Beach life part 1.

The journey to Koh Tao was rubbish. To start with I had to pay double for my ticket because it was so busy & I had to get on the bus wet & sticky. It was an over night journey with several bus changes & a boat trip so I didn't get any sleep. I arrived in Koh Tao in the middle of Songkram celebrations (Thai new year). It was madness, Sam knows what i'm talking about! I checked into the big blue diving resort (Sam said that was the place with all the fit diving instructors so i was sold) & changed & bought myself a massive water pistol (it was payback time) & made for the beach. I met 2 girls Cam & Vik & spent the day partying & having water fights. It was awesome, think i'm going to enjoy beach life.

The day after I went scuba diving. I didn't do my PADI because it takes 3-4 days & I had to rush to Phangnan so I did a one day introduction. I was rubbish, took me 10 minutes for me to pluck up the courage just to jump off the boat & into the water & when I did I thought I was going to drown. There was so much to remember about hand signals & boyancy things & the mouth piece & I couldn't get used to breathing under water. Eventually I got better & my instructor said I was a natural. I'm not sure though. There was this massive trigger fish (with teeth) that attacked the instructor & took chunks out of his flippers, I wanted out then. At least I can say I tried it & I might do my padi on the way back around because I definitely want to go back to Koh Tao. They have been seeing lots of whale sharks around & that's like the ultimate diving experience but I think if I saw one I'd probably just die on the spot.

That night I met up with Sherri & Harri, the girls I travelled through Laos with. It was cool to catch up with them. This morning I took the boat to Koh Phangnan. I'm staying at a place run by someone that used to work at Big blue & was recommended to me because it was a bit cheaper (rooms are sooo expensive on the islands). I'm seriously regretting not spending the extra money. I'm staying in a bungalow (if you can call it that) & the bathroom is an extension with a tin roof with lots of holes everywhere. The place is crawling with spiders, some as big as my hand. But the guy that runs it is really cool & a good laugh.

Gramps, I don't know what skype is??!! Do you want me to phone you? I'll ask Nick & see if he knows anything about it but I'm not seeing him until Sunday I think.

Can't wait for the full moon party - bring on the Chang...!