After Cambodia, I took the long bus journey from Siem Reap To Bangkok. This was a bit long, 9hr and since the buses are a bit unreliable, we weren't sure if we'd arrive to make the night train. In a frenzy I jumped into a tuk tuk with a few Spaniards and we negotiated our way to the train station. We wanted to jump into the train eager to arrive to Koh Tao to relax in the sun, do some yoga and above all...GO Diving! I hadn't been since I was in Australia for Stephen and Tennille's wedding and I was looking forward to it. What follows didn't exactly go as I'd anticipated so this section will be called Tears in the cowboy hat...and I'll keep it short. Every journey has its highs and lows...go here goes.
The abrupt awakening in Chumpong at 5am when the train steward ripped down the curtain and shouted Chumpon in my drowsy face. This wasn't exactly the awakening I wanted. I groggily got off the train and found a seat to wait..for the bus to the island. It was a trenchal downpour but I didn't mind...I sleepy and it's early in the morning. I'm already noticing how things don't exactly happen on time. We were shuttled to the catamaran speed boat. We board the boat and I noticed the stewards are already handing out barf bags...the ride over wasn't pretty with waves over 2m high. Several people were sick and even the crew was looking a bit queasy, thankfully I wasn't one of them...;)
After the boat ride, we arrived in the rain and I thought as long as it clear up tomorrow...it's not a problem. After travelling fro 24hr to get here...I needed to go bit of rest. My walk to the hotel didn't quite go as planned, so I ducked into a cafe and called the hotel to come and collect me. After checking into the room...I completely passed out waking the next morning to find rain...again...but still I had a few more days. So I walked around and the place was really well designed, each room was different, and the landscaping had loads of plants and flowers. There were a few really nice restaurants down by the water that even in the rain looked nice.
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| Jansom Bay |
The next day I met Jax, the owner of the hotel. He upgraded me to a hut on the water...about 10 ft up from the sea...It was a beautiful little bamboo hut which all seemed like a great place to be until later on that evening. It was a nice intention, but it couldn't have come at a worse time. The rain got really bad, it was a downpouring and the water was running down the hill and was thankfully not flooding the room. The room was beautiful, but there was only one problem...I couldn't sleep because of the wind and rain...I was getting a bit freaked out...but I kept telling myself..." Just chill out, you'll be fine." It's not a big deal just relax...nothing with happen. after 3hr's of telling myself that, I got up packed my stuff, grabbed dad's trusty flashlight and made teh trek over to reception..which included walking up and down the path...into the bay. When I got down to the bay, there was a river through the spa and restaurant coming down the mountain flowing into the beach. So I waded through the water and trudged up to reception getting absolutely drenched. When I arrived I asked for another room to sleep in and the lady looked at me...and said "go back and pack your luggage" I said I've already packed it...and she looked at me and said "We're not sending anyone over there to pick up your stuff, It's flooding over there" I looked at her and said..."Yeah I know, I've just come from there" I slept or tried to sleep that night in another room...and it was still raining.
The next day...everyone myself included showed up a little shell shocked to breakfast. You could tell that people were scared....A French lady I met at breakfast told me the story about how her and her children were in a tsunami. After that night...there were no boats coming to the island or going to the mainland for the next two days. There were no boats running between the islands...and even the Ko Samui airport was flodded. We spent the next few days...reading....staying out of the rain, thinking about life and writing. Sadly no diving or yoga as everyone knew once you stepped outside, you'd be soaked with rain. Days started to blend together...but the night before I was supposed to check out, the guy told me "The army boat was coming tomorrow...!!!! We are saved miraculously.... or so we thought...:(
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| Elena and her sister |
The next day all of met at recption at 6am...to be taken to another location for the army...couldn't be that hard...there weren't too many of us. But what we didn't know was...there were over 1000 tourists waiting to leave on the army boat...We arrived at the Koh Tao Resort to wait for the army boat...we were divided by our destination and waited patiently as we were assured...our names were on the list and EVERYONE was gettting on the boat. They were flying women and children out via helicopter to the aircraft carrier. You could see the aircraft carrier looming in the distance moving back and forth. It was still raining alot..but we weren't worried...we were all getting on the boat. So everyone stayed and sat on their bags coping in best way we knew how. Some were sleeping...some were reading...others were chatting, singing, playing cards and drinking...evenutally. There was the token English guy who showed up after being out all night, drinking and of course it was his birthday. He was walking around talking to everyone about football..Eventually he collapsed in a big lump on the floor.
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| Sleepy Sleepy |
I befriended Elena, her mom and sister. She'd been travelling in Thailand for 10 weeks and we were chatting while we were waiting. We moved inside after a while...to get out of the rain and sat down on the stage...We resort kept putting on the Tracy Chapman CD which was comforting for everyone to sing along...:) We started playing cards to kill the time...It's amazing that Rummy can be played in some many different ways!!! We made two little friends from Sweden...who started played cards with us. But soon they left for the helicopter.
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| It's more of the rain hat than a beach hat |
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| the long boat loading dock |
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The Line
With our ponchos and suitcase in tow we stood inline...got through the first line for the boat...and waiting in the dry waiting area. We were part of the next group to be loaded. But after sitting there for about 45 minutes...they stopped loading people...we thought they were taking lunch...it was about 4pm...after all. They came up to us and said to Elena's mom...they are taking more people on the helicopter....but you kids have to stay....so they took her to the helicopter...Not soon after...Elena come back virtually in tears saying that they weren't taking anymore people...the team took us back into the big waiting area where they informed everyone...That's when people lost it a bit...people were yelling crying and running up to the line to try and be the last people loaded onto the boat. My friends got on the boat...but I sadly didn't...so all of us were told to go get a good nights sleep and come back tomorrow. Thy weren't sure if the boat was coming...or not... |
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| Rescue Helicopter |
After watching the aircraft carrier from a distance all night, all of us half-heartedly went to sleep not knowing how we'd get off the island tomorrow. They told us the speed boats were running, but they were full. In the morning...I got up and decided to go over to the catamaran speed boat pier to see if I could get a ticket. While standing in line...I met a guy who sold me his ticket and I miraculously was able to leave the island...the trip back was like the trip over....pretty rough...but we all made it back...As we were pulling away from the dock...the people applauded...and everyone breathed a great sigh of relief.
Koh Tao...I would go back...because it was beautiful and I don't think this was a good representation...of Thailand...After arriving to Bangkok...I couldn't wait for the next day. I was off to KL to see old friends...:)!! I might need a new hat
