It's been a pretty crazy first week in Thailand, but I've already learned a few tricks of the trade and made some amazing friends. On the bus down to Koh Tao Stephanie and I met Dan who is from Switzerland, and he ended up staying with us at the same hostel in Koh Tao. We all stayed at the Taco Shack, which was right by the pier and super easy for us to get off the ferry and go straight to check in after a long night traveling from Bangkok. I was beyond excited to finally be on the Thai islands, and really embrace that beach life mentality. That's what I really wanted from the Southern Thailand portion of my trip. The beach. And ohhh man did I embrace it!
Once we all were situated we decided that we should probably get some food and a beer (it was 10am, but it's always happy hour in Thailand) because we were all so happy to finally be out of the craziness of Bangkok and to have some time to soak up some rays and enjoy the beach. Our first day in Koh Tao consisted of us doing some exploring and seeing what was around our neighborhood, and what we soon came to realize is that Koh Tao is more expensive than Bangkok which I thought was interesting since Bangkok is the largest and most developed city in Thailand. Maybe it was because of shipping costs to the island or tourist demands? Another thing that was a little peculiar was that there's so many scuba diving shops everywhere on the island and we thought how do they all stay in business? Probably the most bizarre thing was that shop owners did not bargain AT ALL, which I thought was crazy since Thailand is known for being a place to bargain. After talking to some people and doing some research we found out that Koh Tao is actually a crazy little island and actually sometimes called "death island" because of the mysterious deaths of numerous backpackers over the past few years. We came to the conclusion (although not sure this is true or false) that the reason as to why prices are higher, the numerous dive shops that have the same prices, and lack of bargaining is due to the Thai mafia controlling the system. Pretty wild, right? I had no idea that such a tiny little island could have so much corruption and things going on behind the scenes, but despite the politics of the island it's also known for being a scuba diving Mecca!
When in Koh Tao it is essential to do some scuba diving, because it's so cheap in comparison to other places in the world and the ocean is just plain gorgeous. Stephanie, Dan, and I all decided to do some diving, however, Steph and I were not certified so we just signed up to do a discover dive the next day. The last time I had scuba dived was also a discover dive but it was in Punta Cana when I was like 18 so I was super excited to be able to experience it again. For the rest of the day we proceeded to chill by the beach and do some chilling, and while we were there we ran into some German girls, Maria and Gwendolyn. We did some chatting with them for a few and decided that it would be fun to all go out that evening to check out the nightlife in Koh Tao. We of course thought it was a good idea but in order to be able to rally a nap was definitely necessary, so we went back to the hostel to take a nap. Once we got back we met another traveler, Esben, who is from Denmark. He had been traveling already for some time so he was giving us a bunch of tips on Vietnam and Cambodia, and he also decided that he wanted to come out with us in the evening. Yay friends! We had a night crew, so now it was time to rest up. We all met by the ferry building and proceeded to check out some cool bars along the beach, and the bar we decided to stay at put on some awesome fire show! Our spot at the bar was totally awesome. We were literally on the waterfront surrounded by these tiki-esque fire torches and enjoying some drinks with great company. Since most of us were doing diving the next day we didn't want to stay out too late, so we took in the amazing view for a while and then went back to hit the hay.
It was an early morning for Steph, Dan, and I, but that didn't matter because we were going to go scuba diving! Steph and I went to a different company since we weren't certified so while Dan was out doing his dive we met the people we were diving with and got our equipment ready for the dive. The dive consisted of one learning dive and then an actual dive to about 10 meters. Once we finally got out to the dive site it was time to plunge into the Gulf of Thailand, and oh man was I ready to finally check out the undersea world. In the first dive we just learned the basics like how to use the regulator, the buoyancy controller, etc., but the second dive was awesome. The fish would just swim right up to your face and all around you without any fear. You could literally see all the colors of the rainbow, it was so beautiful that I decided I wanted to get certified. The discover dive really did help me decide that I wanted to get certified since a certification was for life and it was pretty cheap. The certification, however, did require us to get up at 8am the next morning. Worth it. My other friend, Tharmita, that I met in Bangkok actually decided to meet up with us in Koh Tao so that was also exciting.
On our second day in Koh Tao we had an early morning scuba class with our awesome scuba instructor Lennard. He would always say "super duper" with his funny Danish accent. After a few hours learning all the essentials about diving it was time to put these skills to action. Today had a similar set up as the day before in which the first dive we went over some skills, but more advanced skills, and then the second dive would be more about having fun. I can not even begin to explain how amazing the water was. We saw so many fish, some sting rays, and just so many beautiful colors and creatures. Scuba diving is such a weird feeling because your suspended in zero gravity in the water and breathing from a tube. So this is what it must feel like to be in space. Another thing about scuba diving is that it is tiring. It was a very long day scuba diving, but in the end I got certified! After I got my ever-so official scuba diving certification we met up with Tharmita and decided that a chill night was definitely needed so we just got some beers and relaxed on the beach and had some nice conversations. The ocean breeze, great company, and beer. It couldn't get much better than this. I started to get all sentimental because our time on Koh Tao was running out. I had received my scuba certification, but Steph still had one more dive the next day in order to get her certification.
On our last day in Koh Tao Steph was out on an early morning dive session so Tharmita and I got breakfast at the cute little spot with a view of the beach. The conversation we had really stuck out to me. It was centered around the concept of what you want out of any experience. After a long deep conversation it all came down to the fact that you can determine the experience you want to have. And with that comes learning so much about yourself. One thing that I talked about is that you cant force people to be friends with (or fall in love) with you, so you cant force something that isn't meant to be. This came to the table because when you're traveling you are constantly meeting new people and sometimes these people don't really care about being friends with you, and sometimes they do. It all comes to how you can interpret the conversation the connection you have with them. Meeting people is so easy, but making friends is hard, and finding a partner is the most difficult.
A delicious breakfast and good conversation was the best thing to wake up with, and once Steph was done with her dive we met with her to check out our last attraction on Koh Tao. The island of Nang Yuang, which was really two small islands connected by a sand bar. We hopped on a water taxi and once we got to the island hiked to the summit to check out an amazing view. Crystal clear blue water and tiny little fishes everywhere. It was literally like a post card. We went for a little swim after but we had to catch our ferry to Koh Phagnan in a few hours, so we got back on our water taxi and head to the ferry building. Koh Tao has been my favorite place so far and lets see if the other Thai islands can live up to its awesomeness.
