Koh Tao March 2013
Day 2
After a mediocre night sleep in our fan bungalow we woke up at 7:30am to make it for the free buffet breakfast and use of the swimming pool before check out at 11am. We got dressed and headed to the restaurant across the street where breakfast was served. It included scrambled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, omelette, fried rice, yogurt, coffee, tea, juice, cereal, pineapple, watermelon, French toast and normal toast. I had a little of everything and was the heartiest breakfast I'd had so far in Thailand but let's face it not very Thai.
If you wanted to pay for breakfast but where not a guest at the resort it would be 200 baht/£4.50/$6.77 for the privilege. We ate breakfast with the lovely view of the beach and long tail boats. Then proceeded to the Seashell Resort pool which was actually 4 pools. A scuba pool and jacuzzi then 2 other adjoining pools, one with an infinity pool. The water was cool and we had about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time until other guests joined us. After drying off we headed back to the bungalow, packed our stuff and checked out. We left our luggage at the resort while we searched for more modest accommodation.
We came across Jizo's, a hostel we had seen the night before offering 300 baht/£6.72/$10.16 a night rooms with wifi accessible throughout the property and air conditioning. We had a look at the room, it was a standard 4 bedroom dorm. Not amazing but, fine for the price we were paying. We checked in and paid then went back to the resort to gather our luggage.
After dumping our stuff, we got some pad thai and fried rice at a little shack down the road for 60 baht/£1.34/$2.03 each. We finally proceeded to Sairee beach. After swimming and lying in the water for a few hours we made it back, had a shower and met one of the guys in our room, Andy*. He was going for dinner later that night so we asked him to join us.
After being in Koh Tao for a few hours the things I noticed a lot of are scuba diving courses and scooters. The roads and walking streets are very narrow but that that doesn't stop dozens of scooters and bikes zipping and zapping through the town which is quite irritating as you are continuously moving from side to side and turning around. There are also several scuba diving schools offering open water diving and courses from 1-4 days. Most courses start daily and the only requirement is being able to swim. Some courses also offer accommodation within the price of the course, most course 3 days and over start from 8000 baht/£180/$270.
I ran some errands as Etta had a nap then came across Andy again. He mentioned he was going to this restaurant that plays films with some other people he met previously. So we went to this Mexican restaurant called El Toro and ordered two red chicken curries, spring rolls and pad Thai while we waited for the film to start and for Andy's friends to arrive.
Shortly after the film The Dictator started Andy's friends Lance and Charles came. We introduced ourselves and continued to watch the film. The conversation was not flowing as usual that night as in Thailand was a dry night from 6pm-6pm the following day due to the Thai elections so no alcohol is permitted to be served in bars, restaurants or mini marts and the like.
After the food and the film ended it seemed like a ghost town as the streets were not littered with people stumbling around or carrying beer. At a loss for what we could do that evening that didn't result in sleep we found a bench by the beach and sat talking until the wee hours of the morning (2am). Topics including race, Europeans, the tampon girl, Koh Phi Phi, fire related injuries, German, Canadian and English educational systems in addition to our onward destinations after Koh Tao.
After about 2am we walked back through the ghost town to our hostel and made it to sleep in our impeccably air conditioned room.
After a mediocre night sleep in our fan bungalow we woke up at 7:30am to make it for the free buffet breakfast and use of the swimming pool before check out at 11am. We got dressed and headed to the restaurant across the street where breakfast was served. It included scrambled eggs, fried eggs, bacon, omelette, fried rice, yogurt, coffee, tea, juice, cereal, pineapple, watermelon, French toast and normal toast. I had a little of everything and was the heartiest breakfast I'd had so far in Thailand but let's face it not very Thai.
If you wanted to pay for breakfast but where not a guest at the resort it would be 200 baht/£4.50/$6.77 for the privilege. We ate breakfast with the lovely view of the beach and long tail boats. Then proceeded to the Seashell Resort pool which was actually 4 pools. A scuba pool and jacuzzi then 2 other adjoining pools, one with an infinity pool. The water was cool and we had about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time until other guests joined us. After drying off we headed back to the bungalow, packed our stuff and checked out. We left our luggage at the resort while we searched for more modest accommodation.
We came across Jizo's, a hostel we had seen the night before offering 300 baht/£6.72/$10.16 a night rooms with wifi accessible throughout the property and air conditioning. We had a look at the room, it was a standard 4 bedroom dorm. Not amazing but, fine for the price we were paying. We checked in and paid then went back to the resort to gather our luggage.
After dumping our stuff, we got some pad thai and fried rice at a little shack down the road for 60 baht/£1.34/$2.03 each. We finally proceeded to Sairee beach. After swimming and lying in the water for a few hours we made it back, had a shower and met one of the guys in our room, Andy*. He was going for dinner later that night so we asked him to join us.
After being in Koh Tao for a few hours the things I noticed a lot of are scuba diving courses and scooters. The roads and walking streets are very narrow but that that doesn't stop dozens of scooters and bikes zipping and zapping through the town which is quite irritating as you are continuously moving from side to side and turning around. There are also several scuba diving schools offering open water diving and courses from 1-4 days. Most courses start daily and the only requirement is being able to swim. Some courses also offer accommodation within the price of the course, most course 3 days and over start from 8000 baht/£180/$270.
I ran some errands as Etta had a nap then came across Andy again. He mentioned he was going to this restaurant that plays films with some other people he met previously. So we went to this Mexican restaurant called El Toro and ordered two red chicken curries, spring rolls and pad Thai while we waited for the film to start and for Andy's friends to arrive.
Shortly after the film The Dictator started Andy's friends Lance and Charles came. We introduced ourselves and continued to watch the film. The conversation was not flowing as usual that night as in Thailand was a dry night from 6pm-6pm the following day due to the Thai elections so no alcohol is permitted to be served in bars, restaurants or mini marts and the like.
After the food and the film ended it seemed like a ghost town as the streets were not littered with people stumbling around or carrying beer. At a loss for what we could do that evening that didn't result in sleep we found a bench by the beach and sat talking until the wee hours of the morning (2am). Topics including race, Europeans, the tampon girl, Koh Phi Phi, fire related injuries, German, Canadian and English educational systems in addition to our onward destinations after Koh Tao.
After about 2am we walked back through the ghost town to our hostel and made it to sleep in our impeccably air conditioned room.
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