Ill start by saying that we made a blood oath to repeat this place to no one. i like my blood, and my life. no names.
Our first Island, our first getaway. An hour and a half ferry ride (after 12 hours on a bus, spent hungover sitting next a group of monks rubbing camphor oil all over themselves, which was surprisingly wonderful) and we arrived to the oasis. Trevor and I decided to 'keep it cheap' and walk to our destination (a couple was waiting at the peir to show us their bamboo huts) instead of taking the 60 ฿ taxi (taxi means old man driving a 25 year old scooter, and 60 baht is roughly $2 dollars).
A few marital squabbles later (are you seeing a pattern? being cheap in 40 degrees after being awake all night doesnt lend well) along with 2km past and 6 litres of sweat each, the owners of our guesthouse worried for our risk of dehydration - and came to pick us up on their personal motorbikes. We werent even halway there.
We arrive to a gorgeous, shaded grounds with 10 huts made completely of bamboo. The walls are thatched stripping of the bark, the beams, studs and floor beams are made from whole bamboo logs and the roof is thatched leafs. Our bed was draped with clean white sheets and a mosquito net. The bathroom was an outdoor oasis, and we got the experience (for the first time) showering outside. We dropped our bags and began to explore the rest of the island.
Koh _______ is a relatively uninhabited, undeveloped island that is small enough to walk from end to end and side to side within a few hours. There is a small village, servicing the tourist action of the island with a few restaurants, a general store and motorbike hire. This is the first (and so far last) area that is devoid of a 7-11 and ATM's (a breath of fresh air). The beer was cheap (40฿ for a large chang, about $1.25, which is two beers in a large bottle) and being able to shop at the local store we were able to eat a wonderful mix of fresh fruit (local, organic papaya, pineapple, watermelon, apples and banans) mixed with muesli and yogurt for breakfast, home made veggie sandwiches for lunch and a local cuisine for supper. At our favorite place to eat, they had a pet girl monkey. At first upset, I asked the owners (a Thai woman and French man) why they had a pet monkey.... the Thai woman told me that she had gone to Burma (Myanmar) to visit friends, and the local people had shot a monkey, which had turned out to have a baby. The village was going to let the baby fend for itself, and she said that when she went to find it, it was malnourished and scared. She has kept the monkey ever since, and the restaurant is adorned with photos of the monkey being raised from a baby (she had her own play area with a large wooden structure to live in... and strangely enough loved being around men, but didnt like women much. competition?)
Our days here were filled with reading, swimming, stretching, reading, swimming, reading.... you get the point. We enjoyed many beautiful walks around the island, and were able to truly relax and spend some time together as a couple (in public) for the first time since leaving home. Exhausted from so much relaxation, our second to last day was spent on a snorkelling trip with a few of the people we had become great friends with during our stay (we call this island stint the 'Commune Experience" as here we met people that we spent a lot of time together in the same common space) .....
Snorkelling was amazing! At first I was afraid (I was petrified) and so in order to remove ourselves from fear Tina and I (the girl in the front right of photo) decided to wear life jackets. These served 3 purposes, for those interested.
1. We couldnt drown during a freak out episode (which happened while accidentally bumping into someone, even seeing rocks under the sand were cause for some seriously scary moments).
2. We were impenetrable to sharks teeth.
3. As Camille (girl, back left) so adequately called us while we swam bright and bulky, "Enforcement Squad" was here to let the ocean know we had arrived, so a shark couldnt 'accidentally bump into us" as we had read happened so often in these 'unusual' cases of man eating sharks.
In truth, we didnt see much ( a few bright fish and some epically scary dark rock formations) but the day was amazing, fun filled and solidified a pretty cool friendship with some pretty cool people.
Tired of relaxing, we decided to leave Koh _______ and head over to Koh Tao, the island famous for diving and snorkelling. To get there first, we spent two night in Chumphon, a 'transfer' type town. Chumphon was fun for the few nights, and we spent the day covering the town by foot, the afternoon shopping in a MASSIVE second hand store (I truly believe that a second hand store is a window to a country's soul) and the night eating fried food in the night market.
The next morning we were off on a 7 am ferry (morning have become the roughest thing to endure), set to arrive in Koh Tao 3 hours later. Safe, sound and an Amaris-wardrobe malfunction later (yup) we are here .... and have much to add in our next blog.
Our first Island, our first getaway. An hour and a half ferry ride (after 12 hours on a bus, spent hungover sitting next a group of monks rubbing camphor oil all over themselves, which was surprisingly wonderful) and we arrived to the oasis. Trevor and I decided to 'keep it cheap' and walk to our destination (a couple was waiting at the peir to show us their bamboo huts) instead of taking the 60 ฿ taxi (taxi means old man driving a 25 year old scooter, and 60 baht is roughly $2 dollars).
A few marital squabbles later (are you seeing a pattern? being cheap in 40 degrees after being awake all night doesnt lend well) along with 2km past and 6 litres of sweat each, the owners of our guesthouse worried for our risk of dehydration - and came to pick us up on their personal motorbikes. We werent even halway there.
We arrive to a gorgeous, shaded grounds with 10 huts made completely of bamboo. The walls are thatched stripping of the bark, the beams, studs and floor beams are made from whole bamboo logs and the roof is thatched leafs. Our bed was draped with clean white sheets and a mosquito net. The bathroom was an outdoor oasis, and we got the experience (for the first time) showering outside. We dropped our bags and began to explore the rest of the island.
Koh _______ is a relatively uninhabited, undeveloped island that is small enough to walk from end to end and side to side within a few hours. There is a small village, servicing the tourist action of the island with a few restaurants, a general store and motorbike hire. This is the first (and so far last) area that is devoid of a 7-11 and ATM's (a breath of fresh air). The beer was cheap (40฿ for a large chang, about $1.25, which is two beers in a large bottle) and being able to shop at the local store we were able to eat a wonderful mix of fresh fruit (local, organic papaya, pineapple, watermelon, apples and banans) mixed with muesli and yogurt for breakfast, home made veggie sandwiches for lunch and a local cuisine for supper. At our favorite place to eat, they had a pet girl monkey. At first upset, I asked the owners (a Thai woman and French man) why they had a pet monkey.... the Thai woman told me that she had gone to Burma (Myanmar) to visit friends, and the local people had shot a monkey, which had turned out to have a baby. The village was going to let the baby fend for itself, and she said that when she went to find it, it was malnourished and scared. She has kept the monkey ever since, and the restaurant is adorned with photos of the monkey being raised from a baby (she had her own play area with a large wooden structure to live in... and strangely enough loved being around men, but didnt like women much. competition?)
Our days here were filled with reading, swimming, stretching, reading, swimming, reading.... you get the point. We enjoyed many beautiful walks around the island, and were able to truly relax and spend some time together as a couple (in public) for the first time since leaving home. Exhausted from so much relaxation, our second to last day was spent on a snorkelling trip with a few of the people we had become great friends with during our stay (we call this island stint the 'Commune Experience" as here we met people that we spent a lot of time together in the same common space) .....
Snorkelling was amazing! At first I was afraid (I was petrified) and so in order to remove ourselves from fear Tina and I (the girl in the front right of photo) decided to wear life jackets. These served 3 purposes, for those interested.
1. We couldnt drown during a freak out episode (which happened while accidentally bumping into someone, even seeing rocks under the sand were cause for some seriously scary moments).
2. We were impenetrable to sharks teeth.
3. As Camille (girl, back left) so adequately called us while we swam bright and bulky, "Enforcement Squad" was here to let the ocean know we had arrived, so a shark couldnt 'accidentally bump into us" as we had read happened so often in these 'unusual' cases of man eating sharks.
In truth, we didnt see much ( a few bright fish and some epically scary dark rock formations) but the day was amazing, fun filled and solidified a pretty cool friendship with some pretty cool people.
Tired of relaxing, we decided to leave Koh _______ and head over to Koh Tao, the island famous for diving and snorkelling. To get there first, we spent two night in Chumphon, a 'transfer' type town. Chumphon was fun for the few nights, and we spent the day covering the town by foot, the afternoon shopping in a MASSIVE second hand store (I truly believe that a second hand store is a window to a country's soul) and the night eating fried food in the night market.
The next morning we were off on a 7 am ferry (morning have become the roughest thing to endure), set to arrive in Koh Tao 3 hours later. Safe, sound and an Amaris-wardrobe malfunction later (yup) we are here .... and have much to add in our next blog.
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