Let me tell you something. If you haven’t figured out yet from all these little journals, we (well,I) don’t like crowded places full of with tourists. I like to discover places that are a bit less visited and more quiet. This case as usual we went to a secluded part of Koh Tao which was an amazing, beautiful experience. I remember one evening I just sat on the beach in the pitch black (they turned all lights off at 11pm) and just listened the sound of the waves, the sea. I looked up and I’ve never seen so many stars. No light pollution = million stars. And it was prefect. Being there in the right moment, the right time… I wish I was there right now. So if you don’t like crowd or just want a little tranquility, try that place, it was fantastic (besides the expensive prices).

‘Hello all my readers! Today’s email won’t be too long. At the moment we are in Koh Tao which is a small island just right next to Koh Samui. It’s much smaller and of course as always, we wanted to avoid the party side of it, so we came to the eastern part of the island. If you do like party and ever want to come, just stay around the pier, there are lots of hotels and places to eat. However, we wanted a bit more tranquility. It’s beautiful and peaceful here. As we got off the ferry, we asked how much the taxi is there. It was 400baht. That’s a lot for a 10-15 mins drive. We payed 400bht in Bangkok for almost an hour drive… so we had the obvious idea of walking. Bare in mind, it’s 11am, 30 degrees and we are carrying 10kg if not more/each. We walked in the jungle but on a man made road. As it’s in the jungle, it was up and down but mainly up….we were sweating and at some point I swear I felt my heart will pop out. Rich was sick, we had to stop for a few minutes. What a stupid idea?? Finally, after a bit over than an hour (so just after 12, we basically walked in the hottest time) we got to the hotel. I couldn’t breathe for a good 10 mins after we arrived. I had a shower and just collapsed in the shade. The accommodation is in a little bungalow right on the beach, we can actually see the sea from the window. It’s about 20-25 of us only. We don’t do a lot for these 3 days. The way here was long and I couldn’t sleep so I was pretty much dead yesterday. But not dead enough for a good old snorkel. The water is crystal clear and there are hundreds of fish, in all sort of colours, coming to you, interested in you. Corals everywhere, it’s amazing. And it’s right by the beach, you don’t even need to swim in. You can stand in the water and fish coming to you. I saw a massive, very colourful fish, it was beautiful. Today, I just stayed on the beach the whole day. Just enjoyed doing nothing and reading a book. Rich went into town, staying on the beach isn’t his thing. Tomorrow we are going on an island boat trip. The boat stops in 4 different places, lots of opportunity to snorkel in crystal clear water. Can’t wait. Unfortunately, I only have the iPad to take photos and it’s not waterproof so no fish pictures but will have a few of the beach.

Just a little information. The bungalow isn’t a hostel, so it cost a bit more than what we would pay normally but I insisted to come here so we payed £21/night (we stay 2 nights). The trip cost 600baht/person, including the boat, equipment for snorkel and lunch. Food and drinks here are fairly pricey which we knew so we bought 10 packs of instant noodles and we pretty much live on that for 2 days… Just to compare. Normally a fried rice would cost about 70 baht. Here is 100 or depending on what’s in it, could be more.

From here, we are travelling down south. Tomorrow evening we are going to Krabi as we heard good things about it. Ferry and bus cost 750baht/person. It takes long to get there but we travel overnight,so that should be ok.

Just a funny story before I say goodbye. Yesterday evening I went to the toilet and as I was about to walk out, I saw something from the corner of my eyes, I jumped. It was a big frog. We got a towel and tried to get it out but wasn’t easy. We managed in the end. It peed itself on the floor…nice, ehh? I’ll write tomorrow about the trip but might be able to send it only the day after.’