Paul comes to see us

  Koh Tao, Surat Thani, Thailand Thursday, April 30, 2015

Well it seemed as if Hannah and Dave have not been gone very long and when Bryan set off to Bangkok again. He was meeting his friend Paul at the airport who was here with us for two weeks. First though, a boys weekend in Bangkok as Paul had never been there before. No more about that here I'm afraid though. What happened in Bangkok, stays in Bangkok! They arrived on the Lomprayah ferry about 4pm and we showed Paul the apartment and got him settled in as quickly as we could. There are also things out here which are different to how we do them at home which needed explaining a little bit. e.g. not putting toilet paper down the toilet and how to give everything a good old douche first! No more on that subject either! We wandered down to the beach and found a little restaurant by the water and had our first meal there whilst we watch the sunset. Paul unfortunately was struggling to keep his eyes open so we cut it short and went back to our apartment. The flights and travelling were all catching up with him now. The second day Bryan was up early and off on his diving course. The Dive Master course is quite a long course; about 8 weeks altogether, and he has to take exams and clock up enough hours assisting instructors too so it means he has to spend most days there. So Paul and Jody walked down into Mae Haad and rented a moped each from our usual shop. Off they went and headed to Shark Bay. All trips to Shark Bay start with a coconut shake in the restaurant at the top - it's the law - our law! OK Bungalows again provided the dramatic view for Paul as we sipped our shakes. Wonderful. Then came the climb down the steps to the rocks and the sea where there is prime snorkelling to be done. The tide was out much further than it had ever been before here so although we saw many beautiful fish, it wasn't as beautiful as we know it had been on previous trips but we were undeterred; there is always tomorrow :-) We stopped for lunch along the beach on the way back and Jody could actually see Paul start to relax a bit now. The plan was to meet up with Bryan after his course finished for the day so we had a bit of time to kill.  Oh what shall we do? A massage of course. Well for Paul anyway. Jody opted for a pedicure and had sparkles applied to her toes too. Whatever next? Paul looked as if he was enjoying himself though, being pulled into all sorts of different shapes. Feeling much more relaxed & pampered we wandered down to the beach and found Lotus Bar and a few beers to wait for Bryan. And a couple more. Where was he? Grrr! An hour later we decided to go and find him. Where was he? Yep still at the dive centre. We managed to drag him out and off for dinner to Taste of Home restaurant where we had had such a wonderful meal just a week previously. And it was the same again tonight. Great food. It's easy to see why she is No. 2 restaurant on the island. Back home and a late night dip in the pool (we would say to cool off but the pool is usually still hot at this time of night despite not being heated at all!). Time to do it all over again tomorrow. Next day Paul & Jody decided to go somewhere she hadn't been before; Tanote Bay. The roads were OK to start with; a few fairly steep bits but nothing to really bother about. And then they got to the road to turn off down to the bay. First scary fact; it was at least a 90 degree slope. Second scary fact; it was a concrete road covered in sand and gravel. We stopped at the top and wondered whether it was safe to go down - more importantly; were we brave enough to attempt it ourselves? We umm'ed and aah'ed about it for a while. And then a young Thai girl put us both to shame and zipped past us and straight down it! We were both shamed into following her but then Jody got stuck at the top. It was a mistake to stop as in flip flops there was no grip on the sand to really balance and memories of being stuck on the ski slope just like this came flooding back to haunt her! Paul however made it to the bottom ok and did the chivalrous thing and walked back up to take Jody's bike down as well. So feeling a bit better, Jody walked down and walked at the side of the road where she thought it was less slippery. Another mistake! Flip flops were no match for the steep sandy concrete and down she went. She was just very glad she didn't take the bike afterall. Well the precarious trip down was very much worth it. The bay was beautiful and a quick coconut shake to refresh ourselves and we were in the water. It was amazing! The best snorkelling on or around the island Jody reckons. The depth and clarity of the water and the sheer abundance of wildlife to see was just awesome. Yes awesome! Not a word we use very often but very apt to use it here. There was just so much to see - even from just a few inches in from the shoreline. Fish were everywhere. As well as many anemones with clown fish (nemo fish) in them. Wonderful! Well we stayed there for a nice lunch too before heading back. Going back uphill on the bikes was much much easier than coming down thankfully. By now Paul was getting his bearings on the island and feeling more confident to go off exploring on the bike so most days now he set off somewhere different every morning to have a snorkel and chat up bikini clad women. (He never said that we are just guessing). We decided it would be nice to book the boat trip around the island again; the same one we did with Hannah & Dave, as it had been so good. So later in the week, we were off again.This time the sea on the east coast was much calmer and flatter so perfect conditions for snorkelling. One again we saw beautiful fish (the highlight being a huge Trigger Fish) and lots and lots of others. Even better though, this time there were no Chinese girls being sick. Just one sweet Chinese couple who untypically were very friendly (we only say that because they don't usually mix very well - they normally all stick together). Our last stop as before, was Nang Yuan Island. As we got off, Paul stopped for a moment and had a look of sheer disbelief on his face and just pointed and gawped. Not getting any common sense out of him, we follwed his gaze just as he manages to say "what has she got on her feet?" Is it what i think it is? Expecting to see flip flops, we couldn't stop laughing....the Chinese woman had in her wisdom decided to put panty liners on her feet to walk up the jetty. We had never seen anything like it!How bizarre! Check out the photos if you don't believe us. This time in the island, we decided not to snorkel as we had done before, but instead we wanted to go up to the view point and find the I love Koh Tao sign. There wasn't time to do both anyhow. Paul went off to find a cold drink, some shade and some pretty women to chat to whereas we set off in the heat up the hill. To be fair the hill wasn't very big but it was about 38 degrees and it was very tiring. It took us about 20 minutes to get to the top and it was quite crowded. So patiently waiting our turn, we waited until a few people had moved down a bit and we climbed up the last few rocks to photograph the sign. And it wasn't there! Where the hell is it?? Well the views from the top were beautiful that goes without saying. But we had come to see the sign. It was so hot up there that we got a few quick snaps and headed back down to find Paul. The sign was now a mission! Jody asked just about everyone if they knew where it was and someone in the Hacienda bar where she works came up trumps for us. A few days later, we all set off together set off on two bikes and we first headed up a very steep road.The wrong road. We tried another way and it too was extremely steep. Most of the roads on Koh Tao are really steep and this one was way too steep for two on a bike. Yes that steep. So Jody got off and walked up. And when we got to the very top.... Yes there it was. The "L♥ve Koh Tao" sign. Just a shame it wasn't the sunniest of days but at least we found the sign. And we found coconut shakes and some lunch too. There is a only one "nightclub" on the island. It's called Queens. Remembering we are in Thailand, you can probably guess what sort of club it is. Yes it's the Ladyboy Cabaret Club! Bryan and Paul had gone there one evening just after Paul arrived but as the island had been really quiet because it was full moon, they had wimped out as they didn't want to be in a near empty club and get picked on by the Ladyboys