Advertisement
Published: July 23rd 2006
Edit Blog Post
Finally left the UK on Thurs 20 Jul, due to my standby ticket, I couldn't get a flight on the wednesday as all of the flights to Bangkok were full.
Managed to get on one of the last seats on a Qantas flight sat next to a young couple who had just spent 3 weeks on holiday in France and were now on their way back home. I got about 6 hours of broken sleep on the plane and the service was good with airplane food that actually tasted nice! Only downside was that my seat was next to the emergency exit where the door bulges out, so I had to sit with my legs at an angle.
Breezed through passport control thanks to my extended stay tourist visa and made my way to the domestic terminal (about a 5 min walk across a walkway). Found the Bangkok Airways ticket desk downstairs and got a flight to Koh Samui leaving in about 3 hours for 3,370 bhat (about 50 quid). As the flight had already been delayed from an earlier depature time of about 1700, I was given a food voucher for some dinner from the oriental food place
upstairs (sort of a fast food chinese restaurant) - food wasn't that great but hey it was free.
Got bored of walking round the terminal (just out of interest - the exchange rate was 69 bhat to the pound compared to the 68 bhat back at home) so went through to the departure lounge. Was very surprised to find that Bangkok Airways laid on free drinks and snacks as well as free internet access for about 10 mins (which was self-regulated so depended on the consideration of the user at the time) as expected there was a big queue for it.
The flight to Samui took about 40 mins, the airport terminal consisted of a series of open-air huts - thought that I was in Hawaii for a moment, I'll try to get a photo on the way back.
Whilst I waited for my luggage got myself a hotel booking and transit to the hotel sorted out as well as my boat ticket to Koh Tao for the next day. Hotel room was 1000 bhat (14 quid) and the minibus transit was 150 bhat (just over 2 pounds). Took about 25 minutes to get to the hotel and have to say, it was very good value, good air con, big bathroom with shower, clean and basic, best of all no insects. Time for a shower (feeling very sweaty and grotty at this stage) and a nice sleep in a proper bed.
Next day, buffet breakfast was pretty good and all for 150 bhat. Checked out just before midday and walked the 5 mins to the boat terminal (all planned of course).
The boat was actually a catamaran and seems to be the only form of transport to Koh Tao, the guide books talked about a ferry which took about 3 hrs but guess they might have got stopped due to safety reasons (heard that they have sunk in the past) that or they get tourists to travel on the more expensive catamaran (most probably this reason). You get a sticker to wear which tells you which island you're going to and your baggage gets a sticker and is stored at the front of catamaran with other baggage whose owners are going to the same place as you. I made the mistake of sitting near the front where the air con struggled to flow to and it got pretty stuffy and I had to go vom in the toilets at the back. Sitting at the back of the boat with a cold bottle of water helped to make the rest of the journey bearable.
Once we hit the jetty at Koh Tao we were swamped by a throng of taxi drivers, touts for hotels and dive centres. As I made my way away from the jetty to the main street I ended up talking to a taxi driver and asked him if he knew where the offices for Asia Divers were, hoping that they were nearby, he pointed on his map to show a location that would need a drive to and I recognised the name from the address. Got into the back of his taxi (confirmed the price of 100 bhat before getting in) which was actually a pickup truck, same as all the other taxis then as we drove away from the jetty I saw the Asia Divers office, Doh! Oh well, at least I was on my way to the resort.
Got to Asia Divers and got to my room, air con and fridge.
2 gripes: the air con was positioned above the door so when I got out of the shower, I got a nice cold blast of air down my back rather than over my bed, the power shower didn't work so I had to mod it and reroute the hoses. The hose used for washing your bum (no toilet paper, we're on an island; unless you want to swim in it!) had more pressure than the one feeding the shower though I didn't feel like messing about with that.
But I have a great view out the back of the resort with the pool on the left and the middle of the island looming in the background, also my room is away from the main road. Satellite TV is included with BBC News 24 and CNN so can keep on top of current affairs. Paying 500 bhat a night for 20 nights then 1000 after that as part of the deal with the IDC.
Had dinner in the restaurant downstairs, a plate of noodles and a couple of drinks for a couple of pounds. Then went into town (or rather village) to have a look around and got some tablets (for 100 bhat) from the pharmacy to sort out my stomach.
Today, I met up with Guy (the course director) who was very helpful and showed me round the centre and quickly sorted out my next couple of days. Got my wetsuit repaired for 30 bhat, quickly had lunch, changed some money (exchange rate was 69 bhat for cash and 70 bhat for travellers cheques) and had a better walk around town and found a place that does intenet access for 1 bhat/min, most places do it for 2 bhat/min, only downside is that it doesn't have air con and keep getting bitten by the mosquitos. Went back to join some Divemaster Trainees on their RDP lesson and took the exam with them, glad to say that I passed (so I haven't forgotten it all).
I'm going to join them tomorrow morning to go over an equipment lesson then join a dive in the afternoon to check out my gear and work out what weights I need. Dives meet at 0730 and 1230 and leave at 0745 and 1245 respectively for the office at the jetty where they get on the boats for the dive.
Went to the supermarket and got a couple bottles of water, a six pack of small juice cartons, mosquito coils (not that many mosquitos around but I did get bitten last night by one that sneaked into my room) and lighter for 145 bhat, not bad for a couple of quid.
Right back for some dinner now, keep getting bitten by these damn mosquitos.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.085s; Tpl: 0.01s; cc: 9; qc: 50; dbt: 0.0409s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb