Beau-Tao-ful

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It's been a while. Lol

I spent my last few days in Bangkok doing nothing much out of the ordinary. I visited some temples and also visited the gargantuan MBK shopping centre. I must say that although I was impressed by the size of MBK to me it was just another shopping centre. I think this may be a gender thing lol. I had originally planned to stay in Bangkok till the Friday so I could go to the Linkin Park gig but by Tuesday I craved some beach time and so booked a bus and ferry combo to Koh Tao.

The bus left Khao San Road at 9pm and I was pleasantly surprised that it was nice, clean and comfortable. We arrived at Chumphon pier at about 5am and sat about like zombies awaiting the 7am ferry. When we had got off the bus it was pretty dark but at about 6am the sun started to come up to reveal a beautiful beach and some breathtaking scenery. All of a sudden I forgot about my tiredness and took my first little dip in the gulf of Thailand. I couldn't believe how warm the water was. We boarded the ferry and set off at 7am for a nice quick crossing that had us in Koh Tao by 9am. Approaching Koh Tao, my heart was in my mouth, I don't think I've ever seen anywhere so beautiful.

We got off the ferry and were immediately set upon by a large group of taxi drivers and resort pick ups. Having not booked anywhere to stay I made the quick decision to stay at Bans Diving Resort and was ushered onto the back of one of their pick up trucks. The ride to Bans only took 5 minutes but was so enjoyable in the back of the pick up, I would have been happy to take the long route.

I spent 5 days at Bans and managed to complete my PADI open water course. I'm now officially Scuba Steve. Lol. The course pretty much takes up most of your time and due to homework at night (not much) and some early morning dives, I started to miss my old mate Chang, who had been a constant companion up till then. Changs back. Woo Hoo.

I've moved up Sairee Beach to a beautiful resort called Sairee Huts and plan on just chilling out for a few days. I'm not really sure of my next move as part of me would like to stay and complete my PADI advanced course (which includes a night dive), but I also have a wee voice in my head shouting "Koh Phangan" lol.

Peace
Scuba Steve

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