Ferry Ride to Koh Tao

Today we took the ferry from Koh Samui to Koh Tao. It was a relaxing 2.5 hours with a stopover in Koh Phangan.

The night before, we said goodbye with a few glasses of gin and tonic to the owner of Reuan Phaolai. She was always very helpful and we had great conversations with her since she enjoys traveling herself. She also recommended some beautiful places for our next trip to Thailand; Chumphon seems to be quite untouched as it's mostly just Thais who vacation there.

The new accommodation, Tao Thong Villa 2, is somewhat secluded and so far very quiet. Besides the sound of the sea and a few animal noises, there's nothing else to hear.

You can start snorkeling right in front of the restaurant. This will likely take up a large part of our vacation here, as the roads on the entire island are very steep, and we are without a scooter. After six weeks of vacation without snorkeling, that's fine.

In the afternoon, we set off for the nearest 7eleven... which turned out to be harder than expected; the two kilometers dragged on endlessly. Always steep up the hill. And of course, we were once again the only pedestrians around. Along the way, we even took a break at a coffee shop. The owners looked at us with some pity as we arrived completely sweaty.

After gathering some new energy, we even took a small detour to a Chinese shrine (Kannon Bodhisattva) with very beautiful statues.

Then the path finally went downhill for a while, although very steep, which was exhausting for our legs, and by the end, we had real rubber legs.

Upon arriving in town, we first emptied the first fruit stand, and I was even able to log my first geocache in Thailand – a simple traditional one hidden behind a road sign.

For the return trip, we then chose a taxi, which we loaded up with water canisters so that we are at least well supplied for the next few days.

Back at the accommodation, we cooled off a bit in the sea – though “cooling off” might be an exaggeration, as the water here is pleasantly warm. While doing so, we could already observe the first fish.

We finally ended the evening with the wonderful sea view from our bungalow while Simon relaxed in the hammock on the balcony.