First Impressions
We decided that our first stop on our way down through Thailand would be Ko Tao as everyone we have spoked to had rated it particularly highly.
Our journey to Ko Tao was one of the more interesting so far. The evening before we asked our hostel to book our overnight VIP (not quite as VIP as our previous bus from Chang Mai) bus ticket to get us to Chumphon so we would be able to get the boat over to Ko Tao. First hiccup was that our taxi driver took us to Bangkok north station as opposed to south. He then drove recklessly across the city to get us to the correct station where we just about made it to the station in time. Then we got there and struggled to find the platform. We got on the Ranong bus as stated on our ticket which the lady at the hostel had assured us would be ok despite us wanting to go to Chumphon. Along the way we stopped at various stations for the driver to check in and one break stop.
Later in the journey we began to worry about being on the wrong bus so decided to follow the journey on Google maps, even though it was the middle of the night and we were knackered. When we got to what appeared to be Chumphon the driver pulled up got out of the bus to hand in his check-in papers but didn't disturb anyone on the bus nor behave like this was a stop for people to get off. As we were slightly concerned we decided to double check with him. After overcoming some serious language barriers we established that it would be a good idea to get off with our bags at this tatty old bus station with only a guy working there and a playful cat and mouse for company. This chap managed to arrange a taxi for us to the port and ticket across to the island. Having left Bangkok at 7pm we arrived at 10.30ish with minimal sleep. In need of the first of a run of English breakfasts.
As we approached we got a bit nervous of what to expect having seen Ko San Road. But oh my what a pleasant surprise. Ko Tao was beautiful. We arranged somewhere to stay for one night in advance called Seaview Resort, this resort was perfectly placed on the hillside will small wooden bungalows on the overlooking the sea and an awesome sunrise. There were many cats here who loved Dave, he's the male cat lady.
The first day we caught up on sleep and pottered in the evening to an awesome tapas bar called MOOV where we had dinner and played lots of painfully slow games of pool (due to our crapness). The second day we pottered further into the main hub of the town on the island in quest of more info on diving courses, where, after a very small debate we decided to just crack on and do it.
