Koh Tao

Our overnight bus ride to Koh Tao was okay – we were picked up at our hotel and dropped off in the backpacker area of Koh San Road in Bangkok. Here we waited for at least an hour before being loaded onto the bus. They were very efficient giving passengers various stickers to wear so they could shepherd us onto the right bus and ferry (some were going to Koh Samui or other various islands).

I slept relatively well on the bus despite my feet not quite reaching the floor – I don’t think Ian slept a wink. There was a short wait at the dock for the fast boat and then we made the long walk down the pier to the boat. I found a place under the a/c and was lucky I did as it was hot on that boat.

The ride to the islands was certainly interesting with many passengers getting sick as the front end flew up to soon smash down again as it rode quickly over the waves. At one point I visited the bathroom and could hear a poor fellow nosily getting sick next door.  I noted several sad souls curled up into pale sweaty balls and couldn’t help but feel sorry for them – Ian and I are so lucky that boat rides don’t bother us.  

Eventually we arrived at our crowded docking point on the tiny 21 sq km island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand.  A sign with my name led us to our driver and off we went in the back of a tuk tuk. The road was curvy and bumpy leading us through the countryside to Sairee Beach and Sairee Beach Hut, our next accommodation.

Finding accommodation on this island had proved challenging: it was either really cheap with poor reviews or expensive with great reviews. Since we were diving, I didn’t want to spend too much on accommodation but wasn’t desperate enough to go for one with horrid reviews so I took the recommendation of Scuba Junction, the dive company we were diving with, and went with Sairee Beach Hut for about 60 dollars.

The drive into the resort was a long dirt lane lined with various huts on both sides, and the closer we got to the beach, the nicer the accommodation. Check in was easy and as our room wasn’t ready, we decided to grab some breakfast; but that turned into a bit of a fiasco as we were told we had to have the pricier (and cold) buffet rather than order off the menu. We soon noticed others coming in and ordering from the menu so we asked the server who then informed us we could have ordered from the menu. It was a bad start and unfortunately, things just got worse after that.

Breakfast doesn’t start till after 7:30 am and that was a challenge for us since we had to leave at 6:45 am every morning for diving. I was quite surprised with the late start since it was a diving island. We asked if there was some way we could get something before we left (especially since we were paying for breakfast) and the answer was no. The poor girl at reception tried her hardest to arrange something for us but the manager was absolutely inflexible. I would have left at this point but alas, there were no refunds and I had had to pay for the accommodation in advance.

Surprisingly, the dive company had also asked for a deposit. This was new for us and I found out later that divers had departed without paying so that’s why deposits were requested. I am assuming this was the case with Sairee Hut as well.

After breakfast, we were shown to our room and what a disaster that was! It was the furthest from the beach, smack up against their dive shop and closest to the main road. The path leading to our hut was broken and uneven and when we opened the door to the room – a SWARM of mosquitoes moved in around us. I have honestly never seen so many in one place! We were literally moving our hands in front of our face to keep them away. The fellow who brought our bags then told us we couldn’t get internet in the room – a complete surprise to us - then he left quickly without showing us anything in the room (typically they show you how to turn on the a/c, how to use the TV, etc.). You can imagine how disappointed I was.

As we took stock, Ian noticed a huge gap above the door that was clearly responsible for the mosquito infestation and off he went to the front desk to change rooms. Long story short, we ended up getting an upgrade to a family room for more money. It wasn’t a lot different – bigger with a DVD player and kettle, and a wet room instead of a tub/shower combo- but it was closer to the beach and it sealed, so there were not as many mosquitoes.

After settling in, we headed to Scuba Junction to fill in the paperwork and get our equipment sorted.

 The staff at the dive shop were excellent – they actually wanted to see our logbooks which was a first for us. Their equipment appeared decent but they had a bit of a whacky set up where new equipment was issued each day rather than placing it in a bin that we could use over again. They just didn’t have the space to do that.

With that done, we spent the afternoon on the beach and grabbed some dinner in town, which was maybe a 2 minute walk. Food turned out to be quite good with lots of variety – Italian, Mexican, Japanese, Indian, and of course Thai. Over the week, we tried them all – for great prices too. One night after dinner, we came home to find a cockroach the size of my thumb on the bedside table – NICE. I mean, you see a lot of cockroaches in Southeast Asia, it isn’t like home where if you find one in your house you freak out; but I have never seen one that size beside my bed before. I just shrugged my shoulders as Ian killed it – what else could I do?

As the week went by, we got used to the room and tried to focus on the positives – the beds were comfy and the linens decent – and the nights were super quiet. We also had a lovely cat who slept on our porch. It was a bit odd that a sign in the room instructed us to turn on the a/c for 20 – 30 minutes to get hot water in the shower…had to laugh over that one.

Diving however was great. The company we dove with was hands down the most professional dive company we’ve ever been with. Getting into the small boat off the shore each morning was a bit of a challenge for anyone with short legs (like me) but a boost up helped.

 We received a short briefing on the smaller boat, then another on the dive boat and then a personal one with our DM. The boat itself was nothing special and was actually rather cramped but we managed.

You set up your own equipment and they were quite firm that you follow their procedure: masks clipped through the BCD, wetsuits on top, fins and weight belts underneath, bags bunched up and set aside, etc. I found it all a bit funny (and a bit anal) but it worked well. Ava was our DM and she was phenomenal. She was good enough to share her photos with us so all the underwater ones are hers. We ended up doing most of our 15 dives with her -

At aged 23, she’d only just received her open water certification in June/July the year before and had fast tracked to DM with over 500 dives under her belt since. She was incredibly thorough, safe, and on the ball. One time she looked at Ian’s tank and worried it was on very secure but he felt it was okay. Just as he went to jump in the water, it came loose and before he even had time to notice, she was in that water securing it in place.

There were things I didn’t like about the dive company – we had to finish at 50 bar or 50 minutes, whichever came first, so that was a bit annoying when you still had lots of air left at the end of 50 minutes but had to come up. We also had to make new weight belts every day. This wouldn’t have bothered me so much if they were marked because one DM would tell you the heavy ones were 2 kg, others said 1.5 kg, and others yet said 1 kg, so I never knew what I was putting on my belt. One day I jumped in with 4.5 kg and couldn’t descend. What a pain in the ass that was!

Visibility wasn’t super and ranged from 7 to 10 m and the dives were typically around 17 m, although occasionally we hit 25. We saw the usual gobies, groupers, wrasse, soldier, squirrel, fusilier, anthia and porcupine fish.

The coral was quite lovely with barrel sponges, table and anemone –

 There were some lovely nudibranches –

 Schools of snapper, fusilier, and barracuda were also seen –

On our dive to Sail Rock, a remora decided to attach itself to me for most of the dive. Typically remoras went for Ian – one time he had two on him - so I was a bit surprised this one found a liking to me. It was rather ticklish as it moved all over my body and at one point I reached down to wave it off but accidently grabbed the thing – I felt so bad. It didn’t seem to mind because in seconds, it was back on me.

We did one night dive but to be honest, I didn’t find it that exciting. Ian saw a giant barracuda which I spotted later as it swam in the opposite direction. The squirrel and soldier fish were out in the open - typically they hide in the corral. Other than that, nothing really remarkable was out and about.

Our last two dives were our longest (76 and 85 minutes) since we were the only two divers going out we didn’t have to worry about the 50 minute rule. Kate was our guide this time. Previously a lawyer from England, Kate had quit her job to dive fulltime – and like Ava, she was only a few months in. On these dives, we saw goatfish, a file fish, giant clams that close up when you wave your hand over them, and we saw a flatworm swimming. We also caught sight of a blue spotted stingray under the coral.  

 Since we did so many dives the price ended up being about 25 dollars a dive, equipment included. Couldn’t complain about that!

We said our goodbyes to friends we had made and headed off on the ferry once again. This time heading back to Bangkok in the daylight -

Ayutthaya

The bus dropped us off east of the city on the side of the highway and we had no idea where in the world we were. Typically when a bus drops its passengers off there are lots of taxis and tuk tuks available but here there were very few. I had emailed the guesthouse to ask how much a ride would be from the bus station to our booked accommodation but the amount quoted by these drivers was double what the owner had said.  So of course, we thought the taxi drivers were trying to scam us so we refused to pay – turns out, our accommodation thought we were being dropped off in town not out in the middle of nowhere.  

It was super hot and we were not used to it having come from the cooler north. Locals indicated we needed to cross the highway and grab a ride on the other side so Ian and I climbed the long flight of stairs and crossed the very wide passenger bridge, backpacks on, sun blazing down on us. The drivers on the other side turned out to be less than helpful, but to make a long story short, a tuk tuk driver finally agreed to take us so we headed to Ban Tye Wang, the hot air blowing dust in our faces.

Ban Tye Wang had received great reviews on tripadvisor so even though it was from the backpacker area and ruins, I had booked it. Walking through the gate into the grassy compound of our accommodation was like entering an oasis – the place was quiet, peaceful and green.

We were greeted by a lovely older lady with a warm smile and her son took our bags from us quickly. Couches, cool cloths and welcome drinks were made available and we filled out the necessary paperwork; including our breakfast order for the next day.

The woman’s son is an architect and he designed the place. Each room has different antiques and the bottom ones have outdoor showers. I am not usually a big fan of outdoor showers (typically they mean bugs) but these were gorgeous. The entire room was spotless with open concept sink and a small room for the toilet. The property sat on a canal and in the mornings a variety of birds came calling making all sorts of lovely songs.

Our host arranged a driver for the next morning and we headed off in a brilliant orange tuk tuk to see the ruins of Ayutthaya.

Ayutthaya was the former royal capital of Thailand and a major trading port with many traders claiming it the finest city they had ever seen (Lonely Planet). It received much damage from the invading Burmese but major renovation and restoration makes this a popular tourist spot.

Our first stop was Wat Phra Mahathat built in 1374 with a Buddha head embedded in this tree’s roots.

Many headless Buddha figures sit around the site.

Immediately north sits Wat Ratburana. In the 15^th C, King Rachathirat II built this temple on the cremation site for his two brothers who died fighting each other for the throne (Lonely Planet). There is a well preserved prang here.

We also discovered some Buddha heads lying off to the side.

Wihaan Mongkhon Bophit is a temple housing one of Thailand’s biggest bronze Buddhas at 17 m tall.

After a quick visit inside, we headed off to see the three stupas of Wat Phra Si Sanphet.

Built in the late 14^th C, this was the largest temple in Ayutthaya.

As we walked the grounds, there were many signs indicating damage from the floods of the fall. Bordering these temple grounds was a park-like setting of the Ancient Palace.

Our last stop was Wat Lokkaya Sutharam and this lovely reclining Buddha.

The next day, Ian braved the heat and went off solo on one of the bicycles available for guests. He grabbed these great shots of the various ruins he visited:

For lunch we ventured into the centre of Ayutthaya hoping to find somewhere nice to eat. When the driver dropped us off, I was so glad I had booked accommodation out of the backpacker area. It was dirty, crowded and ugly.  Lunch was merely okay and we left soon after.

That afternoon we ventured out on a private boat tour along the three rivers that made Ayutthaya an island.  We stopped briefly at this temple where Chinese influence was obvious –

The boat chugged along the narrow river where kids fished and jumped off bridges into the dirty water.

In this photo, note the faded area that indicates how high the water was during the flood –

The ride proved fairly dull and Ian and I grew bored. The driver soon dropped us off at the restaurant, in half the time we had been quoted. Nothing really appealed to us on the menu so we ordered a small dish stopping for ice cream on the way home.

One night would have been more than enough to see Ayutthaya and we were certainly ready to move on. We headed to Bangkok the next morning by train and what an adventure that was! There were several trains out of the city but almost all were third class – this meant no a/c and first come got seated.

The train arrived on schedule and we pushed our way onto a car managing to squeeze onto the end of a seat. Fans rotated from the ceiling but it was still hot. Earlier I had had images of sitting back, relaxing, and reading with the occasional glance at the passing scenery but that certainly wasn’t going to happen. Instead I mopped the sweat from my brow and bounced around on a hard bench. Oh well, at least it was cheap – maybe 15 or 20 BHT (less than a dollar).

About an hour into the journey, the train stopped and did not move. There was an announcement in Thai and when the passengers grimaced, I knew it was bad. The air in the still car was now becoming stifling and I longed for a breeze. About 15 – 20 minutes passed and another announcement followed, this one caused quite a stir and passengers began gathering their belongings to leave. Ian and I followed figuring we had to change trains. I wondered how packed the next one would be with all these additional passengers.

Luckily for us, on the next train, we got a seat AND it turned out to be an express so we got into Bangkok sooner than we would have on the other train. Once at the station, we sought out a travel company to look into booking transportation to a small island in the Gulf for some diving. The overnight train was unfortunately full so we opted for a bus / ferry combo that left around 9pm and arrived at 8:45am on Koh Tao.

We then made our way into Bangkok which was becoming a ‘home’ for us what with all the stops we had made there – it was nice having somewhere familiar to return to. We settled in for a short layover of movies, coffee, and lounging about.