I managed to get a bit sunburnt on the boat over to Koh Tao which I realised as soon as the boat stopped and the cool breeze stopped with it! The heat of the sun was relentless!
We docked at Mae Hat in Koh Tao early in the afternoon and got a taxi to the crystal dive resort run by a fat del boy. He told us that we’d start diving tomorrow and for the rest of the day me and Al debated whether we’d bother with it at all - I don’t like the idea of coming to Thailand and paying some greedy fat english guy some money which should really go back into the Thai economy.
We, or rather I stayed at Mr J’s apartments for the first night. Mr J is a crazy japanese guy who’ll sell you his soul for the right price. We heard him bartering with other travellers offering them cans of pop or chocolate to sweeten the deal and even offered a banana for a 2 month baby! He sells an assortment of items which other travellers have left like used bottles of shower cream and even sells home made condoms!
That evening we went to a nearby Indian restaurant where we met Junia, one of the locals who we became good friends with during our stay on the island. The girl likes to drink and party - she’s probably the most crazy person I’ve met so far but she had such an infectious laugh and was really hospitable, she really changed my experience of Koh Tao. The first day I thought of how much I hated the island and couldn’t wait to leave - I’m glad I stayed and gave it a chance, i had a great time.
The rest of the time on the island we spent getting to know the locals who were really friendly and great fun. I also learned how to ride on a moped which was scary given that half of the roads in Koh Tao were dirt tracks riddled with pot holes and big rocks! I only fell off once! Honest! There’s a big walkway which goes parallel to Sairee beach which was nearby which was always good fun riding down weaving in and out of the pedestrians! Nobody really cares over there, it’s amazing that more people aren’t killed on mopeds. It’s silly things like sailing in Catamarans where people die. The day we left, a young couple died when their catamaran capsized which was sad but they should have been wearing life jackets. It’s bad but over here they don’t insist or care about safety in that way. No one even bothers wearing a helmet when they ride a bike!
On the 27th we saw our first bit of trouble which ruined some of the tranquility of the island. Everyone here’s so relaxed and carefree it’s quite a rare sight it seems to see a fight but coming from wolverhampton it looked like a normal night out! A group of Irish lads picked a fight with another group of dutch guys I think. I wish they’d all fuck off back home.
We went to quite a few parties over in Koh Tao, my favourite place was the Lotus bar where I’d sit back on the beach supping my vodka red bull bucket through a straw! We saw some great beaches in Koh Tao, shark bay was my favourite. A lush cocunut tree paradise with small beach shacks selling drinks and ice cream. We visited here most often.
On the 1st of Feb we left the island on a “night ferry” which turned out to be a big rusty bucket full of coconuts and a small room with mattress on the floor. Cool. We played a few card games with some canadians there until they turned the lights out and we went to sleep. I had the best sleep ever! I think it was the undulating motion of the boat. When we got back to Chumpon we got a bus back to Bangkok…
i’m jealous of you both! it seems that adventure isn’t synonymous with school and work… ekkk… we all knew that. i miss you both and yes after graduation, i was thinking of backpacking for awhile until i figure out what i want to do with the rest of my life. so a reunion would definitely be in order and many many white russians.