Paradise on earth; Ko Tao

I can’t not believe it. The place i’ve always dreamed of exists! The place I have combed through continents for years searching for, exists! The gorgeous beach, crystal clear water teaming with colorful fish, dotted with bamboo bungalows and hammocks; developed just enough to have running water, not hot water, not AC, a bungalow on the beach with very few other tourist around. You can lounge in beach front chairs for free, borrow a snorkel from the woven basket for free, walk 5 minutes into town and rent a motorcycle for $4.50 a day without singing a waiver, buying insurance or providing a drivers license. 

It’s like going back in time where everything is cheap and simple, no regulations, no permits. 

Our overnight boat arrived at 5:00am- still dark out. We hopped in a tuk tuk to Sairee beach where we were dropped at a cluster of bungalows. Nothing was open yet so we wandered down the beach until we found ones we liked the look of and ran into out new Dutch friends we made on the boat who were also waiting for the bungalow keeper to awake. We were all thankful she had bungalows available, but I was not surprised, things were going to smoothly so far, why would they stop now. People are so accomodating in Thailand! We had to pay 800 bahts (Approx $24 USD) instead of 600 because we were only staying one night, and we had to take the old bungalow that had not one but two igunas in it, but who cares!? We are in paradise and lizards eat big spiders. 

We secure a hut and brush our teeth, THANK GOD, throw on swim suits and stroll to the beach for a recovery nap and some breakfast. Next, we grab a snorkel and dive in to the crystal clear water just long enough for Jason to cut his stomach on coral:( Decide it's time to take a break from swimming and get a motorcycle to explore the rest of the island. Ride to the top of a mountain, drink a coconut shake, snorkel on the other side of the island. Eat a fabulous meal. Return to our side of the island. Go for an evening stroll on the beach, oh look, thai massages on the beach for $7USD, sold. Feeling limber and restored, we continue our walk to thinking this day couldn’t get any better yet it does. Fire throwers and dancers lining the beach, we score a beach front seat on the sand with a triangular pillow to lean again and order a beer. CHANG. I’m learning to love Chang mostly for the price tag. 

Ko Tao is paradise. I love the vibe on this island. I never want to leave. 

Working our way down the Gulf Cost of Thailand

Mistake number one, going to the bus station and letting people herd you onto their buses.There are multiple companies, shop around until you find the nice, non mildewy, aircon leaking on the seat bus! But whatever, it’s only a few hours to and thanks to the magnetic traveling chess board, we have an intense game of chess going on so we barely notice.We are awakened at our destination, Hua Hin. Per the usual, we roll in to town with no hotel. Swarms of tuk tuks and are waiting at the bus stop, we start negotiating the price to be dropped in an area close to the beach and then wander for a few minutes until we find a little guest house for $30 a night, it’s no frills but it’s cheap and its close to the beach and we’re tired. We wake up before sunrise again. Relieved to realize the other is awake, put on some running shoes and go for a run to explore our new town. Early morning runs in a new country are sheer magic. It’s still cool out, the city is clean and quiet and you get to watch the city wake up.

Stairs leading up to Wat Kaho Takiap

It’s like being early to a party your best friend is hosting, you get to see greet every guest as they come and watch the party come to life. We run on the beach with an escort of non mangy dogs, watching the fishermen set off to sea, intrigued by steep stairs up a large hill with some ruins we start up. We are greeted by dozens of enormous monkeys guarding the path to the temple at the top, we proceed cautiously but it turns out they are friend, not foe.

After we’ve befriended a couple of monkeys and found a string of restaurants on the beach with lounge chairs, we end our run with one of the early to set up street vendors and have a thai coffee. We don’t speak a word of the same language, it’s the inevitable game of charades with lots of smiling and bowing, Thai’s sure smile a lot.  Back to the “hotel” to throw on swim suits and head to the unpopulated beach area we discovered. We eat just about everything on the menu and drink coconut shakes and carrot shakes, noodle salad, noodle soup, seafood salad and then lounge around on the beach for a while napping and reading lonely planet deciding our next destination and the the best combination of trains, buses, boats, car rentals and motorcycles to get to Ko Tao. 

Suan Son Beach at sunrise

Pleasantly surprised by how cheap the trains are in comparison to Europe, we take a train to Chumphon. The train is delayed but there’s WiFi in the train station where I check my email to make sure my last set of Airbnb’ers left the key for the upcoming set of Airbnb'ers  and the Homejoy cleaners were able to find the washer and dryer. Things are on auto pilot, great, I can check back out. The train from Hua Him to Chumphon was one of the most gorgeous train rides, we wished our train hadn’t been delayed and it was light the whole time, but I wouldn’t have been able to keep my eyes open anyway. Trains put me into a deep sleep, every time, without fail. Upon arrival to Chumphon we are beckoned by a thai woman announcing the slow boat to Ko Tao is leaving “NOW” so hurry up and come with her. We are skeptical but it’s only $12 to take an overnight boat to an island, what do we have to loose? Overnight travel is so efficient. You get accommodation + transportation and you waste no time getting there. You’re sleeping in one city/ country and wake up in a new one. I try to work in over night transportation whenever possible. We befriended some Dutch girls and all blindly followed the random woman from the train station in a tuk tuk to a cargo boat. Yes, a cargo boat. They cleared out a room in the hull and added 36 bunk beds.

The cargo ship

cargo sent from the mainland to the island

playing chess in our bunk in the hull of the ship (I won!) 

Not the most romantic, but we have Six Senses for the romantic part of the honeymoon, until then we are traveling… It was remarkably clean, this culture has an obsession with cleanliness (except the bathrooms), even on a ship! We had to take our shoes off before entering the sleeping room. I was thankful I had my "don't leave home without it bag". And thankful I could make it through the night without using the bathroom or brushing my teeth. We arrive to Ko Tao at 5:30 am, again it is dark, we don’t have lodgings and there are swarms of tuk tuk drivers luring us into their cars.