Getting to Ko Tao

Quite a bit has happened since my last post, to say the least.

Around 7 pm on August 31st, Josh and I were planning the next leg of our trip. The plan was for the two of us to go back to Phnom Penh, stay the night and then leave the next day for Ho Chi Minh (Vietnam) to begin our tour of the country. I had been really wrestling with the idea of trying to cram in such a huge country with so many sights in such a short period of time for a few days by that point, and I finally decided I couldn't do it. Right then and there, I chose to split up with Josh until the 12th when we would meet back up in Bangkok.

No worries, there aren't any hard feelings with this decision; it's just that both of us have paid a ton of money to get ourselves down here and we shouldn't "waste" our trip with things that we don't want to do.

Before I came on this trip, I had visions of myself sitting on an isolated beach somewhere off the coast of Thailand...so that's what I decided to do. Sorta. I met some travelers a few days before who told me about this really beautiful island named Ko Tao and said I should check it out. They also told me that they had really good scuba diving, something I've been wanting to try for a while. So, as simple as that...I decided I'd head to Ko Tao alone.

I was picked up at 7:30 am the following morning by a cab from my hostel to take me to PoiPet (a Cambodian/Thai border). He shows up in his Toyota Camry and off we go. I had heard rumors that they road was rough getting there...but nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to embark on. I'm not lying when I tell you that there were pot holes 3 feet wide and a over a foot deep EVERYWHERE! To make matters worse, this is a completely dirt (and dust) road. On top of that, the drivers in southeast asia have got to be some of the worst in the world. It's not uncommon at all to be driving head on with a huge truck or with motorcycles and tuk-tuks coming at you from every direction. He too, blared his favorite cambodian musician aas high as his stero would play it the entire ride, thanks pal. I had to sit there and bear it for three painstaking hours. I almost vomited on the floorboards twice.

We finally arrive at the border. The driver yanks my stuff out of the car, points to the immigration office, and jets out of there as fast as he can. I nervously walk up to the border and quickly notice that there are NO other westerners around. Throughout my entire time in asia, I have always been able to spot at least one other backpacker whereever I have been so this comes as a bit of an alarm. I continue on through the checkpoints and finally after 30 minutes or so, I spot a group of other backpackers. Turns out these guys were some really cool Germans and we all proceeded through in a group.

When we got to the other side, we hired two tuk-tuks to take us over to the bus station at Aranyprathet. We managed to get tickets on the LAST bus out of there by the skin of our teeth (we got to the bus station at 11:40 and they left at noon)...phew! The bus takes 4ish hours, putting us in Bangkok at 4:30 or so. As soon as I got off the bus, I got another taxi to take me across Bangkok (rush hour traffic in a city where people don't know how to drive is a blast) and drop me off at the other bus station which will take me to Ko Tao.

I arrive at the other bus station at 5:30 and after walking around for a good 30 minutes, finally manage to find the correct ticket office. The lady at the counter doesn't speak hardly any english...but she is eventually able to convey to me that I need to buy the 9:00 ticket but I couldn't really understand why at the time... I end up finding this pretty nice coffee shop in the station and camp out there for a while, which gave me a chance to read my new book "First They Killed My Father", a first hand story about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia.

So I board the bus at 8:45, take a dramamine and pass out. I'm awakend at 3 am and told that I have arrived at my destination. I'm not really awake, but it doesn't take me long for me to realize that I am the only one getting off at this stop which is nothing more than a shed with a few chairs under it. Lovely. I plop myself in one of the chairs and try my best to get back to sleep, but I'm entirely too freaked out. I have no idea where I am and no clue as to what I'm supposed to do next. Finally, 2 hours later, some other people begin to show up and sit down near me. When a group of Swiss get there, they manage to tell me that we're waiting for a truck to come pick us up and take us to the ferry station and from there we'll go to Ko Tao. At 7 am, the truck arrives and FINALLY at 10:45 am...I arrive on Ko Tao Island. Not to bad of a trek there, eh?

Ok, I have so much more to tell all of you, but internet ain't cheap on the island and I'm exhausted from scuba diving all day. I'll just leave you with this: the island is a complete paradise and scuba diving is an experience unparalleled with any other.

Until next time.