Koh Tao

The laptop has become infested with tiny little ants/termites (i can't tell which). Anyway, if the laptop is infested then i can imagine that everything else is. It makes typing this blog entry rather interesting. It's like a game of "whack a mole"...or rather "whack a mite". Our entry into the UK will be interesting going through the "something to declare" ;)

After arriving here in Koh Tao it was a taxi journey to the east side of the island. The roads here are really bad and taxi's tend to be Toyota HiLuxs or other big pick up 4x4 trucks. Everyone just sits in the back of the pick ups getting bounced around. Today, Andrea tried to use the camcorder on the back of one, i suspect it'll make everyone sick who watches it.

Anyway, the reason that we chose Koh Tao was that it was a little of the beaten track and it's also the #2 diving point in the world (#1 being the barrier reef). This was all according to them, which judging by the sheer number of diving companies here they might be right. As i've pointed out already, there isn't much in the way of roads here, but that's not all...24 hour electricity is a luxury, as is hot water. The mossies are pretty rampant on this island and seem to attack at any time of the day, the good news is is that you can see them to hit them. I walloped a big one yesterday that was feasting on my leg, when i lifted my hand up there was a big blood splatter mark left. I'm guessing it was my blood.

We were told that the east side was the best side to come snorkeling so we ended up at a place called Black Tip Diving in Tanote bay. The snorkeling was very very good, except that sometimes the water got a little cloudy. Great coral of all sorts, some small and wavey, some the size of buses. The variety of fish is pretty good too. The only problem with the place we stayed at was the hotel room, it had curtains that were too small, ants/termites and mossies everywhere (hence the problem with the laptop), power cuts, the worst shower ever (more of a cold dribble), and the hut had the same build quality as a "Prisoner Cell Block H" set...close the door and the whole wall wobbles.

Today, we had enough of slumming it and decided to leave the east side and head for west side where civilization is a bit better. Still no hot water though, but it appears to be one of our best rooms so far.