Turning ELEVEN on Koh Tao

Hi everyone! We are back again in Bangkok ready to leave for Vietnam in two days. We had a rather grueling day of travel yesterday from Koh Tao which included a taxi, a high speed catamaran ferry, a tour-sized bus, another taxi, then a tuk-tuk to a bus and finally a taxi - lasting somewhere around 13 hours in total. For the last six days of our time on Koh Tao we stayed on Sairee Beach and had a lovely more "up-market" (although very reasonable) experience. Kai requested that we find a place with a pool and a movie channel for the days around his birthday and we supported his plan whole heartedly. The pool turned out to be great, as did the beach setting but the movie channel tended to be a shoot-em up variety typical of many Asian movie channels and was mostly unwatchable. The other nice thing about the location is that it was close to a village by that particular beach area so we were able to have many eating choices. This was a good change from the previous location we were at where we felt a little like a captive audience -- there were only two restaurants -- one was mediocre and the other had very tasty offerings, but they were both pricey.
So most of our days were spent doing the usual mix of swimming, going on walks, meeting people and taking in the island flavour. Koh Tao was physically lovely with great tropical vistas and excellent snorkeling. Our previous experience on Koh Lipe was a hard act to follow though - probably because it was harder to get to and a lot less crowded.

The picture above is of Kai with his "special ordered birthday cake" (thanks to hard work from Skye scouting out all the local bakeries). We were spoilt with a visit from our friends we had met on Koh Lipe (Martin and Caroline) who came down to be with Kai on his special day. It was very sweet of them and it allowed for another great visit, making Kai's birthday that much more festive. Unfortunately, Pippin came down with a fever on the morning of Kai's birthday which meant that she was unable to enjoy the day as much as we did. Kai was sad about that.

Here is a picture of the place we stayed and the view of the beach from the pool area. There were all these beautiful water features everywhere. This has been the case throughout Southern Thailand. We have really enjoyed looking at all the little gardens people put together -- we're getting lots of ideas for our own garden!

Here is Pippin having an epic "fever" sleep on the day of Kai's birthday. She finally seems to be on the mend now that we are back here in Bangkok.

As with all places on our travels - we once again met some lovely people while we were on Koh
Tao. This time we met a family from Paris and we landed up having some really fun times together. We ate meals together, went on a few evening strolls looking at the night life of the island, and we went on a day trip to a local island off Koh Tao where we went snorkeling and beaching. Their kids spoke primarily French so it was great to see Kai and Pippin warm up to them and try out their language skills. Both of their kids were lovely. We intend to see them all again when we go through Paris in a few months time which will be wonderful reunion for us all.

Francois, Eve, Amphelise and Celestin (we're missing a few accents and a cedile! (sp?))

Here are some pictures of our snorkeling day on the little island. It was very crowded with other tourists but the popularity of the island did not take away from its astounding beauty. The water was crystal clear and the tropical fish life was abundant.

Even if one chose not to swim it was possible to watch the fish swimming around all over the place.

Here is a lookout over the little island that allows one to see the island and all its incredible coral. It took about 20 minutes up a steep hill to get to this view point.

Well, I think I will make this post a little shorter than usual. I can only go on about the tropical beauty of Southern Thailand for so long and we are about to change gears. On Saturday we fly to Hanoi which apparently makes Bangkok seem like a mellow city (hard to imagine). There are an estimated 4 million motorbikes in Hanoi alone. Crossing the road there is said to be a cultural experience in itself. We have also been told that travellers get hassled more in Vietnam and one can never get the straight goods on the price of things. Sounds like it is going to be a good education for Kai and Pippin.

So on that note - I will leave you with a picture of Kai and I on an ATV (so not me!) which we rented on his birthday to go look around the island. Kai loved it and I was a willing sport.


Until next time . . .

Ronato, Skye, Kai & Pippin