Coral Bay Resort Ko Phangan

On Tuesday we decided to visit our new American friend, Lee on the other side of the island. Matt had previously been in that direction on a scooter and knew that the roads were terrible so we hired a quad for the trip. Matt went and picked it up and rode it back to the resort. Immediately I wanted to throw him on the back and ride off into the distance. He assured me that it would be better for me to wait until we were on quieter roads for me to try to ride the beast as it was difficult and ...

... had 15mins to get a ticket and get on our boat that was leaving. it was the final boat for the day and we didn't fancy staying in Koh Samui. Managed to get the fastest taxi man in the east, therefore were there with 10mins to spare. got our ticket and we were on our way to Koh Tao via a very cool ferry, will take about 90mins to get there. again very cheap about $6 one way.

once we arrived at Koh Tao ...

... all set up by now, and soon the boat arrived at Mango Bay. We jumped into the water one by one using the giant stride technique, fully inflated our BCDs, then swam on our backs to the beach, where the water was shallow and only came upto our shoulders. It was here that we would practice some basic skills. First we put our masks on, regs in, put our heads under the water and practiced breathing while submerged for a minute. This feels very weird to begin with ...

... able to do some snorkelling here, but before booking us on a tour I want to see how Millie and Lucy get on with it, so tomorrow we'll hire out the gear and have a go in the beach just here. I hope they like it, as it's been an amazing experience the few times I've done it.

The rest of the today will be a quiet one, I think. The girls are in the sea. Sandra fancies reading (sleeping more like) and I'll probably do all three.

bye for now

... our first night in Ko Tao where we discovered we weren't the only ones apparently staying in our room - we were instead sharing it with various cockroaches, ants and other insects, and a constantly dripping Air Con unit.

When the rather unhelpful woman at reception told us she couldn't/wouldn't do anything about it, we told her in our best French where to stick it, and moved down the road to the far more agreeable ...

... beach hut and order "the special" which changes every day, today it was fried mackerel with garlic and rice, yesterday cashew chicken, the day before that a delicious vegetable peanut buttery curry with rice. We eat breakfast under our palm tree in our chairs. We spend until about 3' o'clock, reading, snorkeling, playing Frisbee, taking naps in the shade and floating on my pink floaty raft in the turquoise water. The water is so clear I do not need a mask ...

... for the girl's expenses and takes her wherever he goes while on vacation. Some couples appeared to be genuinely happy, and there was more than one teary goodbye scene at the airport in Samui.

But on Koh Pha Ngan there were few Thai girlfriends, and far more foreign couples with fewer or no children. While on Samui the middle-aged parents kept a weary watch on their adolescent progeny, Thong Nai Pan was full of hot young Euro couples taking pains to soak ...