Tuesday 6th to Wednesday 7th March – travel from the west coast to the east coast of Thailand

Tuesday – Today was going to be a long one.  To traverse the Thai mainland from Railay beach we first caught a 10am longtail boat for 15 minutes across to Krabi pier.  Here, we transferred into a mini-van which took us into the centre of the City where we met up with a large coach for the next leg of the journey.  We opted for seats at the back that reclined so that we had a little extra space, but what we failed to take into consideration here, was the fact that the engine and the sun were at the back too!  My seat gradually started getting hotter and hotter.  There was heat coming up through the floor from the engine and from behind us and to the side from the sun.  We had air-conditioning in the form of a couple of broken fans in the ceiling, but they only pointed in one plane so were of minimal assistance.  I’d woken up this morning and had breakfast despite my stomach feeling a little delicate.  I was regretting that now.  I’m not sure if it was something I’d eaten, being confined in a seat for a few hours or the heat.  Perhaps a combination of all of the above.  But now my stomach was cramping, and I just hoped that it would pass quickly.

Our bus met with the ferry right on time at 230pm and we were off on our four-hour crossing. We were now in the Gulf of Thailand off the East coast. There was so much space on board initially.  Lots of room for me and many others to sprawl out along a whole row of seats and get some rest.  This changed after an hour and a half when we stopped off at Koh Samui and the ferry filled to the rafters.  I was still suffering so chose to find a space to lie on the floor rather than squeezing into a seat.  But half an hour later and most people got straight off again at Koh Phnang giving us plenty of space again.  

We liked the look of the beach-side resorts tucked into the densely forested hills

630pm and we arrived at Koh Tao just as the sun was setting.  We bagged a taxi which took us across to the east coast of the island as near as it could get us to the Mountain Reef Resort, our abode for two nights.  After our nine-hour journey we went for a brief dinner and collapsed.  From the sound of the waves crashing on the gravel sand on the beach, there will be a stunning view in the morning.

Wednesday – We enjoyed a freshly cooked breakfast overlooking the shoreline before we returned to our room to get some booking done.  Before leaving it too late in the month, it was time to book flights to New Zealand.  

We are going for it!!! 

Keep following the blog to find out if it works out or whether we end up going the very long way back to the UK!

Admin done, we headed out to enjoy the premium snorkelling on our doorstep.  We must have been out for an hour and a half.  The visibility was great and the fish were confident and inquisitive.  This was why we had made the extra effort to get over to Koh Tao having seen the reviews of the diving and snorkelling here but sadly we have only managed to squeeze in two nights here.

Amazingly clear water and some very friendly fish!

The view back to the beach

We relaxed on the sand before heading out for some dinner.  I am still taking it very easy on my stomach.  I went for bland burger and chips and nursed one beer for over an hour whilst Simon got through three!