For some reason a woman screamed and it woke most people on our side of the room up. It's early, around 5:40AM, and out of the boat window I can see Koh Tao. We still have a while to wait before we dock. I feel sticky, tired and disgusted by the conditions I've slept in. At least it's almost over and I can shower when we find a room.
Koh Tao is a bigger island than Koh Phi Phi. It's supposedly the island for diving and snorkeling, situated in the Gulf of Thailand above Koh Samui and Koh Phangan. My first impression of the landscape was Jurassic. Smooth, giant boulders are all over the hills, poking out of the green forest that coats the island. It's hard to describe why that made it look 'Jurassic', but it just did.
When we get ourselves off the boat and onto the island, we realised we had no idea where we wanted to go. The main strip of beach and all the bars and restaurants are on the west side of the island. However, it's not necessarily the nicest strip of beach and Rachelle reckons we head to one of the smaller, quieter beaches on the east, because they are supposedly better. After much deliberation we chose Tanote Bay. We weren't sure if it was possible to walk there but not being sure meant it was wiser to take a taxi. The taxis here are all pick-up trucks. We didn't know why until making the journey to the east side: Steep hills and poor road surfaces. A Tuk-Tuk would fall apart on this terrain and it's a good job we didn't walk. The truck is an expensive ride and we wonder if we've been conned as new arrivals. It drops us off at a hotel that the driver said would be in our price range. It definitely wasn't. He refused to take us anywhere else without paying him more, but told us there were more places to stay on the beach itself, just a short walk away. We decided to give it a try.
It was a fairly short walk to the beach. However, it involved walking along a wooden bridge that didn't seem all that well built. Every step we took, with our heavy bags on our backs, made the planks of wood beneath give a little. There was serious risk of falling straight through. Our fears weren't put at ease after seeing one of the planks snapped by someone previously using the bridge, and I bet they didn't have this amount of baggage slung around them. Thankfully, we made it to the beach and found accommodation we could afford.
We are staying in a bungalow on stilts. It overlooks the small beach and is a short walk down some steps onto the sand. In the sea is a collection of boulders, and one of them is especially large. Apparently you can jump from the top of it into the sea. I might try it. Our accommodation has a restaurant and the other two or three places to stay on this beach do too, but that's about all there is here. It's simplistic, tranquil, a getaway from all the noise.
Once settled into our room, we went for breakfast in the restaurant. Then we headed onto the beach to find ourselves a spot (not hard with noone on it). We sunbathed, swam in the sea and sunbathed some more. We made a mental note to rent snorkeling masks tomorrow, because there is heaps of coral in the sea and the clear water means we can see fish from above; imagine what could be seen with a snorkeling mask. The beach became a bit more crowded as the day went on, but not by much. It really is a lovely place to be. Rachelle and I prematurely agreed with each other that this is the best beach we have been to.
When the sun began to set, we went for food at a neighbouring hotel: Traitors to our own accommodation's restaurant I suppose. Then there was nothing to do. No nightlife in paradise. We were tired anyway and decided to get into bed and watch Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure on my iPod. Rachelle hadn't seen it before, but it is a most bodacious film.
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