the whole day chilling on Sai Ree beach. An idyllic stretch of sand with the calmest most crystal clear water you could imagine. I went for a swim and never really wanted to come out. As it was shallow you could go pretty far out and get to some corals. I spent ages looking down and watching the fish swimming around curiously at my feet. Me and Rob are going to book a day of snorkeling off a boat for a tenner each, much cheaper than the diving and you still see loads! Completely beached out we left Rob online and headed back to the houseto rustle up a wonderful dinner of processed cheese and meat sandwich and 'Tom Klong flavour' (whatever the hell that is) pot noodles. Went down a treat. We headed down into town for the night and me, rob and katie chilled at Lotus befoe I rode to mae haad to go for a drink with a friend from Koh Pha Ngan. After my first guinness in months (which was a bit of a let down) I went back and had a hilariously rowdy night with the guys we'd been getting to know pretty well and the geordie girls who were mates with the guy who helped us out. After watching BBC World on TV to catch up on 2 months of news I crashed out looking forward to another awesome Koh Tao day! The plan is to stay put till at least friday and then make the move south to Koh Phi Phi where we'll stay till around the 3rd or 4th before hitting Malaysia for a week. Happy Easter to everyone, nearly forgot about that one as noone celebrates it here. Hope youre all good. Luke

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Photos

Night before Full Moon
hands down best sunset yet