Since we had travelled via train on the way up to Chiang Mai, we decided to fly on our trip south to save time. So we flew from Chaing Mia to Ko Samui and then hopped over to Ko Tao via a high speed catamaran. The flight was nondescript except for the fact they actually fed us on such a short flight, whereas the boat ride was from hell! Let me explain.At the airport, we arranged for travel to Ko Tao and have stickers slapped on us like we were being branded. Next, we were directed to follow the procession of people through the airport, which by the way was the most beautiful airport I have ever seen, to the awaiting shuttles. We wait, wait a little longer and then once everyone is in the shuttle van, our smiling driver and all of us very quiet tourists start off to gosh only knows where. When we got to our stop, only Tyler and I got out, and we soon realized where we were to go. So we cross the road and join the other large group of tourists waiting a boat.
After waiting a while, I decided to wander to go get drink, but I was too late. The procession had begun single file along the perfectly rickety jetty towards the large boat. There where only a few locals sat in the enclosed part of the boat so I thought it best to stay they where, they being locals and all. I soon realized that they may not have been locals or at least they were locals that had never been on a boat before. One lady started moaning and then crying almost immediately after setting off. Within seconds the crew started patrolling the aisles with plastic bags and the largest toilet rolls I have ever seen. What on earth? I heard more moans, and as I started to look around, I saw there were several people holding their hands to there mouths and crew members were passing plastic bags to them only 5 minutes into the journey. The TV was on as a distraction, and drunken tourist were filing out the back of the boat to the toilets. I tried to stand up and noticed that I felt a weird pressure over my entire body, somewhat of a light-headedness, then I nearly came crashing down and lost my bearings. We had been up since 4am and it was noon time with almost nothing in my belly, so I decided to share some crisps with Tyler. A mistake I later came to regret.
I settled back down into my seat on the now wildly rocking boat and watched the water line rise and fall above and below the windows. This was not at all comforting! I turned my attention to Tyler whom was busy reading and not wanting to be disturbed, so I left him alone and people watched. A huge mistake as all the interesting ones where turning green in the gills! We were only 20 minutes into our journey and people were beginning to throw up around the boat. It was not a pretty sound or a pleasant smell. I tried to turn my attention to the TV, which a crappy, aggressive movie was being shown on, but it couldn't hold my attention.
The captain spoke on the radio, we where soon to arrive in Ko Phangan, but this was not our stop. I cannot begin to express the panic I felt inside as I watched the equally panicked tourists whose stop it actually was run off the boat. I kept coming back to my breath and trying to concentrate on that. All was ok I said. Tyler then decided to say that this was the short journey, the one to Ko Toa was almost twice as long. I freaked out and decided I needed fresh air, so I went outside to the toilets. Working with the swells and holding onto chairbacks, I crawled out the back. The heat and vapors from the engine knocked the wind out of me as I stood pressed against the corridor by sheer force. I found a young drunken boy clinging on to the back railing hurling his guts out. I could not stay there; I had to get to the bathroom. Oh my, I have never been so violently tossed around before; it was terrifying. I was thankful to have a metal door to hang onto even if it nearly chopped my foot of as it swung back.
I eventually made my way back to be greeted by Tyler. I had been gone too long and he had come looking for me. I was so glad to see him, I had gone less than 50ft from our seats but I could barely stand. The back of the boat is the worst place to be if you ask me, just bloody awful. Granted I was hot and flustered and my temperament a little sketchy. I had made it back to the main cabin, a moaning, groaning and smelly pit of despair. The crew had their work cut out for them as about half of the people were sick and crying...including me. I just could not take another minute on the boat. I was trapped, and I needed solid ground. I felt helpless and very very ill. I kept telling Tyler I wanted to get off while he stroked my hair and told me it would only be a little longer. Thankfully he was a rock and did his best to look after me the rest of the way. This was a boat ride like no other, but being sick helped. What a waste of all those crisps though!
Still shaking, we arrived and ate at the dockside before figuring out where we wanted to live. We took a car taxi to the other side, and I decided to hang at the waters edge with our luggage whilst Tyler wandered the island looking for somewhere to lay our heads. It was still bright out, and I had found a closed bar with a jetting over looking a beautiful bay. There I met a few people, when the bar opened, from all over the world that were now living in Ko Tao teaching diving. A hard sell was on as it seems we had landed in diving heaven. Well it might have been a diving heaven if it wasn't monsoon season, meaning the visibility was only a few feet all around the island. I'm also convince that rain on the deforested land had made the situation that much worse. I was told that Ko Tao had once been known as the island of turtles, but that they were not seen much anymore. I decided to listen their stories and their sales pitches. I even passed it on to Tyler, but we knew better than to hand our money over. It was hard to pass on though as diving is always fun.
Tyler eventually came back with a Rasta man in a truck. We piled our bags into it and headed up the hill to our abode away from the hub of town. We were still walking distance though up a very large hill – good for the lungs. Tyler had found a little sanctuary for us. We stayed in monkey heaven. I had trees all around and a view of the sea. Our bathroom was practically outside and our bedroom had two walls of French doors opening to our balcony. It was perfect! We even had stones as our nightstand and a mozzy net (needed) over the bed. Tyler had done well.
Good job really as I spent the majority of time there. I was ill, tired and in not any mood to be faffed with. I spent a day or so hanging in my breezy open tree top drinking tea and juice. Shame to be stuck indoors ;-) Possibly the best place I have had to stay in due to sickness. I even had a protector in a stray dog who came and looked after me whilst Tyler was away – very strange but much appreciated. The dogs are not treated as pets in Thailand and have to fend for themselves as do the cats. To find an affectionate dog that is not starving is quite a miracle. Not quite sure if anything else lived on the island since human intervention. I can guess a lot has been forever lost.
Tyler enjoyed himself by chatting with the locals and tourist at Easy Bar, which was ran by a crew of young Burmese men who Tyler made friends with. We spent the next few days living life slowly and exploring our little part of the island. We found the food to not quite up to our Chiang Mai standards, but we guessed that was to be expected on a little island as fresh ingredients were tougher to come by than up north. We wanted to stay but we realized that time was beginning to pass quickly for us and if we weren't careful the rest of our time in Thailand would slip away in Ko Tao. So sea legs akimbo, we packed our bags and jumped on a boat back to Ko Phangan.
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