ko tao

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Wednesday 27th January
Surat Thani to Ko Tao: Night Boat

Well we were very pleasantly surprised to arrive at the pier in Surat Thani (after a battle with the tuc tuc driver, we were NOT going to pay 6 quid for a ten minute journey!) to find a very relaxed vibe, loads of tables and chairs set up alongside the boats with numerous little stalls selling everything from jelly and icecream, pork chops to prawn pancakes. Booked our boat ticket, 600 baht each (12 quid each) and grabbed a beer. We were more than 2 hours early, along with everyone else as nobody has any idea what to expect or if there are limited places. We spotted our boat, being loaded with motorbikes, fish, vegetables, you name it and through the top windows we could see what can only be described as an enclosed deck, lined with mattresses and 2 numbers per mattress! It was how we imagined prisoners to be transported...minus the mattress! Dave doubled his alcohol intake and went to the 7-11 to purchase a bottle of whiskey. There was quite a good party vibe amongst the travellers who out numbered dodgy looking locals who we'd been warned may be a problem occupying your bed space or rifling your belongings while you slept. Pleased to report that there was no such malarky and we all bunched together on our mattresses, had a few more drinks and sailed off into the night. After trying unsuccesfully to tune a guitar he'd borrowed Dave gave up on getting the party started and gave in to the noise of the engines and poured whiskey and coke into our tin mugs. It seemed a sociable thing to do to pass our mugs around our little group and a swedish guy joined us adding a bag of ice which went down well. Human nature and people in general are funny things but funny is one thing and greedy brazillians are another. After gratefully sharing our whiskey mugs one such grotty individual horrified us by draining the whiskey bottle in one go then passing back our empty mugs. He then moved away and collapsed into a coma.........................sod sharing from now on, git!!!!

Koh Tao (Dave's version) A tale that started with bed bugs, disappointment and hypertension
but ended up being the most relaxing part of our trip so far,.

Initial impressions were much as other Thai islands, very pretty with turquoise sea lapping on to white sand bla bla bla.
After signing up for a 3 day diving course with a reputable dive school we waited to be allocated our subsidised room. These were very basic ensuite rooms with fan but seemed ok for 4 quid a night. This was until we found our room was ·”No good”, the beds were upside down and the room smelled as tho it had been fumigated. Should have heeded the warning here! Anyway we were given another room which was red hot due to the tin roof which faced southwards. We put ourselves on the waiting list for a a/c room and attempted to have a siesta. Fan on full blast we tried to get comfortable but minutes later I felt a nip and killed a small vicious looking bug which was chewing its way into my stomach. Unperturbed we continued to snooze in the steamy heat until anna yelled; her pillow and mattress was alive with bed bugs of all shapes and sizes. That was enough so we stomped to reception and told our tale. With a knowing look and a few expletives the young lady gave us a key to yet another room which was on the ground floor and seemed cooler. We moved our kit again and went off to our dive induction course. All went smoothly until the medical paperwork which stated clearly that anyone over 45 who smoked must have a medical check prior to diving. To cut a long story short, my blood pressure was found to be high and I was told to have a good nights sleep, relax and return for another check in the morning. Having never had high blood pressure before and after being checked out before I came away I was slightly worried but put it down to the heat and tiredness causing me to stress myself out. So after a meal and a couple of beers, we fought through the mossies past the open drains and went to bed. Anna took the precaution of laying on a sarong and her sleeping bag liner but I simply crashed out on my bed.................BIG BIG MISTAKE: at about 2 in the morning I woke up scratching like a monkey and found I'd been eaten alive. At last count there were 119 bites on my back and arms! Not a good nights sleep and not very conducive to calming me down. In fact, as I returned to the clinic in the morning I was so tired and hacked off I could almost feel my blood boiling. Not surprisingly, my blood pressure was through the roof, I was unable to dive and told to relax, stay cool and get some sleep; easier said than done. I'm afraid!! To add insult to injury, my appointment with my juvenile Dr plus a thimble full of cream for my bites set me back 7 quid, not a happy bear!!!!
Obviously very hacked off about not being able to dive and more than slightly concerned about my health, I wished Anna all the best with her course, found us some nice clean digs (which smelled nicely of disinfectant and had a new mattress) and treated myself to a quite successful siesta. I found it quite a strange feeling to accept that my health or bad health was preventing my taking part in something I wanted to do especially as Anna and I have done almost everything together for about 10 years now. I cursed myself for smoking which is probably the only bad thing I do more of when I travel.
The following day while Anna did her first day's diving I strapped on my day pack, grabbed my walking poles and yomped off to explore the island. With only a cartoon tourist map that showed no contours and very little detail at all I resorted to my compass and headed for a bay called Ao Leuk on the opposite (east) coast. I”d been told that the snorkelling in this bay was good and that Reef Sharks could be seen not far from the shore. There are very few road signs on Koh Tao and any request for directions is invariably answered with “You take taxi only 500 baht”, so I simply followed the only road heading east. Although Koh Tao is only 4.5km wide at its widest point, I'd been told that to reach Ao Leuk would take me hours due to the bad terrain and steep climbs. Needless to say this info was way off the mark and an hour after leaving the north end of sairee beach on the east side, I'd walked past Ao Leuk and ended up at Tanote Bay about 1.5km too far north! Now please keep in mind that I am a 46 year old chain smoking drunk with high blood pressure and although I'm no slouch when it comes to yomping up hills, I don't exactly pose a threat to Road Runner. I quickly deduced that if I'd crossed the island in under an hour, I could easily see most of the island in a day and so gritted my teeth and like a true Indiana Jones wanabe, screwed up my useless map, squinted at the sun and set off into the unknown. By far the most interesting of the islands so far in terms of inland scenery, it is quite hilly with rich secondary jungle growth and plenty of weird and wonderful critters to amuse or chew you. Although not exactly Machu Picchu in terms of altitude there are a couple of 300m peaks and some good view points above 250m. The terrain quickly deteriates from road to mud track to very steep and loose dusty paths which the locals still manage to navigate either on motorbikes or 4 x 4's. After standing aside to let one 4x4 pass me on one of the steepest tracks, I came close to meeting my maker as the tyres lost traction and the bloody thing skidded back down towards me forcing me to hurl myself into the undergrowth. This caused great amusement for the driver and his American passenger but I was later to have the last laugh.
Sometime in the afternoon I made a very sweaty descent into a bay which the remains of my useless map told me should be called Laem Thian. There was a small resort set up with a bar, restaurant and rooms, a thin strip of beach and a deep blue sheltered bay which looked pretty good for a snorkeling stop. After bimbling around tormenting the fish for an hour or so I dried off and treated myself to a coke which set me back 80 pence!! My face must have betrayed me and the waitress quickly pounced, growling “This Island! Things valuable because they imported!” to which I replied “Yes my dear, and so are tourists” Sitting behind and laughing at me for the second time in an hour was the american chap who's 4 x 4 had nearly run me down earlier. “Ah you again!” says I , “Yeah, Raaarrbert's the name, pleased to meet ya” he replied extending his hand, “Do ya know what time the electricity and water comes on here?” he asked,
“Hell no, I live on the other side” says I , “Wadya mean? Which side are we on?” With the aid of the pieces of map I showed Raaabert where I thought we were and was amused to see a look of confusion spread across his face, “Hell I only stepped of the goddam boat 2 hours ago, but I know we aint there! We're here!” he pointed to a bay several km further north and attempted to get support from a waitress, “Hey Honey tell this guy where we are will ya”, gloating and smug for the split second before she spoke, Im sure Raaabert was about to lecture me on map reading until the girl informed him that we were indeed, in Laem Tian!! Crest fallen, embarrassed and growing angrier by the minute, Raaabert baby was then heard yelling at the proprietor, “I paid for Ao Win Bay not goddam lang tang or whatever you call it,no water, power outage, aaaahve been conned” or words to that effect. Whistling happily I wandered off leaving my new buddy to extract himself from his very unfortunate predicament and last heard him say, “Hey buddy where ya going??” I took a different route over the peaks found myself at our “local” bar on Sairee beach in under an hour just in time for a well deserved beer!! My spirits lifted and feeling quite proud of myself for not having a heart attack I later met up with Anna and her new friends who were bursting with amazing tales of the deep but I won't steal her thunder, I'm sure she'll fill you in with the watery details.
Anyway, that was friday and it is now Monday 1st of February. Our time here has flown by and I must say that from a pretty horrid start it has turned into the most relaxing part of our trip so far. I actually like this island and although I can always find things to complain about, I am quite happy being a holiday maker for a few days as travelling can be a challenging and quite exhausting experience. There are a couple of smelly areas where open drains and untreated sewage are a hazard but after a good nose around I can say that these are pretty rare.
Our digs at the Blue Wind resort cost us 8 quid a night each and are very comfortable and cool. After chasing off the resident snake from the verandah on day one we have had no really bad animal or insect problems to speak of.
We sleep well until the cock starts crowing at 4am and the owner's 4 pointless poxy poodles arrive and start yapping at 7! but for the first time in years we've slept past this and laid in until 0930 or 10 each day!
As I always say,”Every silver lining has a cloud” but I think I can put up with the clouds on Koh Tao for a little longer. I'll let Anna fill in the details of crystal clear water and white beaches etc etc etc.
It is now wednesday 3 feb and we leave Ko Tao today. I am well and truly sick and tired of the bloody cockeril and the wretched poodles ruining my sleep..........paradise lost yet again!!!!

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Photos

night boat to koh tao
all good fun!!

night boat to koh tao
well appreciated bag of ice

bed bugs!!
just a few of the 119 bites on dave's back

sairree beach
anna at sunset

more sairee beach
bla bla bla but pretty all the same

rain glorious rain!
a welcome down pour high above sairee village

anna in her element
the stunning waters of the japanese gardens on ko nang wuang (I think)

contemplating poodlecide
a quarter of the pointless poxy poodle pack

Comments

[gaz]

oi oi saveloy
hey there guys really enjoying reading your blog. ever thought of quitting the roofing lark dave and becoming a travel writer. you're a natural squire!! all's well here. could be better. could be sitting on a beach with you two reprobates getting whammered love you both lots keep the blogs a 'coming! gaz xx