Well here we are in paradise Ko Tao. As we mentioned before it is an island in the Gulf of Thailand, beautiful beaches, warm clear water and teeming with sealife on the many reefs that surround the island.
After our flight had been cancelled fron KL back to Thailand we had to catch a much later flight and so we were concerned that we would have to spend a night in Hat Yai.....a nothing town with only an international airport to get people there. Being as it was 5.30pm when we arrived we headed straight to the train station in the middle of town in the hope that we could arrange transport to at least get us closer to the islands. We struck gold with the first agency that we came across and managed to arrange transport all of the way here via minibus and an overnight slow ferry. We were pushing for time all of the way but finally made it here bleary eyed at about 7.30am the following morning.
The overnight slow ferry was an adventure in itself. After actually arriving at the pier 5 minutes after the ferry should have left we were relying on Thailand time for it to still be there.....and it was! Everyone else was already on board with their own little berth and as it was now 11pm they were trying to get to sleep.....none of them was too keen to make space for the new comers. And when we say space....we mean everyone has 60 cm's wide and 170 cm's long.....lets just say there was a bit of bump and grind with your neighbour going on!
So far our time here has been spent mainly on the beach utilising our spanking new lilo's to float about on. Todd has also purchased a snorkel set as there are Corals and all of the accompanying sealife only a few metres out from the beach. All in all its a great place to relax.
Today we had the best day ever! We went on a boat trip that involved lots of snorkeling. Such fun.....the fish come right up to you and eat out of your hand. We even snorkeled with sharks today!!! Luckily they didn't bite :) Clare has well and truly overcome her fear of everything that lurks below the Ocean surface. We saw some amazing underwater sights among the corals, bright coloured fish and bizzare looking plant life. The sites that we hit certainly rival the ones that we went to in Egypt (Dahab to be exact).
Clare had a surprise the other day after coming out of the shower. On the wall of the bungalow was a huge lizard.....and by huge we mean 35 cms long! It was so big she thought it was a Tuatara. Last night we discovered there are actually 2 that hang around our place. The picture doesn't do it justice! However, other than theitr loud calls which wake you up sometimes its nice to know that they keep the place bug free. We have become friends though and Todd named her Gemmel.....short for Grand Master Lizard. Along with them we have also seen a snake, green in colour, loads of small geckos and about a zillion frogs from our balcony....its a right little Zoo around here!!
Anyway, thats about all of the news from here. Time to go have a few Happy Hour beers before a leisurely dinner by the water.
Cheers!
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