Koh Tao

Despite the rocky boat ride, I managed to enjoy the journey towards the end when I went upstairs to the top deck. I was feeling very sea sick by this point so the fresh air and wind on my face helped. But it also meant I got to see an amazing view of the island as the boat went round Koh Tao and approached the pier. Koh Tao has been a much anticipated destination for us as many travellers we have met say it's their favourite of the south east islands. It looked beautiful from the boat, much smaller than Koh Samui and covered in palm trees with little evidence of civilisation.

Our hostel was walking distance from the pier and was situated in quite a local area with nice restaurants and stalls along the road. Compared to the other islands, Koh Tao is very hilly and most people travel by moped along the dirt tracks. It appears very unspoilt with few roads further inland on the island. As soon as I arrived I was desperate to start exploring. First we went to a small bay near the hostel that was recommended. Lining the bay was a resort made of wooden huts which had amazing views of the sea. It was quite a contrast to just a few hundred metres further up the beach by the pier which was littered with boats and wooden ramps into the sea.

We checked in to the hostel which looked very chilled with hammocks and wooden seats outside. We then went looking for Colin's friend Jok who we had been told owned a restaurant on the island. I was meant to text him but instead decided to turn up as I didn't want to turn on my phone data. He was Thai and very confused by who we were so it probably wasn't the best way to go and visit. Anyway we decided to try the restaurant later and we were pleased to try some really fresh proper Thai food. We then headed back to the hostel and had a few beers in the communal area. We met a group of travellers from France and a number of solo travellers. We had our next drink in a bar down the road. It was a reggae bar we had spotted earlier that day. I have never seen anything like it. It looks like nothing from the outside - just a graffitied van but we were lured in by live music. As you walk past the van, the bar opens up into a series of tree houses. They are very obviously constructed by hand and were all unique in their form. It had a great atmosphere with different levels of tree house which were decorated by cushions and posters. We spent some time there with a few of the guys we had met at the hostel. Later on, Luke (a German guy who is a traveller that ended up staying to work in the hostel) and the hostel owner both joined us for a drink. The hostel owner told us how he had lived on the island for 7 years as a scuba diving instructor before coming back to set up a hostel.

Lexi and I got up at 6 the next morning intent on running along the beach at sunrise. We ran to sairee beach where the sun started to come up over the other side of the island. The beach and water changed colour as the sun started to peep over the mountains. It was hard work running on the sand and then the hills of Koh Tao.

We all set out for the day on a walk mapped out for us by the hostel owner. It began by going through the resort by the bay near us. Then the path began going through trees and foliage alongside the sea. Every now and again the trees would clear onto rocks and we took pictures of the great view. After a while we came across a small bay with very few people on it. I found a long swing attached to two palm trees - I felt very content swinging out toward the sea and enjoying the empty bay.

After a nap on the beach we carried on to the next few beaches and found a restaurant set on stilts right on the water. We ate simple but delicious seafood dishes while we watched the waves as they came in and broke below us.

That night we planned to go to the Koh Tao pub crawl. It was supposedly the best one in south east Asia and we had met a few people who recommended it. Two guys in our hostel room warned us that we needed to go early to get tickets as they had queued the day before and missed out on getting some. So we quickly got ready and decided to go with them. We got a lift on the back of their mopeds. As expected it was mayhem being on a moped through the streets of koh Tao. Many mopeds were on the road and they dipped in and out of eachother overtaking other vehicles. Luckily the guys we were with rode motorbikes back home so were quite experienced drivers. It was good fun to try the mode of transport that most people here used to get around. We arrived quite early and had time to get a drink at the first bar while we queued. The first bar was a sports bar where we got a free bucket and a shot. Everyone was wearing the bar crawl t shirts which made it easy to stay as a group as we travelled between places.

The next stop was a pool party and we jumped straight in as we arrived. We were slightly disappointed at the low number of people to join us in the pool. But it was definitely the most fun place to be as there was a slide on the side of the pool aswell. We dried off a bit before going to the next bar which put on a lady boy show. It was quite impressive as the lady boys looked so feminine and it was entertaining seeing their outfits and watching them dance. We then headed back to the original bar for some live music but we preferred the place next door that had more people dancing and better music. The last bar was based on the beach and was called 'fish bowl'. It had good music and loads of beer pong tables so the atmosphere was very social. We bumped into a couple of people from Loughborough - small world.

The next day we slept in quite late which definitely helped the hangover. Around midday we headed to one of the most popular snorkelling beaches called 'Aow luek bay'. It was a beautiful beach for swimming as the water was so clear and it had soft white sand. It was also very scenic with rainforest hills lining the bay. For lunch we went to the restaurant overlooking the sea. We ordered seafood and had one of the best meals so far.

We reluctantly left the beach as we needed to get back to the hostel in time to see sunset. Luke - a guy working at the hostel - gave us directions to a secret spot to watch the sunset nearby. It was hard work walking up the steep track as it was still very hot. But we made it just in time to see the sun begin to set. The viewpoint was incredible, just a rock on the side of a hill where you can look out over most of the island. Some the guys from the hostel joined us later but avoided the tiring climb by using their scooters to get up. Luke was right - it was a really atmospheric spot which would be a perfect location to enjoy a beer while watching the sun set.

When we got back to the hostel everyone was setting up for the BBQ that evening. We went to buy our own meat from a local shop that the hostel suggested. The meat was being sold in coolers and included chicken feet and other unrecognisable body parts. Luckily the hostel owner's friend was a chef so he helped us prepare our food. It was really nice bringing everyone together to eat and we met loads of different groups of people. After a few beers we all headed back to the reggae bar we had tried on the first night.