Koh Tao: Turtle Island

After a long two months of my Labour Law and Social Security in Thailand course at Chula, I figured it was time for me to hit the beach and get some sun, sand and ocean again. The last time I had taken advantage of Thailand’s beautiful beaches was back in October, so it was definitely nigh time. Luckily, Sacha just finished her teaching contract and had a friend visiting from the Okanogan, so she thought it might be a good idea to also get some nice relaxation time and show John what Thailand has to offer. The two of them jumped on an air-conditioned “VIP” bus down to the province of Chumphon, where they caught a ferry over to Koh Tao. Jeremy and I caught a similar bus down a few days later. Our journey started in the Khao San vicinity (backpacker haven in Bangkok), where we boarded our bus at 9 pm for the overnight trip down to Chumphon. The trip was fairly uneventful and we actually arrived at our destination early! We were supposed to arrive at the Chumphon pier at 6 am, but got there at 5 am. Not that that really helped or anything because the ferry to the islands only leave at certain times.

This is as chipper as one can be at 5 am in the morning. Reminds me of my early mornings at Starbucks, heh heh.


One of the things we had to keep us amused was the abundance of roosters we had running around on their morning rounds. Also, there was a hen and one chick amongst them...


The trip to Koh Tao (Turtle Island) took another two hours from the Chumphon pier. For some reason, the water was really choppy that day and after an 8-hour bus ride, the last thing my stomach wanted to deal with was riding a rocky boat. So I went to sleep. I woke up just as we were pulling into the pier at Koh Tao.

This is an early morning shot from the ferry station. I love Razz's Nikon digital SLR! It takes such pretty pictures. In this particular photo, I was playing around with some of the features I had JUST learned how to use the day before...namely, adjusting the aperture to increase the amount of light that the camera can capture and thereby maximize visibility and light where there is little.


This was a shot of the sunrise in Chumpon from the speedboat


Upon getting off the boat, we were greeted by the usual crowd of aggressive taxi drivers. Only, the taxis here aren’t metered like they are in Bangkok and they’re certainly not air-conditioned, private sedans; they are pick-up trucks with seats on either side of the length of the bed. I had never been to Koh Tao before, so I wasn’t sure what was a fair asking price to get around. Our first quote was 100 baht per person. Jeremy said that was too expensive – and that is steep in Bangkok! We were then approached by another driver in the same “gang” who offered us a ride for 50. Ok, said Jeremy.

This is an example of the kinds of accomodations you'll find on Koh Tao. The place we stayed at cost 300 baht per night. That's a little less than $10.


Days, dusk and evenings on Koh Tao are so beautiful...





We spent the first day just enjoying the ocean and sand and the second day on a full-day of snorkeling around Koh Tao. Fortunately, we were able to make a short stop on neighboring Koh Nangyuan and enjoy the sights there.




Here are the shots of neighboring Koh Nangyuan...the itty bitty island on the map above.










Alas, I was only able to stay for 3 days or so because I had choir rehearsal and class to get back to in Bangkok but Jeremy, John and Sacha stayed on and had the chance to go to Koh Phangan and Koh Samui as well, both of which are accessible by speedboats leaving from Koh Tao. My trip home was MUCH longer. It started with a taxi ride to the pier at 2 pm, where I waited for the 2:45 pm ferry to Chumphon so I could catch the 5:30 pm bus to Bangkok with a stop at the resort town of Hua Hin. We arrived in Bangkok around 12:30 am but I had to catch a taxi from Khao San so I didn’t get home until after 1 am – that’s like 11 hours of traveling! But I’d have to say that it was well worth it.

One of the things I gained from this “economical” mode of traveling (vs flying) is personal experience with how much Europeans and the Japanese smoke! OMG. Everywhere I turned, I was assaulted with the foul stench of cigarettes coming from the European and Japanese tourists. I wonder how the French are adapting to their new smoking ban…heh heh. I was so glad when Washington finally came around with its own smoking ban ~