Koh Tao

After our 5 day stay of craziness that was Koh pha ngan we took a ferry to Koh tao, which is an island about an hour and half north of Koh pha ngan. Once we arrived we headed to our hostel which Lucy and James had reserved for us that day. The first thing we noticed about the place was how cheap it was, only 6 bonecrushers a night. The second thing we noticed was that the room had no AC…. just a ceiling fan. We were instantly bummed out and knew that sleeping would be a nearly impossible feat. After settling into our room at about 3 in the afternoon we wandered around the quaint little town that is Sai Ree. This was the perfect place to come after the full moon party because of its relaxed atmosphere. It was refreshing to walk down the street or beach without being haggled for the first time since Japan to rent a moped, or buy a suit or shades. 

After arriving at Koh Tao we spent nearly every waking moment with James and Lucy. The first night we were there we decided to grab a few drinks at one of the many laid back restaurants. There were a lot of cats on this island and this is where we learned of James' fear of cats. If a cat came near him he would run away from it and just stare at it from a distance as if it were the plague. His story goes kinda like this. He was three years old delivering Christmas cards to neighbors on Christmas Eve in his hometown of Birmingham, England. He rang the doorbell and when the door opened a cat leaped onto him and became caught in his jumper (we call it the right name.. a sweater). James threw the remaining cards in the air while trying to bat the cat off, but the cat held on,dangling with one paw from his sweater. With it's other paw the cat proceeded to throw haymakers at James' face, leaving him with a face full of scratches and tears. Because of this event we were unable to go to certain restaurants and places because of cats lurking around waiting to pounce on James. 

The next few days we spent lounging around the beach and taking in the beauty of southern Thailand. We bought a football one of the days and exchanged skills of how to throw a football vs throwing a rugby ball. Surprisingly you can throw a rugby ball quite far with the right underhand technique! One of the nights we went out and found the rest of our crew from the Full Moon Hostel and had a great night where we learned about laughing gas, which was sold in the bars like a drink. It's in all the clubs in England James & Lucy told us so we decided to try some. We got these balloons that were filled with NO2 and after only a ballon or two and some beers we were all feeling pretty hammered and proceeded to have another Changover in the morning. 

One of the last days we spent in Koh Tao we took a long boat out to Koh Nang Yuan which is a gorgeous little trio of islands that are all connected by spits of sand. It was a dazzling day with nothing but a few clouds in the sky and the clearest water I've ever seen. We all rented snorkeling equipment and according to James & Lucy who dived in the Great Barrier Reef it was the clearest water and the most fish they'd ever seen. There were fish of all shapes and colors from little clown fish to vivid rainbow colored ones to small barracudas. It was an unforgettable day and we really wished we'd had an underwater camera to show all you clowns just how cool it was.

#yoro