After Bali we headed across the water to Thailand. After a short stop in Bangkok (more on that later) we headed down to the islands. First stop Koh Samui. Unfortunately on arrival, after a very long bus and boat journey, we realised Samui wasn't our cup of tea. After two nights we decided to move on to Koh Tao.
Koh Tao was an entirely different experience. On approach the rocky cliffs, crystal waters and sun-kissed beaches are very appealing.
On our first day we set about exploring. We were staying at Sairee Beach which is the most popular area on the island and a mecca for divers. We headed for the beach and came across Maya bar - a beachfront bar with free sun beds. Perfect. Time to top up our tans and relax over cocktails in the evening watching the fire dancers.
At Maya we met Helen and Megan from Manchester. We had travelled on the same bus from Bangkok to Samui with them but really got chatting on Koh Tao. Throughout our whole trip on the islands it became a running joke that we were stalking each other as we bumped into one another every single day.
During our time in Koh Tao we were lucky enough to experience the annual Koh Tao festival. It went on for two days and involved parades, music, dancing and free food. Never to turn down a bargain we filled our faces and headed over to the festival ground to find out more about the eco-cultural projects being carried out in place to save the island. The decorations were quite something, trumped only by the fast array of foods on offer and the local DJ, who kept us up until 3am.
Aside from the festival and the beach the main activity on offer is diving. As mike wasn't keen we decided to book a snorkeling day trip instead. Given that it involved a stop at shark bay I was a bit nervous. Famous for its black and white tip reef sharks, shark bay is meant to be the optimum place to view these creatures that can grow up to two metres. The sharks must have been feeling particularly stealthy on our visit as we didn't see one, not that I minded as I had a full scale freak out in the water and had to go back to the boat. No problem at the next bay (as of course there would be no sharks there!) and continued our trip taking in the beautiful coral, nemo's and at the very end even a small black tipped shark. Ahh!
Aside from the beach, jungle and water Koh Tao has some great little boutique shops which we wondered in and out and some great little restaurants including Sunflower which does the best salads and sandwiches.
From Koh Tao we caught the boat across to Koh Phanghan for the full moon party.
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