Advertisement
Published: December 1st 2011
Today is our last day on Koh Tao. We arrived in Thailand on Sunday night. stayed the one night in Bangkok and then hopped on a plane for Koh Samui. This was followed by a 2-hour ferry ride to Koh Tao. We enjoyed our first taste of Thailand’s monsoons. The seas were rough and our fellow passengers struggled with their sea legs. Fortunately Lucas and I managed to keep down our breakfast and arrived in one piece on Koh Tao. A short taxi ride through a bustling village and we arrived at our new home, New Heaven Resort.
Koh Tao is a lush tropical island, and our retreat, the honeymoon suite, is nestled in the rocks and trees that colour the landscape. We look out on Thian Og Bay from a deck that juts out over the rock face and listen to the waves crashing on the rocks below. We were greeted by Em, the beautiful lady that owns and runs the resort and shown to the Honeymoon Suite that was decked out as though it was our real honeymoon. Petals and flowers were spread over the bed. The other nice surprise was an outdoor bathroom. We loved
showering every morning in the open air looking out on the view and listening to the wind, waves and sometimes, even rain.
Yes, rain. We experienced plenty of it. As I said earlier, November is the tail end of the monsoon season. Even so, the temperature was a warm, pleasant 28 to 30 degrees and very humid. Koh Tao is known for it’s diving and snorkeling. The island is surrounded by a coral reef, and populated with colourful sea-life. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t conducive to either, not that Lucas and I were necessarily up for some deep sea diving.
We spent our time here relaxing and recovering from 25 hours of traveling. What a treat to wake every morning and meditate on the deck. We tried exploring on foot, but the heat and humidity was to much, so eventually rented a scooter and scooted all over the island. It was shades of India, without the traffic and the constant horns. On Thursday we scooted to the far end of the island and found a lovely resort that looked over Nang Yuan, a small group of islands touted as the most beautiful islands in the
world. Needless to say, our interest was peaked and then it became about what was the best way to get there.
Did I mention, the rough seas? After considering a number of options, we settled on hiring a water taxi, a wooden longboat. Friday morning we headed off on our adventure to Nang Yuan, and an adventure it was. One might think that the travel Gods were trying to tell us something when I forgot the battery for my camera and we headed back the resort to pick it up, or perhaps the flat tire on the scooter would be a clear message for someone else…. But not us! Then of course there were the white caps that flashed up in the distance. This sign was also ignored. At any rate after a few minor setbacks, we loaded ourselves into to the longboat with two lovely German girls and off we went. I have to admit, I am amazed at how well this boat managed the rough seas and after some rocking and rolling and a full salt-water shower we arrived at Nang Yuan and our biggest challenge. The long boat pulled up to a rickety dock
that was rocking and rolling with the swells and somehow we had to climb out of the boat, that was moving, onto the dock that was moving, whiles the sea boiled around us. I don’t need to tell you that we succeeded, because I am here to tell the story.
Nang Yuan is beautiful. I am not sure it lives up to it claim as the most beautiful in the world, but it is beautiful. It is a group of three island connected by a sandbar. I don’t doubt it would be magnificent on a calm day. Perhaps the highlight of the excursion was a climb to the top of the one of the islands where we looked down on the whole group. That was spectacular!
Still as usual the best part of our time here was the people. They work hard, six or seven days a week. Many are from nearby Myanmar. Their English is good, so most of the time communication is not a problem and they have a wonderful sense of humor. Our strongest connections were with Em and a waiter named Joe at the Cholak Harbour restaurant. Both shared their
stories willingly. Em married the owner of the resort. She was a Bangkok girl who lived an easy life, well taken care of by her family. Her husband doesn’t like the business so he does the maintenance and she manages the business and the 13 staff they employ. She also has two small sons who keep her running. She shared how tired and frustrated she is. Still what we experienced was a warm, kind and loving being whose gentle presence created a loving atmosphere at the resort.
Joe is a Myanmar immigrant, who left behind two daughters for work here in Thailand. He was a walking encyclopedia of information about Thailand and Koh Tao. He also shared his love of the Buddha and was very impressed by our practice. It struck us that Joe lives a hard life. He works 7 days a week for very little pay, he left his family behind and misses them terribly, and yet there is a warmth and generosity of spirit there that is easy to embrace.
Last but not least, a comment on the food! Delicious!
So tomorrow we leave this fair island for
Chang Mai. Thank you Koh Tao for your beauty, your quiet, for the heart of your people and of course for the delicious cuisine.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.144s; Tpl: 0.015s; cc: 14; qc: 54; dbt: 0.0917s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
Rick
non-member comment
Thanks!
...for letting us travel vicariously through you both. Looking forward to the next entry.