From Sunrise Beach to Turtle Island

Koh Tao, Random internet cafe, 5:40pm

Arrived in Koh Tao this afternoon. Koh Tao is the 20th (i think i read that soemwhere) biggest island in Thailand and is home to about a zillion divers. I've signed up for certification, so will begin a four day scuba course tomorrow. My accommodation for 4 nights, breakfast, lunch, and PADI certification are all included - for a grand total of 9000 baht (around $230).

I've spent the last few days in Koh Phangan. I'm trying to remember what I did, but it was a whole bunch of reading, relaxing, sitting in the sun, and eating Thai food. I arrived on Thursday and went from Haad Rin (the main pier for boats coming from Koh Samui) to Haad Yao, about 40 mintues away by taxi. Everyone on the island was in a festive mood it seemed, as the whole place was overrun with tourists and Thai visitors, come to celebrate the full moon party and visit family for the Thai new year.

We stayed at a place called Overbay in Haad Rin. For three nights, my total food and accommodations bill was aroun $30...including drinks! Not everything is that cheap here, but if you look for it, you can find it. Overbay is set up on the hill by the ocean. The bungalows are very simple, but with some of the most amazing views I've ever seen. I met up with my friend Lisa from S Africa that I met in Chiang Mai. We in turn met a couple of Canadians, and spent a few days lazing around and partying with them. There's not much to do when it's as hot as it is here, but sit on the beach, or under a fan, and relax. My kind of travel!

The full moon party - well, it was quite the experience. Safe to say I'll never go again, but it was definitely a blast. It basically doubles the islands population, and almost all of those that attend are foreigners. There was fire dancing, skin painting, fireworks, live music, street vendors selling everything imaginable...generally drunken debauchery. We arrived early (Lisa, the two Canadians, and myself) and found some dinner and drinks to watch the sunset. Then we set out for the evening, fully expecting to not make it home until the sun came up as our accommodations were so far away. I was the first one home at around 4:30 (I'm getting old) - the rest of the crew stayed around to watch the sunrise, and then came back to our bungalow after that. Needless to say the next day (yesterday) was a wash - really nothing can be done with a headache in 100 degree heat but lots of reading and sleeping!

I spent 3 nights in Koh Phangan in total and caught the boat this morning after saying goodbye to my S African friend. I'm now staying at a place on a private beach and plan to see some of the local color (aka a cold Singha and hopefully meeting new people) this evening. Should be yet another adventure!

Still undecided about what to do with the rest of my time here. Would love to see Cambodia, but it may be too much of a trek for this month...not ruling anything out at this point! Looking forward to starting the dive certification course tomorrow...and also looking forward to a shower. I shower about 3 times a day here, but really never feel clean. Nice to be away from some of the comforts of home, but will definitely look forward to flushing toilets (toilets at all, actually), round the clock electricity, a washing machine, my car, and work! (Ok that last one was to see if you were paying attention). Soon enough I suppose!

Happy weekend!
Cheers -
Genevieve