Losing myself in Koh Tao

Koh Tao was the one place from our last trip that Katie and I both desperately wanted to go back to. Last summer, we felt like we didn't have enough time, and after 11 days there, I felt the same this year. We had booked 'Spicy Tao' accommodations ahead of time, knowing that there would be a flood of people from Koh Phagnan following the Full Moon Party. But when we arrived to check in, we found out that they had booked us for August instead of July! We, along with the man at reception, were a little panicked as he admitted that the island was pretty well booked up. He eventually offered us a small cabin (which we suspect is where he was living) for very cheap, but after a few nights, we returned to our old stomping grounds of 'Coral Grand' to be right on the beach and live slightly more luxuriously for our last stop. The days quickly slipped by as we dove, snorkelled, lay by the pool, lay by the beach, ate way too many 'ham and cheese croissants' from 7-11 and met many people who loved Koh Tao just us much as us. We went to Koh Nang Yuan for a day which is 2 islands connect by one strip of beach. I had been talking a lot about wanting to dive with sharks, and as we went out snorkelling, we found MANY black-tip sharks, swimming with us. We took another fire dancing lesson with our favourite fire dancer at 'Lotus Bar' and proceeded to spend many hours practicing our moves in the privacy of our room (and often, during the wee hours of the morning). We also did our first night dive! You enter the water just after sunset and use your torch to find your buddies and the marine life. Unfortunately the conditions were not great so we couldn't see much, but I will have to try again on my next dive trip. As this is my last blog post, I made a list of the top 10 things I will miss about the past 3 months: 1. Feeling like a hero when I realize I crossed the street in Hanoi, and am still alive. 2. Getting excited to meet fellow Winnipegers. 3. Forgetting the day of the week. 4. Realizing that often the people who have the least are the most welcoming and happy people out there. 5. Broken English. 6. Feeling lucky when there is toilet paper. 7. Wishing I was a Dive Master. 8. The "Where are you from"'s and "Where have you been"'s. 9. Feeling at home away from home. 10. Koh Tao. Until next time.

Rock-Climbing in Railay

After the hustle and bustle of its busier neighbour, Koh Phi Phi, we were happy to spend several days in the paradise of Railay. It is a quaint little island, with massive limestone rock faces jutting out of the ground everywhere you look. This makes for great rock-climbing and is one of the top rock-climbing destinations in the world. Like Koh Tao, this is also a place where many travellers find themselves staying much longer than intended, or even living here for months on end. We spent our days exploring the beaches and the caves, and our nights at 'The Last Bar.' There was live music every night as well as fire shows and the occasional Muay Thai fight. However, the special aspect was that the fire dancers actually hung around with the tourists after the show, and by the end of our stay, it felt as though we had made friends with many of the locals living and working on the island. We tried our hands at fire dancing one day on the beach, with one of the fire dancers as our personal teacher. We also spent a day rock climbing, caving, and abseiling ourselves down the edge of cave. We were not quite up to snuff as we had spent the previous night, along with our roomie, Kim, sick with food poisoning. But, we pushed through and somehow still managed to hoist ourselves up to the top of the rocks. It was sad saying goodbye to this lovely island but we knew Koh Tao was next on the list, and also knew it would not disappoint.