Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
So we got to Kho Tao (aka Turtle island) and dumped our bags in the nearest guest house we could find. I was quick to show Marcus around Sariee beach, which is where I stayed last time. The vibe about this island is different to the rest on the Gulf coast. Its pretty chilled out and filled with divers, but alas everything that is perfect has to be ruined. As we walked down the main strip through the pockets of little shops and restaurants I soon realised what was happening to this amazing island.....tourism!! every other place along the beach had construction going on. There were bungalows being built practically on top of each other and the charming, cheap, bungalows were being replaced by expensive, concrete, air conditioned palaces. After speaking to some locals we were informed that the demand for 5* resorts has risen sharply and people who come to dive want to live in the lap of luxury. I have to admit that the change to Kho Tao was very shocking for me to see and that was only after a year and a half of absence. I certainly feel that this simple island will soon lose its charm. One thing that has not changed on Kho Tao was it's breathtaking natural beauty. The waters are so clear which is why it's the 3rd best location for diving in the world. The sands are fine and the hills and mountains are resplendent. Despite my initial grumble I was happy to be back. Marcus and I stayed for 6 nights in total to relax and on one of the days we decided to go to Kho Nangyuan which was a 5min longboat ride off the coast of Kho Tao. When we got there we had to wrestle our way over other boats to get to the make shift floating pier and pay our 100 Baht each to get on the island, but boy was it worth the money! The island was wondrous and beyond belief! there were actually 3 islands that were all connected to each other by beaches. To give you some sort of an idea think of a triangle and then drawing a line from each point to meet in the middle, those lines are the beaches and the points are the islands. It was truly beautiful and I don't really think the pictures do it justice. After walking round one of the islands we reached the first beach, but then looked at the contraption that connected both beaches! I had a flash back of watching Total Wipe Out USA! It was a comedy, blue floating bridge that should have been on some obstacle course! After assessing the situation and trying to figure out the best tactic to cross the bridge (bearing in mind I can't swim and I'm afraid of deep water) we took a deep breath and just charged across!! after laughing off the assault course we found a nice spot and lazed on the beach for the next few hours.
Once we were back on Tao Marcus and I were craving a burger and as bad as that sounds we just needed a fix! we ventured in to the main port and found a place called the Safety Stop where we both ate the best burger in the world.....it had real cheese!!! once we had gorged on cow we decided to have a walk around and burn the masses of calories we had just consumed.
While we were staying at Sariee Huts we inherited a furry friend who we named Friskies after the cat food we had bought her. She was a very relaxing companion for 3 days of our stay and always waited for us on the balcony when we got home. On our last night on the island I dragged Marcus to a lady boy show, which for me was great fun although Marcus would disagree! To be honest I was rather jealous of some of them as they were not only thinner than me, but had amazing bums and tums!!! don't get me wrong some of them looked like beasts, but that's what made the night so amusing! after a very side splitting evening we walked home to our shack thinking about our next destination........Kho Phangan!
- comments