Woweee! The last few days have been a whirlwind of activities.

Wednesday night I took the night bus from Bangkok to Chumphton and then the ferry to the island of Koh Tao. The bus was an experience; very little space and I couldn't sleep for the life of me. I basically snuggled the guy next to me the whole way (and we ended up being friends :) ). The ferry ride brightened the mood though and get me excited about the days to come.

Koh Tao is a little island in the Gulf of Thailand that is very well known for scuba diving. I stayed at Big Blue, which one of the larger diving resorts. It was a super cool place with tons of boats and divers coming in and out all the time as well as a super chill patio and bar that threw off some wicked beach vibes. The island is also beautiful. The picturesque kind with the clear blue water, white sandy beaches, tons of palm trees and the grasshuts littering the hillsides - an awesome place to take a scuba course.

The course started the day I arrived with the paperwork and orientation. Then the next three days (Friday to Sunday) we were in the water. We had (easily) the coolest and most fun group of people. We were Canadian, American, Dutch (x2), German and British and we got along famously. We got to dive in some sweet reefs and see a ton of wildlife, including trigger fish, banner fish, eels, and even a clownfish (Nemo)!

We spent the evenings doing homework (sort of), eating Thai food (I can't get enough of the noodles), and watching fire poi and paper lanterns on the beach. We went to bed relatively early because we had early starts and tough work, but still got a chance to check out some of the island and dodge the motorbikes that swarmed the streets.

The highlight of the trip was easily the last night. We went out as a group plus a few other friends to celebrate one of our lovely Dutch lady's birthdays. After dinner, we moved on to drinks and watching the fire poi dancers, at the lotus bar where I got to hold a small Burmese man on my shoulders while he swung fireballs around my body (and dropped one on me!). Next we headed up the street to the Cabaret or "Ladyboy Show." Not quite as comedic as drag shows back home, but this show was a lot of fun, especially for us as a big group. We finished the night by hopping between dance parties across Sairee Beach and catching a late night swim with the Jonas Brothers (actually just three Brazilian guys we had befriended and nicknamed earlier in the week).

I don't have enough space to go through all of the great times we had over the last few days, but it is safe to say that it is one giant highlight. We found Nemo (the ultimate goal), made a great crew of new friends (have the friendship bracelets to prove it), and got to experience one of the most beautiful beaches/areas that I've ever seen. I guess we also got our open water scuba certification, but that's a distant thought when I think about all of the other things I did/saw/made/found in Koh Tao.

Many of the peeps were moving along to the Full Moon Party on Koh Pagnan or other islands in the south, but I'm headed back to Bangkok (on another night bus) where I'll catch a flight to Vietnam. More adventures to come.

Keep it weird.