Koh Tao - Still on vacation in Thailand!!!

The bus journey from Hua Hin to Chumphon takes 4 hours and as usual the bus arrives when it should and at the right place. We are reminded how easy it is to travel in this part of Asia. We also remember how impressed we where by the buses in South America. On these buses you also had a comfort that where comparable to business class on an airplane - to a very good price.

We are on our way to Koh Tao and the catamaran trip from Chumphon takes only 90 minutes. Pretty bumpy but not as bumpy as we know people have had on their trip to the island. Two days before we arrive they had the full moon party at Koh Phangan. We realize that we try to find a bed for the night. Solly Full!! It takes a couple of hour before we find a place that suits our budget but when that is arranged we have dinner at Lina & Peters place at Sairee Beach.

They are staying at a little more expensive place than us and when they move to another beach and place (even more expensive) we follow them and finds a nice bungalow that fits our budget a kilometer away.

When the weather is fine at Koh Tao – which it was – a week runs away very quickly. Peter showed us the black tipped reef sharks they had outside their resort and apart from snorkeling we lived the typical Thai Beach Life. Banana pancake and fruit in the morning, reading, diving, massage, a little internet and BBQ fish and prawns in the evening at the beach. Well, we also had one or two drinks! Everything is still very cheap and we who loves Thai food enjoy every meal.
There are approx. 50 dive operators on the island and it is a very popular place to go to if you want to learn how to scuba dive. With our 150+ dives we are considered as very, very experienced divers and we make 4 dives and we find out that Koh Tao is an excellent place to take the scuba certificate but that the things under the water, i.e. coral and fish life is mediocre. Well, we are also very, very spoiled with fantastic diving during our trip in Fiji and Papua New Guinea!!

We are also reading about Vietnam and Cambodia as these countries are next on our trip. We also take to people and get some recommendations on these countries. If you have any information/tips - please let us know!!

The journey from Koh Tao takes 10 hours (and 4 movies) by catamaran and bus so we check in to our hotel in Silom in the evening. The reason why we choose Silom City Inn is because Viola & Roland from Dolphin Bay Divers Resort in Fiji will us the same hotel for a couple of days on their way from Fiji to Europe. Our date was scheduled for 9 Am and Yes they where there. A little bit tired after their long journey but we had a lot to talk about so it was almost lunchtime when we finished the breakfast. In the evening we took them to Kitchen Vientiane where we had a great dinner.

Right now we are fixing Visa to Vietnam, flights and accommodation in Hanoi and we leave tomorrow for Hanoi. We just met Lina & Peter and handed over some shoes and clothes that they will bring home to Sweden as they are leavening later tonight. Guess what – they got engaged yesterday. They changed rings and donuts at Dunkin Donuts here in Bangkok and we are really very glad for that. Congratulations!!!

Enjoy the rest of this (hot in Europe!) summer. Next time you will here from us is from Vietnam.

Kisses EvAnders