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Published: December 16th 2009
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Okey dokey then... following on from the Bangkok and terrible-journey-south blog, the following shall deal with our experience on Koh Tao.
As said previously, we stayed in a little bungalow on the southern coast of the island. We had a beautiful crescent shaped beach, approximately 2 football pitches in length, literally on our doorstep. We had almost unbroken sunshine for 7 days, and spent our time eating, drinking, eating, frisbee-ing, snorkelling, eating, and when bored, eating.
Our friends John and Emma were staying on the same beach, and we spent almost the entire time with them. Our first night, after the terrible journey from Bangkok, was pretty much a right off, but John and Emma arrived the next day and the evening was filled with Sang Som whiskey, happy hour cocktails, Laura in the sea in her underwear, and much talk of China.
Unfortunately, upon retiring to bed, John managed to leave behind his most prized possession, and when he realised the following day, the camera was nowhere to be seen. After much panicking and fretting, and a little detective work, it seems most likely that the camera was lost then stolen, in that order. The mighty beast
of a camera that it was is going to make someone a lot of money, but this is turn served to make John very very upset. We spent much of the week trying to cheer him up - this was greatly aided by some Frisbee and serious splashing in the sea, but mostly by snorkelling.
Having never partaken in snorkelling before, myself and Laura had little idea of what to expect. Nevertheless, we were on Khh Tao: an island famed for its diving, coral, and clear seas. I went out with John and Emma initially, and Laura went out with me later that day. We saw all sorts - from anchors to trigger fish, but nothing to compare with what we saw a few days later...
We had snorkelled out to the rocks on the eastern side of the bay, having been promised by John that the coral and the fish here were something special. He had encountered sting rays, barracudas and tuna fish. We failed to spot such illustrious fishy characters, and instead headed back to shallower waters and the warmth that they brought. Laura saw it first - I saw her frantically pointing between her flippering,
and within her mask I saw a raised-eyebrow expression, which also contained sufficient alarm so as to heighten my senses. Peering in the direction of her frantic pointing, I immediately recognised an all too familiar shape... SHARK! I should have been less surprised, seeing as the large rock several hundred meters out to sea is known as Shark Island, but regardless, anybody’s first encounter with a shark is sure to raise the ol’ heartbeat. Closer inspection (I perhaps got a good 2cm closer) revealed the shark to be a black tipped reef shark, perhaps not much larger than a meter in length - a mere goldfish I hear you cry! Well, when you’re paddling away in a sea, that no matter the clarity always carries with it a certain disorientating murkiness, a shark is a shark, and all those facts about how few people are actually hurt by sharks disappears somewhere into a dingy corner of the mind, and instead every single second of Jaws comes to the forefront. We swam back to the beach, realised that the shark was only about 20 feet away from the shore when we saw it, and told John of our sighting.
John
thus set out to find a shark as soon as possible - well he didn’t have to wait long. He saw several reef sharks just a couple of hours after our sighting, but he also saw something far more disconcerting. He saw a shark, in the distance, of considerable size, without a black tip....
John repeatedly refused to believe that it could be anything but a reef shark, perhaps for his own peace of mind, but a little tour book acquired for free later on in our stay on the island, detailed the main marine life inhabiting the surrounding seas. Of course, the most common shark in the waters is the reef shark, but also swimming their little way about the place are bull sharks. They are a totally different kettle of fish, no pun intended.
Consequently, when me and Laura set off on another little snorkelling trip a couple of days later, and bumped into a shark, despite it definitely being a reef shark, we couldn’t help but be slightly concerned - perhaps me more than Laura, but I put that down to me watching the Discovery Channel more than Laura.
Enough about sharks - all
was fine and we saw some incredible fish - the trigger fish were spectacular. We had a fantastic time on the island, and despite all the annoyance that I know my next statement will cause, we needed it. Now hear me out - travelling is tiring. Looking for new accommodation every couple of days, hunting for cheap food, regular 8 hour bus journeys, and traipsing round endless jewellery markets... takes it out of you, and a beach was the perfect tonic.
We had a 2 hour catamaran trip, on which Laura was still seasick despite it being a major improvement on the normal ferry, before a 9 hour bus ride back to Bangkok. We had less than 24 hours in Bangkok, but because of the location of the guesthouse, we actually saw more of the real Bangkok than we had in our previous stay. We were in the north east of the city, away from the sex tourists, Khao San wannabes and enormous shopping malls, and instead totally surrounded by stunning street food. The streets were narrow and full of life, and our noses met a new fantastic smell every time we rounded a corner.
It was the
first time in a while that we had felt like we were truly in Asia, and it was well timed considering our impending departure. The experience was marred only by a taxi ride to the airport with an angry speed demon.
At the time of leaving, we had spent nearly 3 months in Asia - and it is fair to say that we adored it. It is vast, diverse in every possible way, and permanently fascinating. We shall return!
Now for Australasia!
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wendy lloyd
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LMAO
The shark story had me rolling on the floor, I can just imagine you two trying to swim away as fast as you can only to find that you were near the shore anyway. The photos are amazing although the facial hair is a bit disturbing Sam!!! Looking forward to the next instalment. Wend