Koh Tao March 2013
Day 1
Today Etta and I broke away from the group and travelled to Koh Tao while the girls decided to stay on Koh Lanta. We had bought our tickets from the tour operator at the resort for 1200 baht/£26/$40 for the transportation that gets you to Koh Tao on the same day, it's slightly cheaper if you choose the option where you get there the next day.
Koh Tao is located on the other side of the country by Koh Samui and Koh Phanghan and we had left the side closer to Phuket and Koh Phi Phi. A mini van picked us up at 9:30 and was about a 3 hour journey to Krabi town where we had to get a coach to take us across country. We the were dropped off at a tourist office where we were given luggage tags and stickers. We were told the next coach would be arriving in 30 minutes. In that time I got some food and waited for the coach. We were on the next coach for about 3 more hours. We then arrived at a port where we then got on a catamaran for a further 2 hours when we were told to leave the catamaran at Koh Phagnan for a reason unknown to myself or Etta. We waited at Koh Phagnan for about 30 minutes before another catamaran arrived and we got on that one, after about 30 more minutes we finally arrived in Koh Tao greeted by a swarm of taxi drivers asking where we wanted to go and the words 'guest room', 'hotel' 'taxi'. After we got our bearings were realised we needed to get to the centre of Koh Tao so found a taxi and drove about 10 minutes until we made it to the city. There were several restaurants, bars and stores all around but mostly on 3 or 4 interlinked streets.
We walked tirelessly with our backpacks to try and find some sort of accommodation. Alas the bungalows that we came across the reception for were closed as it was around 8:30pm at this point. Tired and hungry I dumped my bag with Etta and suggested trying to find some accommodation as it would be quicker without 20kg on my back. Considering I didn't know the area well I had only looked at about half of what Koh Tao had to offer but with hunger and fatigue prevailing we weren't left with many choices. I couldn't see any hostels, only resorts and hotels. I asked at a few places and the cheapest option was The Seashell Resort and Spa at 1000 baht/£22/$33 a night for a double fan room. It included a buffet breakfast which was rare in comparison to the modest places we have been staying previously so that was nice. After we checked in and were shown to our room we were stunned to say the least. The bungalow was tiny, the space left over from the room taken from the bed wasn't big enough to swing a cat in, literally. The bathroom was fine but no hot water was available from the shower thanks to the sign mentioning that fact. Wifi was also only available in the lobby.
Considering we paid 700 baht a night in our last accommodation which was a beachfront property and included a swimming pool, hot water, television and air conditioning we couldn't help feel we had been duped but hey ho. On to dinner we go.
After we dumped our baggage we proceeded to a sushi restaurant we had seen on the way in. We had a mixture of udon noodles, tempura and salmon rolls. All delicious and very filling for a meagre 215 baht/£4.82/$7.28 each which would be impossible to find in London so cheaply.
After dinner we wandered around the side streets and found more accommodation, some the same price with air conditioning, some full but also a hostel offering 300 baht/£6.72/$10.16 rooms with air conditioning and wifi available throughout the whole property.
Koh Tao has a lot of nightlight, not as much as Bangkok or Koh Phi Phi so somewhere in the middle. We were after a quiet night so headed to the bar restaurant called Hippo to get a drink. We arrived during happy hour which coincidently was actually only 1 hour as in Thailand happy hour usually last 3-4 hours. Mojitos were 100 baht/£2.24/$3.39 each and was the best mojitos I'd had since Cuba which is saying something. After our amazing drinks we headed back to our somewhat heated fan room and attempted to sleep until breakfast the next morning.
Today Etta and I broke away from the group and travelled to Koh Tao while the girls decided to stay on Koh Lanta. We had bought our tickets from the tour operator at the resort for 1200 baht/£26/$40 for the transportation that gets you to Koh Tao on the same day, it's slightly cheaper if you choose the option where you get there the next day.
Koh Tao is located on the other side of the country by Koh Samui and Koh Phanghan and we had left the side closer to Phuket and Koh Phi Phi. A mini van picked us up at 9:30 and was about a 3 hour journey to Krabi town where we had to get a coach to take us across country. We the were dropped off at a tourist office where we were given luggage tags and stickers. We were told the next coach would be arriving in 30 minutes. In that time I got some food and waited for the coach. We were on the next coach for about 3 more hours. We then arrived at a port where we then got on a catamaran for a further 2 hours when we were told to leave the catamaran at Koh Phagnan for a reason unknown to myself or Etta. We waited at Koh Phagnan for about 30 minutes before another catamaran arrived and we got on that one, after about 30 more minutes we finally arrived in Koh Tao greeted by a swarm of taxi drivers asking where we wanted to go and the words 'guest room', 'hotel' 'taxi'. After we got our bearings were realised we needed to get to the centre of Koh Tao so found a taxi and drove about 10 minutes until we made it to the city. There were several restaurants, bars and stores all around but mostly on 3 or 4 interlinked streets.
We walked tirelessly with our backpacks to try and find some sort of accommodation. Alas the bungalows that we came across the reception for were closed as it was around 8:30pm at this point. Tired and hungry I dumped my bag with Etta and suggested trying to find some accommodation as it would be quicker without 20kg on my back. Considering I didn't know the area well I had only looked at about half of what Koh Tao had to offer but with hunger and fatigue prevailing we weren't left with many choices. I couldn't see any hostels, only resorts and hotels. I asked at a few places and the cheapest option was The Seashell Resort and Spa at 1000 baht/£22/$33 a night for a double fan room. It included a buffet breakfast which was rare in comparison to the modest places we have been staying previously so that was nice. After we checked in and were shown to our room we were stunned to say the least. The bungalow was tiny, the space left over from the room taken from the bed wasn't big enough to swing a cat in, literally. The bathroom was fine but no hot water was available from the shower thanks to the sign mentioning that fact. Wifi was also only available in the lobby.
Considering we paid 700 baht a night in our last accommodation which was a beachfront property and included a swimming pool, hot water, television and air conditioning we couldn't help feel we had been duped but hey ho. On to dinner we go.
After we dumped our baggage we proceeded to a sushi restaurant we had seen on the way in. We had a mixture of udon noodles, tempura and salmon rolls. All delicious and very filling for a meagre 215 baht/£4.82/$7.28 each which would be impossible to find in London so cheaply.
After dinner we wandered around the side streets and found more accommodation, some the same price with air conditioning, some full but also a hostel offering 300 baht/£6.72/$10.16 rooms with air conditioning and wifi available throughout the whole property.
Koh Tao has a lot of nightlight, not as much as Bangkok or Koh Phi Phi so somewhere in the middle. We were after a quiet night so headed to the bar restaurant called Hippo to get a drink. We arrived during happy hour which coincidently was actually only 1 hour as in Thailand happy hour usually last 3-4 hours. Mojitos were 100 baht/£2.24/$3.39 each and was the best mojitos I'd had since Cuba which is saying something. After our amazing drinks we headed back to our somewhat heated fan room and attempted to sleep until breakfast the next morning.
Comments
Post a Comment