The bus ride from Koh Tao to Bangkok was terrible! Even thought I had slept the night before at the airport (in actuality there was no sleep), the bus was just ridiculous. I had to wait for nearly 2 hours to even board the bus, and when I was on it I couldn't get a wink of sleep. I don't know why but I was hungry and hungry and uncomfortable the whole time. I did manage to get in some good reading though, and started an interesting book called Confessions of a Bangkok Private Eye, which tells the tales of a New Zealander that moved to Bangkok and became a private eye (mainly telling his tales of following callgirls that married foreigners and revealing that often they are lady boys or drug addicts).Eventually we arrived to the port when we would all board a boat that would take some people to Koh Tao and some people to Koh Samui (islands on the east side of Thailand). We had to wait for nearly an hour and then we boarded a big boat that took about an hour or two and took us to the islands.
As I road the boat, I felt such a feeling of independence and adventure. I sat on the edge looking over into the deep blue sea and watched fish jump out of the water and saw the sun rise above the sea. I was alone, but not lonely.... just content.
When I got to the island, I had to haul my huge backpack and carry bag to the Crystal Dive hotel and resort which was only a 5 minute walk from the port. The place was hustling and bustling, but I didn't mind, because I just felt happy to be on a beach. They had me fill out some forms, and showed me to the restaurant on the resort.
I seriously couldn't take it all in. I was in paradise! Sparkling blue water, green rolling hills, and attractive people surrounding me. Everywhere I looked was incredible! The food was cheap, the air was clean, and this was my life for the next few days. It was overwhelming!
As I handed in my form, they handed me a key to room D8.
"Do you want to start today at 1:30?" asked the friendly, layed back guy at reception that looked like he had been living at the beach for the last 20 years.
"Sure!" I replied, excited to get a go on my diving.
I went to my room and dropped my bags off and relaxed. No air conditioning... no hot shower.... Hmmmmmm, I thought. Well, this is sorta backpacking life. I can deal though, I have the beach.
I went to my class at 1:30 and it lasted till nearly 6. It was boring as hell. Watching a video and filling out a worksheet. I was tired and the last thing I wanted was to be spending my afternoon in a small freezing (due to too much AC) classroom.
When the dive class finished, we were assigned homework and let free for the night. I was starving, and went to my room to drop off my things so I could get in my swimsuit and take a quick swim before going to dinner. On the way, I saw a girl from my class sitting alone on her deck.
"Hey do you want to grab a drink and go for a swim?" I asked her.
"Sure, sounds good!" she replied in her London accent, and we agreed to meet in 10 minutes.
By the end of the night, we had gone swimming had drinks, gone to dinner, and chatted about life before returning to our beach side bungalows. Her name was Jen and she was working in London at an investment bank and was on "holiday" (we say vacation they say holiday). She had been traveling with a friend but he had to go back to Australia, so she was also alone like I.
I returned to my hot bungalow and felt happy that I had made friend. But, I was sad that I had no AC and my little bungalow was hot and sticky. Oh well! I flicked on the TV and watched Discovery Channel and saw one of my friends from high school on the show Deadliest Catch about the Alaskan fishermen. It was comforting to see that even though I was in Thailand on a beach of a small island, I could still be watching TV and see a good friend from long ago.
I was exhausted though, and fell asleep anticipating my time scuba diving in the pool! :)
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