Thailand

Koh Tau island. Off the East Coast of Thailand.

So I judged Koh Tau too quickly.

Although frequented by more tourists, the small but lush, mountainous Thai island of Koh Tau was a dream. Mystical sunsets, white beaches, turquoise water. After deciding not to settle for too drastic a drop in comforts, cat and I found a beautiful location on the most deserted part of the island. The view was stunning. Our bungalow sat 3m above the water on concrete stilts. We could hear the water lapping beneath us as we slept.

Unable to resist the newly discovered urge to ride motorbikes, an hour had just past when we had secured our own for the Koh Tau stay. Riding through narrow roads and simple villages resembling Tongan roadside communities, there was still a distinct difference between road etiquette between Thais and the Vietnamese. We prefer the Vietnamese. The chaos of hundreds of bikes would somehow work flawlessly while the beep was an efficient form of inter-traffic communication. Thais would remain silent on their horn, and overtake at will. Slightly more dangerous, and less intuitive.

A typical day: wake up to the soft ebbing flow of water beneath our bungalow. Enjoy the view of a still, turquoise bay on the balcony. Find a place to inhale breakfast over an ocean view. Enjoy breakfast. Ride to one of several beautiful snorkeling sites (often down treacherous, pit-laden mountain roads - on a 125cc scooter with 2 people sitting on it!), soak up the sun while snorkeling, eat, drink, eat again, watch the sunset, throw in a massage, and night drive back to the waterfront to 'recover'. Not bad.

Both Cat and I became hits. People couldn't figure out where we were from. The most common guess for myself was Spain. I like that. We befriended locals, got contact details and made equal impressions on tourists. We're becoming a good team.

Our stay on Koh Tau came recently to an end, but never did we reach a point of saturation. We enjoyed every day spent there. A brilliant trip/break/honeymoon it was.

A day in Phuket

I will say that Phuket is disgusting. Ridden with seedy white aged male sex tourists. 8 hours spent there was more than enough.

Love travel. We both do. And we love each other. Makes travel doubly good.

To experience and delve into the unfamiliar wrenches open any closed ideas previously etched into one's psyche. Until next time.