Advertisement
Published: November 4th 2009
Upon leaving Railay on October 27th, we hopped a longboat, a sweet minibus and a catamaran style ferry (an 8 hour journey in all) to Koh Tao, a small island off the northeast corner of southern Thailand. The world knows Koh Tao as a magical diving Mecca and the laid back island lifestyle is an added bonus to say the least. Not really sure how long we’d spend there, we opted for 4 nights in our Sairee Village hotel, the Simple Life, but ended up staying 7… I guess you could say we fell in love. The second we got off the ferry, we set off to explore the island like the locals… scooter style! I have to say; I’m pretty lucky that my man used to be a scooter guide in the Swiss Alps and I was his backseat rider because scootering in Thailand, especially Koh Tao, has its definite challenges. Extreme scootering involved dirt roads, cement ruts, passing-by locals zooming with their babies in tow (no kidding) and always remembering to stay on the left side. There are very steep hills from one side of the island to the other so I either hiked it up some and met
Monty at the top or we just couldn’t make it at all. Having a scooter for the week and exploring when and where we wanted was a feeling of freedom we were so grateful for.
One might say that Koh Tao is just another gorgeous sandy oasis in Thailand, but what we’ve found is that each beachy paradise has something a little different to offer. Koh Tao for us delivered delicious food of all kinds, unforgettable bowling (see pix), a booming nightlife with cocktail buckets, Jenga and card games on beachside cushions while taking in fire shows, banana & Nutella Thai style pancakes from late-night vendors (YUMMY!), an amazing yoga class (Monty's first experience & not his last) and more cheap coconut oil massages than you could ever dream of.
We also did a bit more diving, which was amazing, but Malaysia diving for us is hard to beat so far. The dive day was a definite highlight, as we headed out with a bunch of other fun divers and foreigners and got to see other parts of the island. Some of the divers saw a whale shark on our dive at Chumpon Pinnacle and apparently we swam right by
it with our dive master, but our group of 4 didn’t see it. Boo hoo! I got in a 2nd dive in Mango Bay with just me and the dive master. It was fantastic and probably my best dive yet.
With the monsoon season and the November 4th Full Moon Party on Koh Pha-Ngan fast approaching, the island quickly turned into a ghost town before our eyes on the day we left. We could see the wind beating against the sea as we boarded the same catamaran that brought us to this exquisite place. The fear of death on everyone’s faces was indescribable as the catamaran smashed against the dock over and over while boarding. With a packed boat, unfortunately we endured two hours of some of the biggest seas Monty and I have ever seen. No joke, we were launching 10-20 footers for half the trip and taking waves over the bow and the side for the rest. I speak from tons of experience that a ride like that undoubtedly battled a fishing trip in the Aleutians or the Bering Sea. (Anyone with a weak stomach should stop reading now 😊 ….. Plastic bags and toilet paper were handed
Weee...
We love scootering!out by the handfuls. Half the passengers lost their breakfast, their lunch, any cocktails and probably their dinner from the night before. We were lucky to have our well-earned Alaskan sea-legs and not get seasick, but when you have your neighbors on all sides in bad shape with no ability to get out of their seats, it makes for a pretty miserable trip for all. Whoa! I’ll never forget it and man, did we feel sympathy for the sufferers… one guy’s quote at our relieving destination, “that was the worst experience of my life!” Poor guy!
We have so enjoyed our much-needed Thai beach life, but are gladly in Bangkok for a few days and are more than ready for the culture and fast life that awaits us.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.055s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 12; qc: 20; dbt: 0.0326s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
