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Kao Tao, an Adrenalin Junkies Paradise.
Entry 6 of 10 | show all | print this entry |
The island of Kao Tao is the smallest of the ones we have so far visited, a scooter ride from north to south taking about 10 minutes at 20km per hour, that's 20km per hour because the roads are either potholed dirt roads, or deteriorating/crumbling concrete roads with the steel reinforcing showing through. 4 wheel motor bikes where obviously very popular here, but we stuck to the scooter and managed to keep all of our skin too! The main town is designed for one thing, for tired weary tourists to eat, drink, and leave the island, and they leave the island every day as all the things to do here are offshore. The main activity here is diving, diving in all its forms from learning to dive, reef dives, snorkel dives, and swimming/diving with black tip reef sharks. And if that's not enough, there are fishing adventures, boat trips to secluded beach's, sea kayaking, caving and rock climbing to break from the monotony of endless diving adventures. Small boats, large boats, slow boats, high tech speed boats all scoot off in the morning, filled to the brim with tourists in search of a great dive experience, returning later in the day to jettison their weary human cargo, who then have little energy to do more than order a cheese burger and a beer and watch the sunset (or latest FA cup match).
Did I mention that I nearly died here? We were walking down a quite bush track, to an exclusive beach on a private resort, when a heard a rustle in the tree's. I was in front of Lilly at this stage, primarily to provide a diversion for Lilly from marauding mosquitoes. At first I thought a coconut had fallen from the tree with a thud, but after removing my $2 sunglasses (real Armani) I spied the biggest lizard I have ever seen, not 10meteres away, his back to me, his head craned back to see if it was white meat or dark walking up the path! I swear he was 2 meters long from nose to tail, a monster/dinosaur in anyone's dictionary. Our eyes met for just a second, his gaze feeling like he was looking straight through me, and then, with a twist, he headed down the hill into the dense forest. Lilly was beside me by now, and managed to see the last half of him disappear into the trees. What an awesome site to see, and luckily for Lilly I was there to protect her too. Want to see the photo? Yea right!
There is little in the way of local culture on Kao Toa, but still, it was a beautiful place to spend a few days, although a little expensive, and should we seek that watery experience this is the place to go. The guide book rates the diving here as one of the top 10 places in the world to experience, but we were content with our beach snorkeling, exploring and sun tanning.
Tomorrow we head back towards Bangkok, a boat, a bus and closer to the big cities and bright lights.
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