To get from Manila down to Kho Tao was a beast of a journey. Plane-Taxi-Train-Bus-Boat and then a scooter. The night train was a revelation though and I managed to get a good sleep on there. Upon leaving Bangkok a little chap came around and unfolded everyone's beds and that was that. I decided to hire a scooter once I arrived on the island by boat. I was stopping about 10 mins from the port of Kho Tao and at about £6 for 2 days, the scooter was a great option. Although riding with a big rucksack and then a smaller one was a little hairy. The scooters are 125cc and you can easily get to 85kmph so they do shift a bit. Once I'd checked in I waited for my mate to finish diving before having a good old explore.

Kho Tao is quite a small island, about 20km squared with a population of only a few thousand. It is situated not far from Koh Samui and the main full moon island, Koh Pha Ngan. We took the scooters off road and headed to a view point which was very scenic. We had a cheeky Chang and then went to a beach where you could cliff dive. Shark beach had a huge rock just off the coast and people swim to it before climbing it and throwing themselves off. I have to say it was quite an effort climbing this rock. Especially seeing as though you're wet and have no footwear on. If you change your mind once you climb it, it really would be an effort getting back down. I cut my knee open getting up there and my mate cut all his hands! It was worth it though. The rock was probably about 6 or 7 meters high and it was good fun jumping off. After that we went to a more secluded beach, Freedom Beach and watched the sunset with a mojito before having some dinner and heading back to drop the scooters off. That night we sampled a few buckets in preparation for the next nights antics but got a reasonably early night.

The next day we played a bit of crazy golf to which I won, twice. We had some lunch and then just relaxed until about 1600 when we started getting ready for the full moon. The "Party boat" left at about 1800 and George and I were prepared for this with a few beers, bottle of gin and a bag of ice. I think the boat had about 80 people on board with a DJ at the back of the boat. The weather wasn't great but it didn't really affect the journey or morale of the passengers because I reckon everyone on that boat was half cut after about an hour of sailing. The journey in total took about 3 hours to get there and the party over there was absolutely wild. How no one fell overboard is beyond me. It was a great warm up for the full moon and the bottle of gin went down very nicely indeed. The full moon party takes place on the beach but it's recommended not to head down there until about 2300. So we stayed on the outskirts drinking in bars listening to live music and just soaking up the atmosphere. Everyone was out for a good time and there really was a great buzz to it all. When we hit the beaches it didn't disappoint. I've never seen anything like it. Absolute chaos but euphoric chaos. It wasn't too long before George and I lost each other and I found some Brits so I drank with them while he was partying with a few locals. It was a long old night really as our boat back wasn't going until 0900 the next day. He managed to get some sleep on the beach while I just stayed up all night. The boat back the next day was emotional. But we managed to get a cheeky nap on the way which eased the journey. All in all the full moon was a tremendous experience and I'm really glad I went. I had my reservations as I thought it would just be full off chavs but I was so wrong. The place has something for everyone no matter your age and I would highly recommend it. Kho Tao was also great and reinstalled my faith in these islands. Kho Phi Phi was a bit too in your face for me but this place was a lot more relaxed with the same stunning views as Phi Phi...

The following day was spent just relaxing. We decided to head to Khao Sok for a few days which is a national park near Surat Thani which is where we are going to get a flight up to Chiang Mai in a few days time. So it was another night boat/bus combination.