That little piece of heaven named Koh Tao

So after left Pai my visa was rapidly running out and I was going through all the options for extending it. All came to the conclusion that I'd only be able to extend or another 14 day period. SHIT. I'd stupidly crossed the border to start with hence only getting 14 days and now I could only get 14 more days! There was only one thing or it. Get to Bangkok, fly out and fly back in. That way I would get 30 days. But OF COURSE the cheapest bloody place to fly to was Vietnam. Saigon in fact. Of course only me would end up flying to where I left 3 weeks before!

That journey was horrific.

27th August: 6 pm

Bus from Chiang Mai - Bangkok. (12 hours)

Bus from Bangkok - Airport. (1 hour)

Wait for my flight. (6 hours)

Fly to Vietnam. (1 hour)

Wait for my flight back. (5 hours)

28th August: 1 am

Arrive at Bangkok Airport

Sleep in the Airport. ( 6 hours)

Train from Airport to Bangkok. (30 mins)

Taxi from Train Station to Khao San Road (20 mins)

Sleep in a room for half a day (9 hours)

Bus from Bangkok - Chumpon (10 hours)

August 29th: 3am

Sleep at Chumpon Dock (4 hours)

Boat from Chumpon - Koh Tao (3 hours)

I think in all I was in transit for approx 48 hours. All for 16 more days on my visa. And MY GOD IT WAS WORTH IT! Getting to the beach was SO worth it. In fact it was so good I laid there all day and burnt myself! :) I was happy.

On the first day a group was created. Jose, Becci, Jess, Luke, Dom,Timor and Chris who I had met in Chiang Mai. We were unstoppable. I thought I had had my fair amount of buckets in Siem Reap, Pai and Chiang Mai, but what I did not realise is that the southern islands of Thailand also has other name. I believe it's 'THE PLACE WITH MILLIONS OF FUCKING STRONG BUCKETS'. Ok maybe this name isn't official but it should be.

I had buckets coming out of every pore.

Jose, Chris and I decided to get a bungalow together. It was conveniently located right next to The Chicken Baguette Lady. How didn't vomit up chicken baguette from over indulgence I'll never know!

We hired bikes one day and drove to the other side of the island. We arrived at a beach called Tanote Bay. I put on my snorkel and dived into the water and the sight I saw was breath taking. It was the exact replica of a scene from Finding Nemo! We spent hours just following fish around, mesmerized by their beautiful colours. We also visited the next beach along called Shark Bay. This was due to the small sharks that would come into feed (not on people) at dawn and dusk. However I didn't see any sharks, which upset me somewhat. Especially when the boys came back boasting they'd seen two AND a turtle. I just kept seeing lots of poo like objects resting on the seabed. They were slimy and squidgy! This I found out after Jose had thrown two at me!

That night I drowned my non-shark-seeing sorrows with 4 buckets (between 3 of us mum!) and ended up dancing on the bar until early hours of the morning. I had also fallen in love with one of the fire poi dancers and shortly after decided that fire poi/stick dancing was the sexiest talent EVER!

After a few nights of partying on Koh Tao we all decided to leave to find the real party on Koh Phangan. Whilst on the boat we met up with 3 Canadian guys I had met in Pai. They are the coolest guys ever so I was happy that we were going to party Koh Phangan styleeeee together.

Candy for the eyes. Click here.