Post by Dom:
Our bus ride to Chumphon was definitely an adventure. As we waited in line at the bus station to buy our tickets, a man came up to us asking where we were going. When we told him "to Chumphon", he said "follow me" and motioned to the typical double-tall tour bus. The second we stepped on, the bus took off. We stood in the doorway paying for our tickets, then proceeded up the stairs to the second level where all of the seats were. The guy who lured us onto the bus stopped us and said "no" and pointed down below to what looked like a sleeping cabin for the bus crew. With looks of confusion, we both asked "down there?" He nodded "yes". We shrugged and crawled into the small space, which had a ceiling so low we couldn't sit straight up and were forced to lie down. After hiking to the bus station we were drenched in sweat. So, I didn't mind too much because the bus had A/C. The guy told us that after 1 hour we could go above and find seats. An hour came & went... the whole time Tony & I were sliding around in our little compartment because the driver was driving like a bat out of hell. He acted as if our giant tour bus was a motorbike...driving into oncoming traffic to pass cars, and running cars onto the shoulder when he couldn't pass them. Hour 3 of the 4 hour ride approached and it was obvious we were not going to get a 'normal' seat. But, we we tried to see the bright side. We got to lie down...and there was A/C!

We stayed 1 night in Chumphon, then caught the 7:30am boat to the island of Koh Tao. It's gorgeous. The island is covered in coconut & pine trees. The white sand beaches are surprisingly quiet. I guess the low season has started a little early. Our favorite bar is right on the beach (Lotus Bar). They put cushions & small tables out on the sand in the late afternoon for the sunset happy hour, which is from 4-7. Of course we arrived promptly at 4:00 and made the most out of the happy hour specials. We sat on the beach sipping cocktails, while watching an impromptu soccer game of locals vs foreigners, with the silhouette of longtail & fishing boats floating in the distance. 9:00 eventually rolled around, and that's when the fire show started. There were 3 guys with flamable batons & balls attached to chains. They were crazy! They flung those things around as if they were flame resistant. I've never seen a flaming baton twirled so fast. One of the guys had a long burn mark across his chest. The highlight for me was a little kid (around 7 or 8) who was having a go at it. He wasn't bad!

The day of the Thai New Year celebration (April 13th) we headed to the other side of the island. The celebration is called the Songkran Festival, and it's a water festival. Basically it's a giant water fight, and wherever you are in Thailand on this day you're getting soaked unless you stay indoors all day. People walk around with water guns, or set up shop on the side of the road with hoses & buckets and attack anyone who walks by. The water is supposed to wash away the sins & sorrows of the past year, and bring in happiness for the new year. As we sat in the back of the pick-up truck taxi which was headed to our hotel, we got bombed with water. The entire ride over there people who were sitting on the side of the street unleashed on us. We were easy targets...especially since our driver took the liberty of slowing down, or sometimes stopping completely so that our attackers could get a better shot at us...jerk! We were drenched by the time we reached the hotel. It was kinda fun, but it would have been a lot MORE fun if we also had water guns to defend ourselves.

The other side of the island (Ao Tanote) is much quieter than where we were at Sairee Beach. There are no beach bars set up on the sand. But, the swimming & snorkeling is so much better at this beach. Our resort (Black Tip Dive Resort) is really nice. We had two different rooms here. Our first room was a cute bungalow perched on top of a hill that overlooked the ocean. It's really cute with high ceilings & a private balcony. The problem is that it's so high up, it's practically a giant tree house...complete with every creepy-crawly thing you can think of. As I climbed into bed Tony discovered tiny eggs in the curtains (we think they were gecko eggs)... then he went to the bathroom and found a huge spider (about the size of a hand). He tried to kill it with his flip-flop, but it jumped away too fast. The next morning we awoke to the sight of a 2 foot long skinny snake slithering down the curtain. Tony threw open the window and it eventually made it's way outside after a nail biting 15min of waiting around to see what it was going to do. I stayed on the bed the whole time and did not take my eyes off the thing. Seconds after the snake left, a huge wasp the size of a chapstick tube flew into the room! I was on the verge of freaking out at this point. That's when we decided to ask for another room. I can't blame the critters though. We were invading their space...but, I no longer wanted to be a guest in their house. The new room doesn't have as much charm, but it's much closer to the beach and no giant bugs. But, that didn't stop Tony from sleeping with a flashlight in his hands...just in case.

We snorkeled our butts off in Koh Tao. We went almost every day. The water is a beautiful clear turquoise, which made for excellent visibility. We swam with large schools of bright yellow & neon blue fish. On our last day in Koh Tao we took a snorkel trip out to a small neighboring island with Jessy, a woman we met from Belgium who has lived in Bangkok for the past 4 years. She was a lot of fun. She is an experienced SCUBA diver, so she often pointed out cool things in the water. I was fascinated by the barracudas, with their odd looking long skinny nose. Is that what their called on fish...nose? Anyway, I followed one around until it opened up it's mouth showing off razor sharp teeth. I immediately took the hint & backed off. That will teach me! We snorkeled for hours & hours. It was hard to get out of the water because it was gorgeous. Almost as soon as we stepped in...about 10 feet from shore...the sea floor is a blanketed in colorful coral. So, there was so much to see. I think I may have snorkeled too much though because when I tried to go to sleep that night, all I could see was fish every time I closed my eyes. And, the bed felt like it was moving...as if I was still bobbing in the water. I awoke the next morning with tropical fish being the first image in my head. Weird! 

Our next stop is the island of Koh Phangnan, which will be our last stop in Thailand. It's strange how fast this trip seems to be going. I will miss Thailand and the infectious smiles of the locals, but I think this place has attached itself to us. We now eat like the locals...using both a spoon & fork at the same time. We cross the street like the locals...running for our lives at the first break in traffic. We say 'toilet' instead of bathroom... I finally know what the bucket of water next to the toilet is for... I can use the phrase "same same, but different" in a sentence... and I can bargain like a pro! *d
Koh Tao Pics