Why travel to Ko Tao, I hear you ask? Well it's a diving factory set up to transform soft foreigners like me into hardened underwater explorers with ruthless efficiency. That's what I'm after because I want to learn. It's also a picturesque bump in the gulf of Thailand so quite nice to look at above and below water.
Some things that happen when you are a massive cheapskate and spend hours shopping around to save about a fiver on an overnight ferry ticket:
The trip is likely to be pretty uncomfortable, you probably wont sleep, It may take five times as long as it should... I forgot all of that as I painstakingly tried to hunt down the best possible deal on a ticket. Eventually I did, from a tourist office, which also inexplicably doubled as a tattoo parlour. In hindsight I probably should have taken that as a warning. I bought the ticket from a swarthy looking Thai man, who gave me a handful of scraps of paper in which, I was informed, I would find the tickets I needed. I then packed my things and was on my way.
I spent the day travelling first from Phi Phi to the mainland on one of two ferries fleeing an epic looking storm; and then Eastwards to Surat Thani where I would pick up a night ferry to Ko Tao. There were about 10 coaches* involved in getting me there. For some reason when we changed to the final coach me and a couple of other English guys were afforded the privilege of being seated in the VIP section - which was on the "ground floor" of the bus with padded leather seats and a private toilet. All of the luggage also appeared to be in there with us. So besides having to constantly readjust bags to avoid being buried, it was pleasant enough. I learned that the other guys: Rob and Tony were headed to the same island to do some diving as well. They too hadn't bothered to book anything other than the ferry trip yet.
As night fell we arrived at what looked like a dock in Surat Thani. The three of us were unduly hoofed out, apparently being the only people getting this ferry. Although where said ferry was did not seem clear - because as the bus drove off we could only see a few beaten up old cargo ships. I scrutinised the crumpled scrap of paper with a number stamped on it that was apparently my ticket. It took a moment to realise that the number did correspond to one of the boats. Toward the end of the line of rickety old buckets in front of us there was one bizarre looking sort of cargo ship that looked as if someone found noahs ark, shrunk it down, painted it blue and then attacked it with a hammer for a few days.
We boarded via a rickety plank and made our way to the passenger area. The part we were to sleep in seemed as if it had been bolted on to the top of the boat as an afterthought. It was one large room, with a roof so low that we had to stoop down to get in. It was about 70 feet long, and about 13 wide with 35 tiny mattresses along each side, about an inch thick and made of some shiny plastic material. Essentially this area was ideal for a small Thai person who wasn't too bothered about getting any sleep. There were a few passengers already on a few of the mattresses. We took 3 spaces next to each other, and promised to avoid any accidental spooning.
After a short while the place had filled up completely. Despite the mattresses being tiny it didn't stop a whole family happily cramming themselves onto one. I still hadn't seen a single member of crew - but assume they existed because eventually the old bucket chugged into life and we were away. We passed the time playing cards and drinking a couple of Changs we has managed to pick up from a 7/11 before boarding. Everyone eventually dozed off so I went to explore a little. At the rear of the boat some stairs lead down to a single covered low deck at the back of the boat. There was a toilet backing onto the ships galley (a couple of tin pots and a tiny gas stove). I could see through to the cargo section and get my first glimpse of the crew, a shadowy figure who gave me a conspiratorial nod before withdrawing out of sight. I sat on the edge of the boat to finish my beer - watching the dark waters slide by, before heading up to fail to sleep for 8 hours.
* Well it was only a couple, but felt like more somehow
Some things that happen when you are a massive cheapskate and spend hours shopping around to save about a fiver on an overnight ferry ticket:
The trip is likely to be pretty uncomfortable, you probably wont sleep, It may take five times as long as it should... I forgot all of that as I painstakingly tried to hunt down the best possible deal on a ticket. Eventually I did, from a tourist office, which also inexplicably doubled as a tattoo parlour. In hindsight I probably should have taken that as a warning. I bought the ticket from a swarthy looking Thai man, who gave me a handful of scraps of paper in which, I was informed, I would find the tickets I needed. I then packed my things and was on my way.
I spent the day travelling first from Phi Phi to the mainland on one of two ferries fleeing an epic looking storm; and then Eastwards to Surat Thani where I would pick up a night ferry to Ko Tao. There were about 10 coaches* involved in getting me there. For some reason when we changed to the final coach me and a couple of other English guys were afforded the privilege of being seated in the VIP section - which was on the "ground floor" of the bus with padded leather seats and a private toilet. All of the luggage also appeared to be in there with us. So besides having to constantly readjust bags to avoid being buried, it was pleasant enough. I learned that the other guys: Rob and Tony were headed to the same island to do some diving as well. They too hadn't bothered to book anything other than the ferry trip yet.
As night fell we arrived at what looked like a dock in Surat Thani. The three of us were unduly hoofed out, apparently being the only people getting this ferry. Although where said ferry was did not seem clear - because as the bus drove off we could only see a few beaten up old cargo ships. I scrutinised the crumpled scrap of paper with a number stamped on it that was apparently my ticket. It took a moment to realise that the number did correspond to one of the boats. Toward the end of the line of rickety old buckets in front of us there was one bizarre looking sort of cargo ship that looked as if someone found noahs ark, shrunk it down, painted it blue and then attacked it with a hammer for a few days.
We boarded via a rickety plank and made our way to the passenger area. The part we were to sleep in seemed as if it had been bolted on to the top of the boat as an afterthought. It was one large room, with a roof so low that we had to stoop down to get in. It was about 70 feet long, and about 13 wide with 35 tiny mattresses along each side, about an inch thick and made of some shiny plastic material. Essentially this area was ideal for a small Thai person who wasn't too bothered about getting any sleep. There were a few passengers already on a few of the mattresses. We took 3 spaces next to each other, and promised to avoid any accidental spooning.
After a short while the place had filled up completely. Despite the mattresses being tiny it didn't stop a whole family happily cramming themselves onto one. I still hadn't seen a single member of crew - but assume they existed because eventually the old bucket chugged into life and we were away. We passed the time playing cards and drinking a couple of Changs we has managed to pick up from a 7/11 before boarding. Everyone eventually dozed off so I went to explore a little. At the rear of the boat some stairs lead down to a single covered low deck at the back of the boat. There was a toilet backing onto the ships galley (a couple of tin pots and a tiny gas stove). I could see through to the cargo section and get my first glimpse of the crew, a shadowy figure who gave me a conspiratorial nod before withdrawing out of sight. I sat on the edge of the boat to finish my beer - watching the dark waters slide by, before heading up to fail to sleep for 8 hours.
* Well it was only a couple, but felt like more somehow
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