It was lucky that they didn't really see our mishap with the lantern, i'm not sure they would let two people showing pyromaniac tendencies onto the boat. But luck has been on our side for much of the journey so far and it wasn't long until we were on our way to Koh Tao.
Nastesti si nikdo nevsiml, jak se snazime zapalit ten nestastny balon stesti, protoze si myslim, ze by asi nameli zajem pustit na palubu lodi 2 pyromany ze zahranici. Ale jak to tak zatim vypada, zda se, ze stesti je na nasi strane od te doby, co jsme zacli cestovat a nez jsme se nadali uz jsme byli na ceste na ostrov Koh Tao.
Koh Tao
Being a couple of days after one of the worlds biggest parties the whole area was very busy, expensive and we hadn't planned very well and just turned up thinking we could get somewhere. After a little looking we stumbled across a place where a very camp, but nice guy told they were full but they ad "VIP" beds available if we couldn't find anywhere else. These were roll out mattresses in the reception of the hotel and after a quick look around saw that most places were full and for £3 each and VIP status we thought why not?
Koh Tao
Po asi nejvetsi Sivestrovske oslave v Thajsku, kdy je kolem vsude plno, vse je predrazene a vetsina lidi se snazi navstivit i ostrovy kolem, je obtizne najit ubytovani, coz jsme si uvedomili az na ceste tam. Uz v pristavu jsme zjistili, ze musime cekat na dalsi lod, protoze ta drivejsi uz je plna. Takze, jak jsme dorazili na ostrov dorazili jsme na misto, kde sice nemeli pokoj na onu noc, ale meli neco, cemu rikali VIP postele. VIP postel byla madrace na recepci, ale za 90Kc a po dalsi hodine hledani kolem, jsme se rozhodli, ze to vemem.
Koh Tao has a large ladyboy scene, there were plenty of Queens discos and western men wining and dining their girl-boy-friends but it was all harmless enough, but to be honest the island was quite disappointing. We hired a bike a couple of times to explore but where ever we went we seemed to just be finding resort after resort of private beaches and over priced bar/restaurants, add the scorching heat to this and it all got quite frustrating at times. We also did a fairly forgettable boat trip with some average snorkeling, but which ended nicely at Nangyuan Island, a paradise overtaken by a dive resort but you cant help but be charmed by its idealic setting.
Koh Tao je plny muzatek, kam jen lidske oko dohledne. Neni tam nouze o nocni zabavu v podobe Queen Kabaretu a muzu stredniho veku ze zapadu, kteri tyto muzatky lovi v barech a maji s nimi romanticke vecere v restauracich. Ostrov sam o sobe byl ponekud zklamanim. Pronajali jsme si motorku, aby jsme to tam prozkoumali, ale krome resortu na resortu a spoustu soukromych plazi jsme nenasli nic. Taky jsme byli na jednom vylete na lodi, na ktery by jsme dokonce i zapomneli, kdyby jsme ho nemeli zaznamenany v deniku. Vec, ktera stala za zapomatovani byla posledni zastavka na onom vylete. Byl to ostrov, ktery vypadal jako raj, ale kdyz jsme si priblizili a vstoupili na ostrov, krasa byla zastinema velkou komerci.
We also had drinks with a couple we'd met in Vietnam, but after another couple nights we decided it was time to head off. We thought we'd give a night boat a try as they did packages to our next destination, Krabi, but how I wish we'd done something else. We arrived to a boat overflowing with backpackers, no beds left, not even space inside, so we were given a mat and had to sleep out on the top deck. Now, it wouldn't be so bad sleeping under the stars if we weren't holding on for deer life as the large junk of floating metal smashed through the waves, at its calmest its was still rocking more than any boat we'd been on. Dinner with fresh chillies before wasn't a great idea, i was so sick that i burst a couple vessels in my left eye! We arrived the next morning and then a few hours coach journey later we were in Krabi.
Na ostrove jsme narazili na par, ktery jsme potkali ve Vietnamu, po par vecerech stravenymi s nimi jsme se rozhodli, ze je cas vyrazit dale. Protoze turisticke kancelare na celem ostrove nabizeli nocni cestu lodi, (ktere nam usetri penizky za ubytovani) a pak dopravu autobusem na nasi dalsi destinaci, rozhodli jsme se, ze do toho pujdem. Jak jsme si prali hned po nastupu na palubu, aby jsme se takhle neupsali dablovi. I kdyz jsme meli zaplacenou postel na lodi, vse co jsme dostali byla rakosova podlozka na zadni palube lodi pod sirakem. Bylo tam tolik lidi, ze jsme vubec mohli byt radi, ze si muzeme natahnout nohy, ne vsichni meli to stesti. Jak ta preplnena lod vyplula asi po hodine jsme zacali narazet na velke vlny. Lidi, co se snazili prechazet z mista na misto padali jeden pres druheho. Tahle vodni houpacka neudelala Peteovi dobre. Chudak zvracel tak moc, az mu praskla zilka v levem oku, a to, ze mel na veceri jido s cerstvymi chilli taky nepomohlo. Pred nama tak byla jeste asi 8 hodinova vetrna cesta. Rano jsme dorazili do pristavu, odkud jsme byli odvazeni par hodin autobusem smer Krabi.
Krabi
Veronika had found a place through google a few days before and booked us in so we had none of the problems we'd had previously. They tried to put us in a dungeon of a room but after a bit of moaning we got a room with at least a little natural light. We headed out to explore a little and found a travel shop with possibly the nicest most cheerful man in the world and booked a boat trip. Then I think the previous nights experiences may have got the better of us as we ended up getting a box of doughnuts (bonus, buy one get one free, you should have seen Veronika's face!) and taking them back to the room.
Krabi
Par dni pred tim nez jsme opustili Koh Tao jsem nam rezervovala ubytovani v Krabi, aby jsme nemeli ty same trable s tim, kde slozime hlavu. Jak jsme dorazili do hotelu, soupli nas do pokoje, ktery vypadal jako sklep. Po rychlem rozhodnuti jsme si trosku postezovali a dostali tak pokoj, ktery mel alespon okno. Pak jsme se vydali prozkoumat mesto a nasli jsme turistickou kancelar s asi nejvic veselejsim chlapikem uvnitr. Zaplatili jsme si vylet na dalsi den a na ceste zpatky jsme se zastavili u stanku s koblizkama, protoze jsme byli presvedceni, ze po takove noci si zaslouzime malou odmenu. Jak krasny pocit mnou prosel, kdyz slecna u pokladny rekla - kup jeden druhy zdarma. S velkym usmevem na tvari jsme si tu lahodnou krabicku odnaseli zpet na pokoj.
We finished doughnuts for breakfast and got picked up at the hotel for the trip. What a great day, we started at a beautiful 3 islands connected by sand bars and walked across one onto the chickenless Chicken Island (named because of its shape). We then did the most unbelievable snorkeling at reef where it dropped off to about 15-20m, beautiful coral and various kinds of fish, neither of us wanted to leave but it was off for a lovely lunch at the next island stop. Whilst we where there splashing around an amazing storm began to develop and despite it cutting the trip a little short it was possibly as interesting to be caught in that. Back on the mainland we finished the day walking round an excellent night market with brilliant cheep Thai food and booked our boat to Koh Lanta.
Rano na snidani jsme dojedli zbytek koblizku a pote byli vyzvednuti autobusem na nas denni vylet. Jaky super den! Vylet zacal na 3 ostrovech, ktere byli spojeny pisecnymi "mostky", jeden z nich vedl na ostrov, ktery se jmenoval Kureci ostrov (to kvuli jeho tvaru), pak nas cekalo snorchlovani, ale jake. Pripadali jsme si jako ryby v dokumentarnim filmu. Byl to nejkrasnejsi koral, ktery jsme na nasi ceste zatim videli. Spousta barev, druhu ryb (Nemo, i rodinou), no proste nadhera. Pak jsme zastavili na dalsim ostrove, prekrasna plaz. Tam jsme dostali obed a protoze se blizila bourka, ktera nas pak jeste zastihla na ostrove, museli jsme se vratit zpet a ukoncit nas vylet drive kvuli bezpecnosti. I kdyz nas jeste cekal jeden ostrov, ktery jsme nevideli, i tak ten den stal za to. Pozdeji jsme vyrazili na nocni trh, kde jsme ochutnali spoustu thajskych dobrot a pritom se zastavili do stejne agentury zakoupit si dalsi lodni listek na ostrov Koh Lanta.
Koh Lanta
With the islands still in high/busy season we had a little stress getting a place but finally found a decent guest house a short taxi ride away. Koh Lanta is the furthest south we'd been and straight away you can see that in the food. Very much an Indian influence, with brilliant curries and breads and our guesthouse was no different. Run buy a nice muslim family, we were able to do most of our eating and booking through them. One day we hired a bike and drove down to the south to find a waterfall and some beaches, we got a puncture but managed to get the bike to a cool little mechanic shop who repaired it for me for £3.50. The waterfall could have been brilliant if there had been more water but it was a lovely walk through some forest, through a bat cave and back again. We also found a lovely little isolated beach where Veronika topped up her tan whilst i was doing man stuff and getting bike repairs. The next bike trip took us to the Chinese old town on the other side of the island and then through a rubber plantation to a cave. The cave was much bigger than i was expecting and it was pretty adventurous in places, at one point near the end we had to slide through a gap less than a meter squared. In between the bike trips we found a cool bar down on the beach and spent a few happy hours (they seem to last most of the night) there eating thai tapas and drinking long island iced teas, and on our last night there we bought a lantern for a thai family who were badly hit by the tsunami, and with their expert help managed to successfully launch putting to bed the ghosts of our previous attempt. It was then back on a boat and over to Phuket where in a few days time my parents were coming out on holiday.
Koh Lanta
Jak jsme dorazili na Koh Lantu vedeli jsme, ze je tato oblast je jeste v sezone, ale i tak se nam podarilo najit pekne a levne ubytovani. Bungalovy byly spravovany muslimskou rodinou, ktera nam pomohla zaridit spoustu veci, jako listky na dalsi ostrov, pujceni motorky atd. V den kdy jsme si pronajali motorku jsme meli v planu najit zdejsi vodopad. Na ceste tam se nam udelal defekt a tak zatimco Pete se toho ujal jako spravny chlap a jel najit opravnu, ja jsem zaujala misto na plazi a chytala bronz. Pote, co se Pete vratil, nasli jsme vodopad. Vodopad by byl peknejsi pro oko, kdyby mel vice vody, ale prochazka pres les stala za to. Behem ni jsme nasli i Netopyri jeskyni. Dalsi z nasich vyletu na motorce nas zavedl do dalsich jeskyni, mnohem vetsich. Tyhle jeskyne nemeli vzhledove daleko od pekla S certy nejsou zerty. Bylo to super dobrodruzstvi, protoze jsme museli lozit po zebricich, bambusovych mustcich a dokonce jit i na kolena a plazit se pres maly otvor. Behem naseho pobytu na ostrove jsme nasli maly bar na plazi, ktery mel "vesele hodiny", coz znamena, ze jsou napoje levnejsi v urcity cas. Par noci jsme stravili tam, pozorovanim zapadu Slunce, hranim karet, pocuckavanim koktejlu a kostovanim thajskych dobrot. Nas posledni vecer jsme si zakoupili balon stesti. Byla to charitativni pomoc rodine, ktera utrpela velke ztraty pri Thusami par let zpet. Tentokrat to dopadlo dobre, balon se vznesl a dokonce byl videt nejdele ze vsech ostatnich. Pak uz bylo zase nacase posunout se o kousek dal na ostrov Phuket, kde se za par dni sejdeme s Peteovyma rodicema.
. . . continued in Part 2
. . . pokracovani v 2. casti
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