Ko Tao - 2 Days in Paradise, 1 in Hospital
Trip Start
Aug 12, 2008
1
10
26
Trip End
Nov 21, 2008
Ko Tao,
Thailand
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Fri, 12/Sept:
The boat ride from Ko Samui was pretty adventurous, the ocean was getting a little rocky, and it looked as though a storm was on the way. We arrived to Ko Tao, and immediately booked our tickets back to Surat Thani a few days ahead, because we arrived for the weekend of the FUll Moon Party
Hottie on the beach
. This happens every full moon on Ko Phangyan (the nearest island south) and is basically a huge rave/hippy fest/backpacker excused indulgence/free-for-all on the beach under the stars. The beach gets bombarded with over 20,000 people guzzling buckets of booze and sweating it out to Euro-Trance DJ's all night with I'm sure some Reggae and Reggaeton thrown in as well. I was pretty excited to go, Lauren however was not. As fate would have it, she won. I got sick.So from arrival in the Port, we rented a motorbike to go check out which room we wanted to rent, this is the best way to search. You're zooming in and out of little dirt paths down to the beach then up to the main street to get further down, it was fun just searching!!! We found a nice beachside hut for 17 dollars (a bit more pricy) and chilled out on our porch. A hammock and guitar was all I needed to try and naturally rid myself of the oncoming sickness I could feel. Well, it didn't really work, but it was nice.
After a quick "feel better sesh" we took the scooter to the other end of the island, we had read that it was a sort-of bohemian hang out and a beautiful cove. So we arrive to a tiny little street, maybe 4 restaurants/accomodation places on each side of the road, half right on the beach, and half on the street offering their unique utility in either food, entertainment, rooms, or all 3
Porchfront, beachfront, relaxation
. Right where we parked the bike, there was a huge Rasta restaurant. 6 fully dreadlocked Jamaicans/Rasta converts lined the bar, some OLD SCHOOL Marley was mellowly seeping out of a corner speaker, and for a moment we turned Zen. As if by total contrast, a tourist suddenly comes zooming by on his motorbike and slides out on the loose gravel, completely interrupting the mood and shredding his knee in the process. This is sort of the running theme in Thailand. Moments of sublime beauty, blasted with current day indifference. Nevertheless, we enjoyed this beach to the max. Amazing food, a BEAUTIFUL cove with green and baby blue water, both sides of the cove end in natural jungle and rocks, and the bungalows are all tucked behind the vegetation, not a resort frenzy as was Ko Samui. I crashed on the beach, Lauren read, it was amazing.We spent the evening walking along the beach back in front of our place, and had a great dinner right in front of our place, Ko Tao is known for being one of the best AND cheapest places to dive and get certified. We knew we weren't going to dive (we made a conscious decision to NOT get certifed as divers here, and instead use the money to see Patagonia when we're in S. America), but we wanted to wake up early to get some snorkelling in, and see some more of the island.
Sat, 13/Sept:
Yeah, we WERE excited about seeing more of the island and snorkelling, riiiiiight.
So coincidentally the "peaceful" bungalow we chose on the beach happened to be the host restaurant to the "Pre-Full Moon Party" on the eve's eve of the Full Moon
nobody´s here?
. Friday Night. They were blasting a terrible blend of Techno and Euro-Trance, repeating songs, cutting off other ones, just a drunken mess was escalating about 50 ft from our room, all over the place. Arguments between Brazilians, Dutch, English, there were 4 languages of drunken mess spilling out literally ont our porch. Meanwhile, I was developing a heavy stomach infection, which I didn't figure out until the following afternoon, at the time, I just knew I had a gnarly fever and migraine. Needless to say, our WORST night yet.I woke up feeling terrible. I slept from 5-7 AM, and was burning up. Thank God for Lauren. She scowered the beach for a proper clinic, found one about a mile away, ran back, got a truck to drive me there, packed our bags and brought them to the hospital. Within 2 hours I was posted up in a Thai hospital, with 2 IV's pumping anti-biotics and electrolytes into the bloodstream, best of all with A/C in the room. It took a full day to recover, although even now (two weeks later) I'm just outdoing this cough...
The healtchare was totally competent, the doctor was super nice, basically lived at the clinic, his 1 year-old was walking around the place all day, cutest little girl. His wife was my sort of nurse. The night's sleep wasn't so bad, a/c, a TV for downtime, it was probably the best place we've stayed at yet
1st Sunset
! Seriously. If it hadn't been a hospital, with some IV's, it would've been perfect! Sun 14/Sept:
We were determined to go see Nang-Nyuan, an island that's about 100 meters offshore, and snorkel. So we did. I was feeling much better, although far from 100 percent. We took a longtail boat and were there in minutes. It was seriously a jaw-dropping site. Two seperate islands connected by a strip of white sand, about 200 meters long and 20 meters wide. At high tide, it washes over this sandbar, and you can trudge your way along if needed. There's very, very minimal accomodation here, just a restaurant, and 1 set of bungalows. But it's so secluded, it would be an amazing getaway.
We snorkelled for a few hours, the fish were in huge schools, and the reef was beautiful, surprisingly really healthy, with respects to how many tourists go there daily I'm sure. We chilled on the sandbar beach and eventually hiked to the top of one island, very small, only about 100 meters tall, and took some epic pics. We caught the longtail back, and enjoyed a beachside dinner. It was probably the most spectacular sunset up to this point I've ever seen. Or one of them, there's been some good ones. The beach was so calm, and empty (this was when everybody went to the Full Moon Party), and we just enjoyed our cheap dinner right on the beach. It was one of those times when you just freeze, and go, how did we get here? We did, and were very thankful for everything, all at once.
We caught the overnight boat to Surat Thani, and were off to Ko Phi Phi. Awaiting us, more beauty...
More to come...
Comments
Can't wait
Literally can't wait to hear you describe your experience in the 'clinic'.