Sick in Paradise

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What a f**ked up week it’s been. My pickup from my hotel was 30 minutes late (nothing unusual in Thailand but would have meant that I could have had 5 hours sleep instead of 4.5 hours). A songthaew took us to the train station where we hopped on a bus and waited for the people coming from Bangkok to arrive. From there it was a quick 20 minutes to the pier where we boarded the fast catamaran. As soon as we departed, the sea was very rough and I could tell that it wasn’t going to be a nice crossing. I sat on the open deck at the back of the boat thinking that it was my best chance of not getting seasick. The spray was coming over the top and from the side of the boat and hitting us quite regularly. Most of the people on my side who were getting very wet decided to stand up under what little shelter there was and hang on, while I moved up to the front row so I would only get wet on one side. It only took about 20 minutes before a Scandinavian guy quickly got up off his seat and ran over to the rubbish bin and proceeded to throw his guts up. Everyone including myself started laughing for the first 15 seconds, and then we all became quiet recognizing the pain he was in from the sounds he was making. The guy returned to his seat but was to make another couple of dashes to the rubbish bin before permanently attaching himself to it for the remainder of the trip. Other people were obviously getting seasick because they were starting to get up and move into the cabin, or get some fresh air and sea spray. After about 40 minutes I was starting to feel pretty sick so I just focused on the horizon and hoped for the best. By this time everyone was quiet and all their eyes were also on the horizon. I thought I overheard a girl say that because of the bad weather and the boat having to zigzag its way across the sea, the crossing may take up to 3 hours instead of the scheduled 1.5 hours. My heart sank, time was already going so slowly. After about 1 hour and 40 minutes the weather improved slightly, and 20 minutes later we had thankfully arrived on Ko Tao. It had to be my worst ferry/catamaran trip ever.

I quickly found a nice and clean bungalow in a great location on Sairee Beach for $14 a night. I booked for 2 nights but after having a look around and seeing all the bars, restaurants and shops nearby I changed it to 6 nights. Later that night I developed a bad cold and sore throat that would stay with me for the next week, which I assume was caused by being soaked on one side on the ferry trip. My woes weren’t to end there, the next morning I woke up with very itchy bites down my back and on my foot. Over the next few days they broke out over my other foot, legs, hands, arms, and even my face. After a couple of days I went to the chemist and was given anti-histamines and some cream to apply over the bites, which didn’t seem to help too much. Unfortunately this meant I was reluctant to get into the water or show my body with all the bites to the public. This was a real shame because the main reason I was on Ko Tao was to do a heap of snorkelling which I had heard was very good. I had a bit of fun by hiring an ATV one day, and a scooter the next, and just riding around the island exploring the beautiful little bays. The main thing I liked about the island was that wherever you went you could just hop in with a snorkel and mask and from the shore without having to hire a boat or go on a tour. The island is very touristy but there are a lot of little bays where there are only a handful of bungalows giving more peace and quiet. Due to my problems I decided to leave a day early, but I am sure I will come back in the near future and do the snorkelling I missed out on.

So I took the catamaran back to Chumpon and went straight to the hospital to get checked out. They ran some blood tests and the doctor believes that I am probably allergic to a small insect in the water. It surprised me a bit because I never went for a swim, just got my feet a little wet by walking along the beach. They gave me a whole lot of tablets to take and it seems to be working.

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