Koh Tao

It's impossible not to fall in love with a place as beautiful as Koh Tao.  Digging through the archives, it appears I felt the need not to say much whilst I was there.  It's impossible to say much.

Koh Tao is diver's paradise--it caters to the every whim of those who get up early to swim with the fishes.  Breakfasts--both Thai (soup--it's confusing) and non-Thai (the first place in our five weeks away) are abundant.  The bars are laid back and right on the beach.  You can party hard--but it's more a party hard by listening to some live music and drinking far too many in your bare feet.  And the beach.  Well, stunning. White sand, alcoves, cheap kayak hire.  It's hard to put into words.

We spent many of our nights here--Lotus Bar, located directly on the beach.  It all began to feel a little like too much relaxation was going to make me an eternally lazy person. But it didn't stop me from soaking up the atmosphere and drinking a few (too many) beers. 

In all honestly, we didn't spend all our time here. We spent the first part of our five days on Koh Tao in diving school.  Three days of solid classroom to pool to shallow ocean depths with Scuba gear attached to our backs.  There's something very counterintuitive about jumping into open water with 20 kilos of gear strapped to your back. But there's something marvelous about diving, diving, diving and still being able to breathe.  More on that later.