After seeing Corey off, Kelly and I spent a couple more days in Bangkok seeing some of the sights that we had missed the time before, but we were really excited about heading South to the famous tropical islands and beaches of Koh Tao and Koh Phangan for some diving and fun in the sun.

We caught an overnight bus to the coast and then were able to hop on a ferry out to Koh Tao. We were extremely tired after the long and uncomfortable trip, but we found a nice place on the quieter beach of the island and signed Kelly up to get her dive certification while I worked on my advanced. Looking out from the dive shop, I was amazed at how beautiful the little island was. We were in a small coral cove with small cliffs and mountains rising up from all sides, and the reef made the water perfectly calm leading up to the palm tree lined beach and row of small beach restaurants hotels and bars dotted the beach.

Once we checked in, we made our way down the beach to our bungalow which was a pretty basic thatch and bamboo shack perched on a rock, but it was right on the beach and had a porch with a hammock. I really enjoyed that peaceful little place and could have stayed for quite some time. We had also met another American along the way named John, so he stayed at the same place and worked on his dive certification as well.

The diving was beautiful with lots of colorful fish, but since Koh Tao has the second most amount of dive certification each year, one can imagine that the sites are pretty crowded. I was hoping to see another whale shark because it was the season, but no luck this time. Anyway, regardless of the crowds, we still had a lot of fun, and I added another friend to my list of potential people to beg to go on dive trips with me.

After a few days, Ian met back up with us in Koh Tao, and the three of us along with our new friend John ran to catch the ferry to Koh Phangan for the famed full moon party of Thailand. We arrived to find thousands of people both young and old who had flocked here for much the same reasons we had come...is it really as crazy as it seems in our imaginations or is it over-rated? We all had fun and met a lot of people from French movie producers to European kids there on vacation to bachelor and bachelorette groups, but I would still say that it was a bit over-rated unless you love blaring techno music. The setting, however, is unbelievable because it is set on a large white sand beach like at home that is embraced by some steep hills and dense jungles.

The next morning we took the ferry back to Koh Tao, and the four of us stayed for another day of diving, and then we began to make our North to the Thailand and Laos Border at Nong Khai. From Nong Khai, I plan on heading into Vietnam for another microcredit convention and then meet up with Ian and Kelly again in Laos. Till next time, cheers.