Koh Tao (23.12.21 - 29.12.21)
Thursday 23rd December 2021
Bed made to order! I felt quite sorry for the guy on the train, he spent hours making beds, and actually started to ask if we wanted them made up about an hour into the journey. Had mine done at about 7:30 and retired behind my blue curtain for the night. Surprisingly I slept really well but did wake a couple of times and had a quick vape in the toilets – didn’t feel guilty or naughty as they stank of cigarette smoke!
As much as I enjoyed the sleeper train experience it was a shame the journey was at night as it meant missing most of the sights. But I did see a lot of poverty-stricken areas on the outskirts of Bangkok, so many run down wood and tin shacks barely a meter from the train line and piles upon piles of plastic waste, mainly bottles. It’s so sad and disgusting, seeing it on TV is really not the same as in real life – what are we doing to this planet and what are the wealthy nations doing to our poorer neighbours – I find it amazing that with all the technology we have we cannot come up with a solution to the plastic problem that is suffocating our planet– or is it a case of we have but there is not enough profit in it for the fat cats. Makes my heart break. No more take away Thai soups for me – from now on I will eat on the spot as they make it up for you in a bowl – we all need to do so much more, recycling is not a solution for every country, but we do need to stop manufacturing and buying plastic, and we need to stop immediately.
On a lighter note, we passed through some amazing train stations, on one an entire platform had been turned into a marketplace, and most had night markets backing onto them. I tried to get pics but was too slow. Every station had extremely large pictures of the king and queen and shines for Buddha, all of which were well with stocked with food, drink and presents – no wonder he has a pot belly and a smile on his face.
Ha ha, the woman I was chatting to after picking up my train ticket, Ana from Holland, was in the sleeper behind me. Once we reached Chumporn she took me under her wing, it was great to have company on the coach and catamaran. Turns out she is a diving instructor with Big Blue – looking forward to doing that. She also spoke a bit of Thai and so we got our coffee for Thai price, 20 baht not tourist price, 40 baht 
The catamaran journey was much smoother than expected, Ana and I sat outside at the top near the front (covid safe!), she said it would take 2 hours, but after an hour, just as i was beginning to feel myself doze off we docked. I got a taxi to the hostel, the driver said 300 baht but only charged me 200 – lovely English lady – lol.
My new hostel, Nat Resort – located on Sairee Beach – is really scenic and feels more like a holiday resort with the beach about a minutes’ walk from my room and lined with coffee shops, bars, boutiques and dive schools. As it is Christmas, I booked a room to myself but with a shared bathroom, and I am not alone, there are 5 rooms on my balcony and we share 2 bathrooms, all of the rooms are occupied and everyone is really friendly. However, I was a little disappointed as there was no kettle (lol – it’s a hostel not a hotel), but she who dares to ask gets….
Wondering if I should brave it and hire a moped one day. The island is 7.5 miles long and 3.5 wide and very mountainous so it is the most convenient way to get around and I have my international driving licence Ana said there are also some excellent hiking treks and a few cafes up in the mountains that are worth visiting for their awesome sunset views. Anyway, I have plenty of time as I am here for 6 nights.
Friday 24th December 2021
11:11 o’clock – just went across the road, in my pj’s, to a street stall and had chicken pad Thai for breakfast – feeling nicely full and ready to do something, but not sure what – think it should involve my bikini and the beach, but I’ve got a stonking headache, I think I need to drink less coffee and more water.
Did I mention, Wallop not only sent me a few messages last night, he even face timed me. I mentioned that I saw him with a new customer, and that he didn’t say hello to me even though he also saw me – said he was taking her to the hospital – LMFHO – and also said that I am not a customer, I am his lover – LMFHO even more – and asked me not forget Bamboo Laughing (a resort he says his family are going to on the 10th January and wants me to come with him). I am concerned about this, I am sure it must be a scam of some sort – like we have a fab time and then on the last night he runs off and I am left abandoned and end up paying for everything?
15:03 – sitting at the second beach bar of the day – so hard not to drink – but staying away from the larger – on the cocktails! Had a Tom Rum at the last place and now I have a long island iced tea and portion of French fries coming (last of my food today) Think I may need 40 winks before I venture out tonight- and I must venture out, I can’t spend Christmas eve on my own.
Before I headed to the first bar of the day, I checked out the free tourist info book that I picked up last night, meaning I did a little sightseeing – I ventured onto the beach, turned left and walked in the sea to King Rama V Rocks and Statue. It was a lovely walk even though the tide was high, in fact it is high season which means it never goes out that far, excellent for swimming, diving and snorkelling but not for sunbathing, so I had to walk in the sea. At one point I had to clamber around the foundations of some of the beach bars – a little tricky as I didn’t want to get my laptop wet, but fun and the sea was beautifully warm and very refreshing
If turn right and go down the beach I should come across the Big Blue dive centre where Anne works – maybe I should hobble along there after this drink. She took my FB details, but it was only after we departed that I remembered it’s locked down so only friends of friends can request a friendship – and it will be good see her anyway. I wonder how much a dive will cost.
Saturday 25th December 2021
Merry Christmas
Had a lovely video call this from Danie and Errol this morning – it was so lovely to see you – miss you guys.
Had a mad night last night – went for a walk to a bar I passed earlier in the day – good music and my type of people. Bought a couple of beers and watched the sunset – so beautiful. Just as I was leaving a guy sitting nearby said hello, asked how I was, shame about his timing as I would have stayed if he had chatted to me sooner. So, I found myself back in my room at about 8pm and was prepared for an early night when this guy from across the road came looking for my Spanish neighbours, they were not in so he asked if I wanted to go to his house for good company, a barbeque and booze – so I donned on my bra and off I went. What a lovely group of Thai guys, although Maxi, our host said he was the Basque country. We had some extremely delicious king prawns and sausages, whilst the Thai salad set my mouth on fire – again so delicious but by god I don’t ever recall eating anything so spicily hot. I also tried some squid that had been dried and rolled flat, it wasn’t very nice and I thought fish food would probably taste very similar. The strangest nibbles we had were a dried fish and nuts combo but again delicious. I wasn’t on my own with these guys for long, (not that I felt in any form of danger) as the Spanish girls soon turned up and so did the ladies who worked at the street food stall where I got my pad Thai breakfast from. Sure, one of the guys was trying to chat me up, but I’ve so had enough of Thai guys trying to chat me up for now. Woke with a hangover!
Not sure what I am going to do for the day – maybe take a stroll down to the other end of the beach, see if I can’t find Anne, drink beer and chillax.
Later – the other end of the beach was really boring, hardly any bars and not many people and I couldn’t find Anne, but when I looked on the map Big Blue is on the main road, not the beach. Beginning to wonder if I’m really cut out for this solo travelling lark – nothing I do seems to go the way it should.
6:30 pm – just got of a zoom with everyone – shed a tear when I saw them all – I think this is the first ever Christmas I’ve spent without being with some member of my family, certainly the first ever Christmas I have spent on my own – to be honest it’s been fucking boring and seeing everyone has made me feel lonely – wobbly moment again – so I’m off to get pissed and hopefully find some company.
23:45 – What a fun night, Dave who is in a room 3 down from me, collared me as I walked into the hippy bar and introduced me to a few people. Most of them left quite early but me, Dave, Jason and Bradley went on to the Leo bar to watch the fire twirlers. Towards the end they all left and I found myself sitting on own so decided to trundle back to my but get a burger on the way. It was while I was the burger bar that one of the Leo bar men came running up to me, I’d forgotten to pay for my drinks – how bloody embarrassing, and to top it off, after paying for the burger I didn’t have enough money for the drinks bill – thank god for cash points. By the way, this wasn’t just any old burger, this was a really juicy, run down your arm juicy, hot spicey burger packed with salad and tomatoes, very delicious indeed – not quite slap up the Christmas meal that I had been thinking about getting – lol
Monday 27th Decemeber 2021
Felt a bit down yesterday but I did go for a walk, found the pier where the ferry arrives/leaves and a supermarket – bought a few bits – but didn’t have my phone on me so no pics I’m afraid. I then spent a few hours at a bar, but as much alcohol as I consume, I don’t seem to getting pissed – I think it is leaking out of my sweaty poors – lol
Anyway, today I completed 369% of my step goal – that’s according to my phone – according to my feet I’ve completed at least 1000%
After an early night I woke early. It wasn’t long before Dave was up, we got chatting and then went for breakfast. We turned left out of the resort and low and behold another town area only 5 mins from here (no pics – but I will tomorrow when I go for breakfast again). Dave recommended that I go to a place called 360 viewing point and John-Suwan viewing point – only an hours walk from here – checked it out on Google maps – easy enough, follow the road until I see sign posts. On route I stopped at Dave’s dive shop – did I mention he is a dive instructor – booked myself in for tomorrow – need to spend some of my Xmas money constructively and memorably. Also got chatting to another solo female traveller from America who teaches Spanish, Christina – she was booking in an advanced dive, wants to get her divers certificate. Anyway, after a fair bit of ‘teacher chat’ I left her with Dave at the Simple Life dive school and started my bloody long trek to the 360 view point – Maxie passed me at one point, stopped and offered me a lift – hind sight is a good thing! Due to the heat and not having an internet connection to check Google maps – I really thought I had been walking for a good hour and became concerned I hadn’t found it so, like a fool, I turned off the main road and headed up the steepest hill ever – OMG – obviously I shouldn’t have done this – but this me and I do shit like this – I think maybe the High Life coffee shop sign enticed me a little – it was closed 
. So, I basically got to the top U-turned and rolled backed down the hill and double backed on myself to a beer and internet connection – bloody hell I was still 20 minutes away and should have just kept following the road I was previously on. The views from the 360 were awesome and I thought let me just chill in this hammock and enjoy – lol – the bloody hammock ripped and I ended up on the floor on my back – luckily no one was around to laugh at me. From there I went to the John- Suwan viewing point, the guy at the entrance said it was a 10 minute walk – it was a fucking climb up a bloody mountain and you had to use a rope to pull yourself up some of the boulders – but wow – what an absolute stunning view and this lovey Chinese lady took some pics of me for me. Getting down the mountain was a lot easier as I did most of it on my bum After that I ventured down – yes down even further (which meant going up on the way home) – a very steep hill to Freedom beach – so bloody beautiful – I even had a swim in the sea – my first! After that I had a mouth burning fish salad with glass noodles and the squid and octopus bits were very succulent – I have only ever enjoyed them here. I watched the sun go down which meant an hours walk back in the dark – it’s moped heaven here – feeling lucky I wasn’t knocked down by one – wish I had been brave enough to hire one – perhaps I will when I get to Koh Phangan – so much easier and faster than walking and I am insured and have an international driving license so it is only me that is stopping me.
Maxi just passed by – totally pissed but celebrating because he just got his boat licence, he said I can’t come to Koh Tao without visiting the island of Koh Knag Yuan – perhaps I should squeeze it in Wednesday morning, my ferry to Koh Phangan doesn’t leave until 3pm so I have some time to kill.
Stayed at my room this evening – not really in the mood for trying to make friends.
PS – the names of the bays seen from both the 360 and John-Suwan viewpoints are Chalok Baan Kao Bay and Shark Bay.
Wednesday 29th Decemeber 2021
Had such an amazing day yesterday, even though most of it was a blur! Started off with breakfast with Dave, then scuba diving. It was actually quite perfect because there was just me and Ann (a lovely Thai lady who now lives in England) and both of us were new to diving (although this was my second time as I had a go on the Caribbean many moons ago) and between us we had 3 professions looking after us, Lucas the instructor, Dave and Ann’s husband, Colin, who is also a professional diver. We did a dry run of the skills needed, like how to recover the breathing apparatus and how to clear your goggles of water and then went off in the boat. I was so nervous when it came to the first dive, even over the simple issue of jumping off the boat, feet first, clinging onto my face mask and body weights and into the deep blue sea – I hate my head going under even in a swimming pool – I was so scared I wouldn’t pop up again – but obviously I did – lol – we swam out to a shallow area and I had a brave moment and snorkelled part of it and to my surprise I saw a beautiful shawl of colourful parrot fish and some gorgeous little vivid blue ones. Once I gathered my senses, I realised that we were at freedom beach, the same beach I went to the day before. Anyway, we re-did the skills in the water, and I got all them first time except the goggles, it took ages to get that one, but I did eventually. I so wish I had contact lens’, I so wish I had sorted them out as I was supposed to back in England. Still the goggles magnify by 33% so I got to see a lot but nothing in great detail and the seabed was a bit of a blur and the goggles kept filling with water which was so annoying. We only dived for 15 minutes the first time and to 6.5 meters. The second dive was for half an hour and to 7.5 meters. I felt so much more confident the second time and the goggles were fine for the first 20 minutes, then they started to fill again, it wasn’t until we got out that I realised the strap at the back had slipped up and so they were not on properly.
I was so exhausted when we got back to land, Dave invited me to join him and his friends for dinner but I wasn’t up for it so went back to my room, showered, ate, had a beer and rolled around in bad until I fell asleep.
