The far side (of Koh Tao) via Surat Thani

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After escaping the mad rains on Koh Phi Phi and a very soggy boat crossing to Krabi, we ended up yet again in Krabi Town for the night and yet another guest house. And this one was ok - yay! (Good Dreams) So another day in Krabi and another journey out - this time north-east to Surat Thani.

Unfortunately, this particualr journey highlighted a flaw in our travel plans. Our lacsidasical 'we've been before, we know what we're doing, its easy' approach could do with some refining. And reading the guide book would be good to!! IF we had we may have spotted the warning that says you're beter off travelling to the eastern islands via Chumphon and not Surat Thani. Only the night boat goes from the centre of Surat and all the other boats leave from the pier 90km out of town. So, after my chants of 'no I'm not bloody going on the night ferry again' we ended up on the night ferry again.

This meant an 8 hour wait on the docks. The boat was actually better than we remembered though. The space alotted per sleeper is alarmingly small - see the numbers on the opposite wall on picture 2!! - but there is a lot more headroom and luckily as it wasn't very full we were able to spread out a bit. Lisa actually managed to get a couple of hours sleep but Lee was up listening to Barbara Striesland all night!!??

We arrived on Koh Tao on a soggy Monday morning at 6.30am. We had decided to stay on Sairee Beach this time but after Lisa's two hour trudge around all the accommodation (Lee had man flu so looked after the bags in a cafe) we decided it was too noisy, built up and, most importantly, expensive for us.

We had seen adverts on the internet for a resort on an eastern beach of the island and after a couple of calls we got them to come and pick us up. Black Tip Dive Resort sent a pick-up truck to get us and no wander - nothing else could make it across there. There is only one road on Koh Tao which connects Sairee beach to Mae Had (the main town) and Chalok Baan Khao - so the journey to Ao Tanote is a little hairy to say the least. It is basically a dirt/rock track that climbs over the north side of the Eiger. I wish we could have gotten some pictures as it is quite an amazing vista but both hands are required to hang on at all times.

The exhilarating ride is worth it though. Ao Tanote is stunning. It is probably 150 metres wide with boulders at each end and dotted in between. About five resorts and are dotted in and out of the dense hillside forests and the snorkelling - 2 metres off shore - is to die for. You may then wonder why we would have left such a paradise!? It was just a little bit too quiet and tranquil for us. That would be fine if there was one nice bar or restaurant to go to in the evening but unfortunately there isn't :-( So the 'vibe' of the place just wasn't right and it was soo empty - there was maybe 15 rooms occupied on the whole beach.

So after 3 days we took another teeth chattering journey in to town on a mission to find a new place to stay. We started off in Chalok Baan Khao, where we stayed last time. It is another small bay on the south end of the island which, although is has been developed beyond recognition since we were last there, was also really quiet due to the low season. We found a great room there (talking proper nice appartment with living area) that we could have booked for a month but we were worried about being isolated. So we headed back to the main town, Mae Had, and found loads of places to stay!!

So, after four nights on the lovely bay of Tanote, while Lee recovered from the flu (ahem), we got the white knuckle taxi in to Mae Had to start the next part of our Koh Tao adventure...

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Photos

On the night ferry
Settling down in the bunk for a game of scrabble

Our new home
Black Tip resort - our bungalow in the forest

Drinks
In the Good Times bar and restaurant

Ao Tanote
View to the left side of Ao Tanote

Ao Tanote 2
View to the right...

Black Tip divers
The Dive Centre reception