Koh Tao Tropicana Resort Ko Tao

... forty yards from the beach. This is when we decided to call it "Scuba Camp" because our modest, wooden beach bungalow reminded us of a cabin that we'd stay in as a child at camp. It contained one queen size bed, a single fan, a cold water shower, and absolutely nothing else.

After lunch we began our first classroom session. We watched three videos, during which we had to answer questions located at the back of the respective chapters of our PADI open water dive book. After each ...

... at the right stop. So clever. The boats are air conditioned (but still kind of warm). Jane and Joe tell me Lomprayah has newer boats but the seats are really crammed together. We took Seatran which were older vessels but had more space but were a bit grubby, especially the toilets. Normal people, unlike me, can usually go the 2 hours from Samui to Tao without a pit stop. But I can't so grubby toilet it was. Luckily I could read enough Chinese ...

... the ‘boys’ indicated to our shoes and gestured that we would need to take them off. (it is usual practice in Thailand to remove your shoes when you go into a building, but not when you are walking along a beach). It was then apparent that the sand bar to the island where our bungalow was located was actually not a sand bar but under water. Because the tide was in, we had to wade through 50-60 cms of water to get to our island. The boys struggled with our heavy bags ...

... on the beach and the like. By night we have a bit of dinner in a bar or restaurant that overlooks the beaches that dot shore where we are staying. So we are having a pretty relaxing time, and i am possibly the most relaxed i have ever been! Right i said it would be a short update and it is. So until next time. xx

... shops, Chinese characters screaming at me in the colors yellow and gold, Farang tourists in the streets, quick camara shooting the Chinese New Year Dragon and fire crackers going off, on my way to Nong in the Shangria-La Hotel, nearly sh*tting myself with fright while the endless narrative keeps churning through my Farang head trying so hard to work out my Farang/Oriental connexion. No neon lights but the hot ...

... including one night, myself and Darren arriving home to find Tom's flip flops, and a load of sick on the doorstep, but he was nowhere to be found because we had the key. We proceeded to look around for the next hour or so asking if anyone had seen him, but with no luck. Then as soon as we all came back into the room, he walks in, mutters something about trans gender Israelis he'd been with and passes out on his bed, not to be heard from until ...

... very good at what they did, and i had to respect them. one girl that i had met through the paddies in hanoi had a bit of a ****** attitude though. she was saying how the show made her uncomfortabel and people shouldnt be someone theyre not etc. its a real shame that some people arent as open minded as people are in thailand. Katois are very very common and largely accepted in society- after all why be something youre not. The lady boys in thailand have the freedom to be who they ...