Paradise Found: Ko Tao
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Hello Everyone! Thought we had forgotten about you?
It's been a long time and I am guessing some of you might be wondering what we have been up to... well here you go :)
We left Phnom Penh for Bangkok and spent a couple of days there shopping and lounging about getting ready for the next adventure. We also finally found a nice Sushi restaurant where we could celebrate my birthday ( a little late I know). Finally we got packed and took the very early bus down to Chumpong and from there the ferry over to Ko Tao. We did not have any reservations and unlucky for us, there was a huge party lined up the day after we arrived so everything was booked! With the hours ticking away we got more and more desperate and finally we called a dive resort (Easy Divers) we had heard good things about. They had accomodation and we signed up to take our PADI open water certification. The course was to take four days during which we had free accomodation up at the Easy Divers Garden Resort. After our first day of classes it was time to hit the water.
At first it was horrible! The excercises they make you do and the awkward sensation of breathing under water was no fun at all. As soon as the excercises were over we got to do our first proper dive. During the dive I swore loudly to myself... I was completely hooked! Micki however was not entirely convinced and on the third day decided to skip the course as she was having some pain in her ear. I finished the course (92% in the exam, micki got 96%) and Micki hit the beach. During the last dive we had a videographer film the day and in the evening we had a great night out on the town. First we all gathered to watch the film at a small bar called the Sun & Moon. After that we spent several hours dancing on the tables at Chopper's and ended the night raving on the beach at Lotus Bar. All in all a great night out!
After 4 days of diving I decided I wanted more and I wanted to go deeper so I took the advanced deep water course (30 meters instead of 18) and a bunch of fun dives which gave us some more free accomodation but we decided to move to the beach club instead so Micki could be closer to the beach. After 7 hours underwater and a fairly intricate knowledge of the Ko Tao dive sites it was time to call it quits even though I hadn't seen what I was looking for... Sharks, or whale sharks to be more specific but a Bull or Black Tip would also have been nice. My quest is not over though and the Gili Islands and Australia will provide! so I have been told :) I did however get to see sea snakes, sting rays, moray eels, giant groupers, barracudas and a plethora of technicolored fish I don't know the name of.
Ok Ok, so it wasn't all about the diving and we did have a great day at Ko Nang-Yuan (the smaller islands on the photos) and also an excellent day sailing around Ko Tao with a Hobie Cat. We also spent quite a few hours on the beach. Ko Tao is now my definition of paradise! A beautiful island with great nightlife, amazing beaches, superb diving (and other watersports). There are just the right amount of people: Not like Phayam (too little) or Phuket (far too many).
All good things must come to an end however and the day before yesterday was that time. I began the day with my two best dives of the trip while Micki slept in. In the evening we took the night boat, which is basically a cargo boat with about 100 closely packed matresses on two floors where everyone can "sleep" until the boat arrives in Suratthani the next morning. From there we took a minibus to the border and finally a very comfortable VIP bus to Kuala Lumpur. The entire trip took 25 hours but here we are! ... and it's raining :)
We'll be here for about 4 days and then we are off to Singapore for three days. On the 8th we have a flight to Bali (more diving! Yesssss!) and of course surfing.
Take care now, bye bye then!
Robbe & Micki
P.S: Photos are up so go and have a look!
It's been a long time and I am guessing some of you might be wondering what we have been up to... well here you go :)
We left Phnom Penh for Bangkok and spent a couple of days there shopping and lounging about getting ready for the next adventure. We also finally found a nice Sushi restaurant where we could celebrate my birthday ( a little late I know). Finally we got packed and took the very early bus down to Chumpong and from there the ferry over to Ko Tao. We did not have any reservations and unlucky for us, there was a huge party lined up the day after we arrived so everything was booked! With the hours ticking away we got more and more desperate and finally we called a dive resort (Easy Divers) we had heard good things about. They had accomodation and we signed up to take our PADI open water certification. The course was to take four days during which we had free accomodation up at the Easy Divers Garden Resort. After our first day of classes it was time to hit the water.
At first it was horrible! The excercises they make you do and the awkward sensation of breathing under water was no fun at all. As soon as the excercises were over we got to do our first proper dive. During the dive I swore loudly to myself... I was completely hooked! Micki however was not entirely convinced and on the third day decided to skip the course as she was having some pain in her ear. I finished the course (92% in the exam, micki got 96%) and Micki hit the beach. During the last dive we had a videographer film the day and in the evening we had a great night out on the town. First we all gathered to watch the film at a small bar called the Sun & Moon. After that we spent several hours dancing on the tables at Chopper's and ended the night raving on the beach at Lotus Bar. All in all a great night out!After 4 days of diving I decided I wanted more and I wanted to go deeper so I took the advanced deep water course (30 meters instead of 18) and a bunch of fun dives which gave us some more free accomodation but we decided to move to the beach club instead so Micki could be closer to the beach. After 7 hours underwater and a fairly intricate knowledge of the Ko Tao dive sites it was time to call it quits even though I hadn't seen what I was looking for... Sharks, or whale sharks to be more specific but a Bull or Black Tip would also have been nice. My quest is not over though and the Gili Islands and Australia will provide! so I have been told :) I did however get to see sea snakes, sting rays, moray eels, giant groupers, barracudas and a plethora of technicolored fish I don't know the name of.
Ok Ok, so it wasn't all about the diving and we did have a great day at Ko Nang-Yuan (the smaller islands on the photos) and also an excellent day sailing around Ko Tao with a Hobie Cat. We also spent quite a few hours on the beach. Ko Tao is now my definition of paradise! A beautiful island with great nightlife, amazing beaches, superb diving (and other watersports). There are just the right amount of people: Not like Phayam (too little) or Phuket (far too many).All good things must come to an end however and the day before yesterday was that time. I began the day with my two best dives of the trip while Micki slept in. In the evening we took the night boat, which is basically a cargo boat with about 100 closely packed matresses on two floors where everyone can "sleep" until the boat arrives in Suratthani the next morning. From there we took a minibus to the border and finally a very comfortable VIP bus to Kuala Lumpur. The entire trip took 25 hours but here we are! ... and it's raining :)
We'll be here for about 4 days and then we are off to Singapore for three days. On the 8th we have a flight to Bali (more diving! Yesssss!) and of course surfing.
Take care now, bye bye then!
Robbe & Micki
P.S: Photos are up so go and have a look!
Posted byRobbe at 08:41
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Kiva att se att man ser under vatten nånstans i världen ännu!
Vi har kunnat gå på isen på lande' förra veckan, med fammo till hennes ohöljda förtjusning. I Esbo hålls skridskobanorna i skick två veckor längre än vanligt, och igår vräkte snön ner - tiddelipom.
Pi