Well, today is the day that we left Chiang Mai. Our flight was at about 12:30, so we didn’t have to rush this morning. We woke up, packed, and then tried to consume the mass amounts of fruit we purchased yesterday…we failed. Our host was back at the apartment at 10:30 to check us out, with a 5 man cleaning crew waiting for us to leave. WE had to leave our fruit behind and told them to help themselves…not sure if they did.
We walked up to the main road that passed our apartment’s street and hailed down a taxi and told him we needed to go the airport to catch a flight. I don't think it really translated, because just like the driver who picked us up at the zoo, this guys stopped to pick up another passenger and then tok the long route to the airport. We were lucky that checking in and security at Thai airports is nothing like in the US, because otherwise we would have missed our flight! I think going through security took less than a minute…feeling safe right about now.
We boarded our mostly empty flight to Koh Samui (the biggest island near Koh Tao) and headed off. They did serve lunch on our hour-and-a-half flight. Matt, Ali, Jacob, and I peeled off the foil of our “chicken in grey sauce” in unison, looked at each other, and promptly replaced the foil cover. We opened for food when we arrived in Koh Samui instead. The boys have been suffering from stomach problems, so risking more stomach ache on questionable airplane food wasn't at all tempting.
The flight went by pretty fast and we were soon landing in Koh Samui. Koh Samui is a larger island off the east coast of Thailand. In order for us to get to our next destination, Koh Tao, we have to fly into Koh Samui and then catch a ferry to Koh Tao. With a few hours to kill, we strategically found a restaurant with some air conditioning, so that we could grab food and cool down for a few hours.
It is much more humid in Koh Samui than it was in the jungles of Chiang Mai, so we all grabbed a fruit smoothie as well. I opted for a coconut smoothie, because let’s be honest, you can never have enough coconut!! And lucky me, they served it in a fresh coconut, so not only did I get a smoothie, but I got to eat the fresh coconut pulp/meat too!!
As the time for our ferry approached, we headed over to the dock. Once we had board the two hour ferry for Koh Tao, I took a dramamine and fell asleep. Ali caught up on some reading, while the boys went to the back of the boat to chat.
My little nap passed the time quickly and before I knew it we were arriving on the small island of Koh Tao. Koh Tao is only a kilometer long, and a total of seven kilometers around the island. At the dock we were picked up by our driver while we are on Koh Tao, Steve. We are staying in a little villa at the top of the hillside called Monkey Flower Villas, it comes with 24 hour driving service…not to shabby.
After arriving at the villa I can see why they offer their driving service, the road to get to the villa is almost like a roller coaster - steep up and downs with a couple of tight turns…I don’t think most taxis would venture up here. We are even lucky enough to have our own private pool!!
We freshen up from our full day of traveling and give Steve another call to take us down to the Sairee Beach, one of the main beaches on Koh Tao. Since the boys’ stomachs are still upset, we opted for a familiar dish, pizza. It was a nice break from all of the Thai food we have been having.
After grabbing dinner and wandering around a bit, we headed back for a quick pool dip and bed, because tomorrow is going to be a long day….full of scuba diving!!
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