Hi there!

As the end of our amazing adventure is slowly coming to an end we decided to make one last little holiday in our big holiday. We might actually sound really spoiled when we say we kind of had seen enough sites in the past weeks, and we just kind of were in need of a beach vacation to relax. You might not think it, but changing places every few days and arranging all the things shortly in advance for the trip can sometimes be a bit stressful. To make sure we head back home totally outbalanced and relaxed we choose to spend a whole week (it has been weeks since we spent that long at one place!) at Koh Tao a small island in the Gulf of Thailand (the South-East coast). To get there we had to take the train from Trang to Chumphon, an 8 hour journey. It was a real adventure but because of that truly worth it. We must have been the only foreigners on the train, so we were probably the highlight of the day. Vendors passed every few minutes with cold drinks or food to buy. At big stops the train soon filled with other vendors trying to sell whatever they had; fruit, coconut ice, dried fish, candy, iced tea, etc. We had a kid next to us who bought everything and never stopped eating during the whole way. At some point we asked him where he put it all, since he was not fat at all! Behind us sat a funky monk. It is just funny to see an elderly monk with funky pilot glasses, looking like Elvis. We tried to make a picture, so we hope it is clear enough for you to see. As the train arrived in Chumphon we had to arrange a ticket for the ferry to Koh Tao. We found a restaurant soon enough providing the tickets we needed, so before we knew it we were on the night ferry on a small bunk bed, making our way to our holiday spot!

The island is very well known for diving and snorkeling, so there must be around hundreds of opportunities to get your PADI certificate if you like. It is extremely popular here since the prices for the certificate are rather low in comparison with other destinations. We however decided not to go diving. First of all because Koh Tao is one of our last destinations of our trip, so we will not be making any use of the PADI in the near future. Apart from that we have been snorkeling all the time during the 15 months we have been traveling and we like that just fine. So obviously, on one of the days we went on a boat trip around the island the snorkel at several spots. We saw some great spots with beautiful colorful coral reef and an abundance of marine life. Lots of anemones, nudi branches in all kinds of colors, incredible blue colored clams, schools of all kinds of fish, etc. Of all the places we snorkeled at, Koh Tao definitely belongs to one of the best ones, so surely a recommendation for other snorkel admirers!

The other days we actually did not do much at all, apart from walking around a bit, hanging at the beach and escaping the extreme heat (between 35 and 40 degrees) in our air-conditioned room. For once we just enjoyed relaxing and taking it easy, which was the main goal of our stay in Koh Tao.

Now we only have one more week left. Spending 4 days in Bangkok, enjoying Thai New Year, Songkran and then off to the Middle East: Abu Dhabi for 3 days!

We will be keeping you up-to-date!

Greetings
Charlotte and Franjo