The decision to travel to Koh Tao had turned out to be a good one. Vicky was enjoying her free diving course, and subsequently went on to pass her qualification completing a 20 metre dive in the process.
Descending into the depths...
I was enjoying exploring the island and taking in all it had to offer, including a bit of sunbathing, some good walking and relaxing in the bars and cafes with a good book. The evenings provided a chance to try out a few of the many restaurants the island had to offer, and to share our stories of the day.
The view from our little bungalow right by the beach
We decided to extend our stay on the island by an extra day than originally planned when we came across a very reasonably priced snorkeling trip that circumnavigated the island. One of the sites that we were to snorkel at is named "shark bay", where it is supposed to be very easy to see black tipped reef sharks. However during our 25 minute stay in the water none of the 23 people who were on the boat had managed to see a shark! On my part I couldn't work out whether relief or disappoinement was the overriding emotion! A few of the group including Vicky swam further away from the boat in a second attempt to see them, and were rewarded with a fleeting glimpse of a pair of sharks.
Getting up close and personal with the marine life
Although the day was quite long, with there being 5 snorkel sites in total, it was actually really good fun and some of the fish we saw were very interesting. Among the fish that we saw were; Long Tailed Bannerfish, Titan Trigger Fish, various Parrot Fish, Butterfly Fish, Baracuda, Needle Fish, Christmas Tree Worms, Clams and many more.
A large clam down on the sea bed
The journey back to Koh Samui wasn't as pleasant as it could be, with the ferry being fairly small and the waves being fairly large. Eventually though we were back on the island in time for a game of "football golf" in the evening. Football golf is basically what it say on the tin; a golf course wth oversized holes that you play with your feet and a football. It is a lot more challenging than you think it would be, but myself, Toby, Jay and Chris enjoyed our round none the less.
Check out a video of the 4 of us playing at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eZBaqdMQsU&feature=plcp
After 18 holes I emerged as the winner, with Jay in second, Chris in third and Toby in fourth place. As a prize I was given a commemerative T-shirt and got to have my photo taken with their fake World Cup trophy. All in all it was a good laugh.
Jay, myself and Chris in the victory photo
Our final day in Thailand was spent mostly on the road as we made our way toward the Malaysian border. The Thai sleeper trains are a lot comfier than their regular trains, and some of us actually managed a half decent night's sleep on them despite the air conditioning being set to about 10 degrees lower than what we are used to now! Our stay in Malaysia will be fairly short, but check back soon to see what we have got up to :)
Where was the Dover shirt ??? another great blog Dan with some great pics as well.
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