Thailand: Koh Tao

Koh Tao was our favourite island. It was the perfect blend of the other islands: Beautiful, clear waters, great food and restaurants, a moderate night scene with small markets and people to meet.

We rented a scooter and on the first day we went to freedom beach. Like many of the island beaches, it was in a small bay; a sparkling blue half moon with bright sand. On one side large boulders seemed to spill down the cliff while tidy looking bungalows clung to the rocks with stilts and beams. It was a beautiful sight.

The next day we blazed down small unfinished roads. We clipped along until pavement ended suddenly; we studied the the map thinking we took a wrong turn. We ended up following the rabbit trail which led us down steep, almost impossible pitted roads until we were rewarded with the treasure of a magnificent beach, almost undiscovered. This beach was our favourite beach of the trip. It was called Tanot Bay. It looked like the others, except that right in the centre of the bay, submerged in the water were giant boulders. Brave people would climb to the top and jump into the water, risking a collision with the giant coral rocks below.

We rented snorkels on Tanot Beach, and it was amazing. We saw thousands of fish. Big, bright schools of Parrot fish, smaller angel fish, and swarms of small electric blue fish. May favourite part about the small fish were the way they danced in the water. They would swim closely together, forming moving blue balls until they were spooked and would thin out and move to one side. Singing through my snorkel mask I belted out Bethoveen and conducted them with my arms, watching them move with the movements of my hands. It lasted until Steve caught what I was doing and we started laughing uncontrollably, resulting in me taking a big swig of the sea. I think I doubled my salt intake that day,

The day after we went to Shark Bay, where we swam with some big reef sharks. The sharks didn't scare me, but swimming back in over the corals in shallow water because of the low tide, did. Afraid of being cut by them, I swam back with my tummy sucked in so hard it hurt to move after. Steve could see that I was panicked but in a situation like that you have to keep swimming. Putting your head up causes your body to sink, and you can't stand up on corals.I was happy to be back on the shore and was happy to sit in the shade of a mangrove tree afterward while Steve went back out.

On our last day we went to the small national park island adjacent to Koh Tao called Japanese Gardens. It is 4 small bays connected by a sand bar, and is really beautiful. We snorkelled abound that day too and saw a giant trigger fish-- a mean looking thing with human-like teeth. We relaxed and then climbed on top of one of the cliffs to catch the view before heading back.

The island was simply beautiful, relaxing, and rejuvenating. At night we took our beach blanket and guitar and found a quiet patch of beach to play some music. An old hippy couple became our audience on night and we had a great time playing for them and the occasional passer by.

Nothing too eventful to report because we spent our time relaxing and enjoying the last of the beaches before heading up to Bangkok and then Cambodia.

More adventures and stories to come!


Ps....pictures of this island were taken with Steve's waterproof phone, which is now getting fixed. Pics to be added once we get them back!




Update: a few pics we had on our camera.

Captions:
1. Night owls
2. Boats
3. Fire dancer
4. Crazy electrical fire close to our house
5. Steve
6. The street sewer hero who saved our broken backpack. It's like new!