Koh Tao

Overnight bus from Bangkok to Champon.  Ferry from Champon to Koh Tao.  We had to wait a good twenty minutes for our buddy, Rick, who thought it would be a good idea to take a stroll on the back of some guy's scooter.  When the guy ended up on the freeway, Rick thought he would miss the bus.  The rest of us, waiting for him, having no idea where he was, thought the same thing.  One of our friends ran off the bus saying, "It's okay.  I'll wait for Rick, I'll see you guys on Koh Tao."  The bus driver didn't seem worried it the least, and the woman in the booking office just said, "We'll wait." 

Waiting period, Champon, I think.

The funny thing about Thailand, that we were to find out, but we didn't know yet... is that if you've booked transportation... it always waits for you.  Seriously, the whole country seems like a mess, but if you've booked a travel ticket which usually includes a few different forms of travel (say, overnight bus to ferry), the bus doesn't leave until you get there, and the ferry waits until the bus arrives.  There were moments where traveling through Thailand felt like an insane computer game.  You'd give your slip of paper to the bus driver, who then hands you four tickets, gives each one of you a sticker for your shirt with the letters TAO on it for Koh Tao, you ride that bus into the groggy night, and then that bus drops you off at 3, 4, or 5 o'clock in the morning next to some 24-hour Thai restuarant-internet cafe-bus depot combination spot where you wait, for an indefinite amount of time, until they round you up into the back of an open bed pick-up truck, swing your ass at 60 miles an hour around curves, and dump you out at the dock at 6:35am where you were supposed to catch the ferry at 6:00... at least that's what the ticket said.  And magically... the ferry arrives at 7:00, and you take a long stroll onto the boat as the sun is rising, maybe make some friends on the ferry, maybe have a few more drinks, fall asleep for a bit, and get off in Koh Tao still groggy from all the Changs and Hong Thong.

Boarding the ferry to Koh Tao

Leaving Champon

On the water to Koh Tao

Ferry to Koh Tao

The dock side of Koh Tao reminded me of Haiti... in a good way.  The water is an aquamarine blue, and little wooden boats of turquoise blue, green and orange seem to just hang out on the glassy surface of the water, waiting for no one.  The yellow beach pushes back into small wooden huts with docks, and behind that a lush foliage sets in and continues all the way up the steep mountainsides behind.  We turned up there on Christmas eve, and it was a zoo.  Getting off the dock was the usual Thailand rigmarole.  Thai people shouting at you, holding pictures of accommodation, asking you "Where you stay?" "You need taxi?" "Where you stay?"

Mass chaos, departing the ferry

Portside, Koh Tao

We agreed to a taxi ride for 40 baht per person to Lotus beach, and climbed into yet another open bed pick up truck with about ten other backpackers.  It's nice to ride in the open bed of a pick-up truck.  I forgot that.  I let my legs dangle off the back, and watched the dirt roads weave behind us and disappear into the palm trees and little towns.



Koh Tao is a notorious dive spot, and from what we had heard, most people go there to "chill out."  It is significantly less crazy than Koh Panyang or Koh Phi Phi, but since it was our first stop, we had nothing to compare it to.  When we first arrived to Lotus beach, all I kept thinking was, "did it rain or something?"- the gravel streets were all wet.  It was a beautiful, sunny day, though... so it didn't quite equate.  I later chalked it up to a perpetual sewage problem, which is disturbing.  Most people just walk around barefoot anyway, which is even more disturbing.  And I lost my flip flops on the first night, so then I was one of those people for a few days until I bought a new pair, which is, I guess, the most disturbing.

Perpetually wet streets, Koh Tao

Open air truck

Electrical wires, Koh Tao

Food stands, Koh Tao

Lotus beach consists of a couple of small streets lined with beach clothing stores, dive shops, internet cafes, thai massage huts, bars, and restaurants.  A good deal of people on Koh Tao rent scooters or motorbikes and cruise them all along the main streets, which is really annoying because there is so much foot traffic, and because most of those people don't know how to operate two-wheel vehicles.

Lotus Beach, Koh Tao

Scooting, Koh Tao

Along the main drag, Koh Tao

Along Lotus beach itself is just a row of bars and restaurants.  Well... the difference between a bar and a restaurant in Thailand seems to just be the time of day, anyway.  All restaurants pretty much serve alcohol, and it seems that most bars serve food until about 10pm.  The menus usually run the spectrum from English and American breakfast, to sandwiches and pizza, to all forms of Thai food.  Some other places offer those things plus other specialties like Mexican, Italian or Indian, but generally speaking, all restaurants cater to tourists, so you can always find whatever you've been lacking.

Restaurant along Lotus beach

Restaurants along Lotus beach

Imbibers along Lotus Beach

All of the bars that face the ocean along Lotus beach have some form of deck that opens out to the sea.  They usually play some good, mellow music, and litter the deck with Thai pillows, low tables and bamboo mats so that you can relax, eat some food, and maybe have a drink while you stare at the sea.  If you get to hot, you jump in.  The tide recedes in the evenings so that the decks are no longer hanging over the ocean.  At around sunset, the bar owners lay out bamboo mats and put tables with candles on them in the sand, so that you can order dinner and drinks on the beach, and take in a fire show.  Most of the bars put on some form of poi or fire throwing show during dinner time.

Dinner is anything you want, but Koh Tao offers a full spread of seafood for the grill.  Most of the bars/restaurants on the beach have a cart that displays everything from prawns, to kebab skewers, to lobster, to shark, that you can pick out, have them grill up and bring to your table. 

Preparations for Christmas dinner, Koh Tao

Food to choose

It's a small enough island that you generally run into the same people over and over again.  Which was a good thing for us, but I can imagine would not be in some circumstances.  We went back to the same little bar/restaurant every day mainly because of  the guy that worked there named Rudy.  Rudy always wore rasta-colored pants, and bright beaded necklaces.  He was really the only overtly friendly Thai person we met, that didn't seem like he was trying to rip us off.  We'd borrow cards from Rudy, and then he'd play backgammon with some of the boys for money, and intermittently, he'd make us mojitos.  The music was always good at Rudy's place, and there was a pool table as well.  Plus, it always feels good to feel welcome somewhere.

Rudy's place

Rudy's place

Rudy's place

Off the coast of Koh Tao is a little island called Koh Nang Yuan that you can access by water taxi.  There is a really good dive and snorkel spot there called the Japanese Garden.  I had imbibed too much the night before and spent my day at Koh Nang Yuan sleeping on the white sands, trying to ignore the whipping wind, but on any other occasion, I could imagine it would be paradise.  The water is unbelievably blue and the view from the top of one of the peaks is spectacular (so I've seen in postcards).

Koh Nang Yuan

On the tail end of that statement, I will say that Koh Tao did show us quite a good time.  While there are bars all along the beach, and you can freely walk from one to the next (bucket in hand), Lotus bar seems to catch a lot of attention, I'm not sure why.  It doesn't have the greatest ambiance, and the staff are creepy at best, but night after night, it seems people just find themselves at Lotus bar.  There are some spots further down as well, AC bar, the Fishbowl was probably my favorite, and Castle.

Lotus Bar

Lotus Bar

The days on Koh Tao are never wasted.  If you don't spend the day lounging on one of the waterside decks, you can take a hike up the mountainside, rent an ATV and go four-wheeling, dive, snorkel, take a yoga class, have a Thai massage, or find a hammock in the shade.  There are a bunch of cafes that offer wholesome food and tea, as well as a ton of bars that offer grungy breakfast and beers.

Rope Swing, Koh Tao

Thai Massage on the beach, Koh Tao

Cafe, Koh Tao

The best thing that we did on Koh Tao was see Muay Thai boxing.  I had never seen a Muay Thai boxing match before, and in my imagination, I had envisioned it being much more violent, much more disgusting, much more stinky.  We had been given a flier for the match on the beach, and thought we should go.  The boxing ring was about a ten minute walk from the downtown area, sort of on the way to a clearing in a palm grove.  Admission was 500 baht, and they sold cheap beers at a small stand inside the gates.  It was altogether an incredibly lo-fi operation.  There were probably 150 spectators, a combination of tourists and locals, all sitting lazily in the stands around the peripheral of the ring.  The boxers were all warming up in a small area about 30 feet from the ring, sort of away from the spectators, but there was no partition keeping them out of reach.  Meaning, that you could just go up and speak to the boxers before or after their match if you wanted. 

I immediately made my way to the front standing space (which wasn't difficult, as people weren't pressed to be in the front), and was able to observe all the matches leaning against the mats.  The boxers were come into the ring, all greased up with Tiger balm, smelling like eucalyptus, wearing floral wreathes around their heads, the tattoos on their back glisening.  The would bow to every corner of the ring (to Buddha), before coming to their knees one last time in the center.  There they would do a little stretch before bowing to one another and taking their corners.  All the while high-pitched flutes played a sort of hypnotic tune that sounded like the music you would play to charm snakes out of a basket, and small symbols chimed rhythmically.  Throughout the entire match this melodic music plays... maybe that is why I liked it so much.

When the fighting began, there was nothing brute about it.  All of these fighters were nimble and lithe, and they used their whole bodies while fighting.  I didn't know much about Muay Thai, but most of it involves kicking, and very little fist contact.  I liked this.  It seemed more athletic that way.  The prize fight of the night was some swarthy South African bloke against a nimble little Thai man.  The top heavy white brute obviously won, using a great deal more fist fighting than any of the previous fighters.  His lighter by 15 pounds Thai opponent held his own for four rounds, but finally lost after a bad blow to the face.  It's the face punching I don't like.  It's no wonder I wasn't routing for the South African guy. 

All told, Koh Tao was probably my favorite place in Thailand.  I think for all that Thailand has to offer, it probably comes full circle there- a little bit of mellow, some decent outdoor activities, good parties, good beaches, and good food- but then, I guess everywhere in Thailand has good food.