#24 Koh Tao Island: Heaven On Earth 2.0 / Koh Tao sziget: Foldi Paradicsom 2.0 (Thailand / Thaifold)

English version:

Here we go again! Let’s get back to business!

I didn’t disappear in a category B ladyboy club, just simply enjoying myself very much at the moment. Finally, I am in heaven. It’s been 16 days since I have arrived in Koh Tao, the “turtle island”. Which is a tiny and quite unique island in the Gulf of Thailand, North West from Koh Pangan and Koh Samui. It is tiny because the length is around 6kms North to South, and unique because here everything is about scuba diving therefore the visitors belong to my caste: divers running up and down everywhere. Koh Tao is one of the last resorts in Thailand which has a very special atmosphere. You don’t find the average tourists here who just want to have a selfie on a dream beach or drunk teenagers who are looking to get sh*t-faced every day and night.

Koh Tao or the Turtle island got its name based on the shape of the island which looks like a turtle shell. Like I said the place is primarily for divers since there are 80 dive centres and 40 dive spots over here. But it is not only for divers, because you can enjoy nice beaches, snorkelling, hiking in the jungle, doing yoga or muay thai, rock climbing or finding incredible viewpoints from the peaks of the island. If you just want to relax, it’s also a perfect place thanks to its super-chilled atmosphere.

I flew to Koh Samui from Siem Reap, Cambodia with a 1 hour stop in Bangkok. From the airport I took a shared taxi for 150 bahts to the North part of Samui and stayed in the Mcarthur Hostel for a night. This is a kind of start up hostel with a very cool staff. It’s a shame I could not spend more time there. The next morning, I took a short cab trip to the pier and jumped on a speed catamaran which took me to Koh Tao in 2 hours. The ferry first stops at Koh Pangan, then on a tiny island close to Koh Pangan called Nang Yuan and eventually on Koh Tao. Once you leave the boat you are attacked by the taxi mafia which tries to take you to your place for a ridiculous amount.

Normally there are 1 – 4 kms distances on the island and these guys want to charge you for around 400 bahts for it. Imagine, a scooter for 24 hours cost you between 150 – 200 bahts 🙂

I went to my first accommodation here, to The Earth House. I chose this place because they have bamboo huts which I love very much. The cabins are not very comfortable though and only suitable for 1 person because the floor would collapse under 2 people… But to stay there for a short time is amazing. I spent a nice week in my hut, surrounded by beautiful tropical flowers and amazing slim and tall coconut palm trees. Thanks to the bamboo walls, the jungle was singing for me all night long. If I close my eyes I can still hear the sound of those birds who lived in the jungle, right next to my cabin. And there were not only birds. Once when I had a shower, a gecko settled down on my towel and pulled a very disappointed face when I woke it up and I needed my towel back.

After a week I felt I need more space, so I rented an en-suite for 1 month for 11,000 baht. + bills. An air-conditioned room with a king size bed + a bathroom and a balcony. I had to change my room though after the first night. I didn’t realise when I moved in that there were large holes below both doors and before I went to bed I saw a gecko on the wall. I tried to catch it but after a 10 mins hide & seek I said ok, you can sleep inside but don’t snore and stay on the wall like a good gecko. The lizard agreed so I turned the lights off. After a big sleep I woke up in the morning that somebody is gently scratching my face. I opened my eyes and looked into a pair of sleepy gecko eyes. I jumped 2 metres from the bed and started chasing the monster who tried to escape. And that was when I saw someone else also slept with me in big spoon + little spoon mode in my bed. Not only the gecko but: a centipede too!!! I told the owner that unless the animals share the cost, I need another room so I ended up moving into a better room on the first floor.

I also rented a scooter for a month for 5,000 baht from RPM Bike. This is a great rental company with a very genuine owner who will not try to charge you for scratches what you made someone else before you… That’s what a lot of other companies try to do and then they blackmail you with your passport or refuse to give your deposit back. Rule number 1: don’t ever give your passport away, only a copy of it and rather pay some deposit. That way they cannot blackmail you with your passport which can be a big drama and if they don’t want to give your deposit back, stand your ground and ~~break their nose with your elbow~~ call the police who will help you out. This is the general rule when you rent a bike in South East Asia. You don’t need to be afraid of RPM Bike though, they are good guys.

I was so happy to arrive in Koh Tao, the Scuba Diving Capital of Thailand. Like I said that’s the main thing here. There are beautiful dive spots with colourful marine life, a nice big ship wreck, car wreck (???), underwater gym and so on.

After visiting many dive centres on the island, scanning for prices and also checking the atmosphere in their offices, I found the best dive centre: The Ocean Republic which is the only Sea Shepherd affiliated dive centre in Koh Tao. The staff here is just extra-ordinary, they look after you all the time, they are very knowledgable and provide you with custom packages tailored to the length of your stay. Due to the Sea Shepherd relationship which is a non-profit marine conservation body, Ocean Republic is heavily involved in coral rehabilitation projects.

The atmosphere is fantastic, thanks to Jonathan – the owner – and all the guides: Lucy, Alba, Kasia, Igor and Nicolas. I love having a laugh with them before and after the dives. Their boat is comfortable and they treat you with very nice (too nice) biscuits and fresh juicy pineapples on board. My first dive was on my birthday with Lucy, thanks for that birthday present – unforgettable! 🙂

With Ocean Republic the dives are just incredible, regardless your level. If you have never tried scuba diving before, they get you up to speed with an open water plus advanced course in no time. And dive courses in Koh Tao are famously cheap, so don’t think twice if you are interested in diving: pop into the Ocean Republic office in Koh Tao.

Contact Ocean Republic here

My favourite dive spots are Chumphon Pinnacle and the wreck of the Satakut warship. At Chumphon you can see myriads of fishes who move at once when the predators start chasing them, just like on National Geographic and the Satakut is a proper mysterious ghost ship with nice guns on the front and the rear.

For a day trip it’s a good idea to take a taxi boat and visit Nang Yuan island what I mentioned earlier. These are 2 tiny islands connected by white sand bridge together. Half of this bridge gets underwater sometimes. The place looks amazing, just like on the postcards: white beach, huge grey boulders, palm trees and jungle covered peaks.

I visited a few beaches here in Koh Tao which are also very very pretty: freedom beach, Sairee long beach (1.7 km), Sai Nuan beach and Tanote beach. My absolute favourite is the gorgeous Sai Nuan, but Tanote is also very interested because you can jump in the ocean from a 7m tall rock.

When I am not underwater or on the beach, I feed myself with beautiful food at Bam Bam, and the Yang restaurants. I am also glad that I met a very famous singer: Louise from the Netherlands. I hope you are enjoying yourself on Koh Pangan – see you in 2 weeks!

This is only the first post from Koh Tao because I will spend another 2 weeks here and I am sure there will be a lot to tell.

“SO FAR” FACTS – ENGLISH VERSION:

# of travel buddies: 17
# of travel buddies murdered: 5
best meals: Thai cashew chicken curry, Fried ginger with crispy pork
best dessert: coconut rice
worst meal: some brown soup with cooked pork, blaaaaaa
# of flights: 8
# of trains: 6
# of taxies: 15
# of shared taxies: 4
# of motor-taxies: 6
# tuk tuks: 6
# of buses: 13
# boats: 6
# of waterfalls: 6
# of snakes: 1
# of big spiders: 8
# polar bears: 0
# yetis: 1
# of dives: 15
# of sharks: 1
# of manta rays: 0
# of whale sharks: 0
# of dolphins: 0

Magyar verzio:

Ujra itt…Nem tuntem el egy b kategorias ladyboy clubban, csak siman tok jol erzem itt magam. Vegre bejott az elet! 16 napja erkeztem Koh Tao-ra, a “Teknos szigetre”, ami egy paranyi es kulonleges sziget a Thai-obolben, Koh Pangantol es Koh Samuitol eszak-nyugatra. Paranyi, mivel hosszabban mindossze 6 km es kulonleges, mert itt minden foleg buvarkodasrol szol, szoval itt minden latogato az en kasztomhoz tartozik: buvarok.

Koh Tao egyike az utolso mentsvaraknak Thaifoldon, amit meg nem fertozott meg a mainstream turizmus. Itt nem talalsz atlag turistat, aki csak egy selfiet akar tolni palmafakkal a hatterben vagy teenagereket, akik minden aron es minden pillanatban szet akarjak csapni magukat.

A “Teknos sziget” elnevezes a sziget formajabol adodik, ami teknospancelra emlekeztet es ahogy emlitettem, itt foleg buvarkodas a tema a maga 80 buvarkozpontjaval es 40 merulohelyevel. A sziget azonban merulesen kivul is szamos kellemes idotoltest kinal az ideutazoknak, peldaul: gyonyoru strandokat, sznorkelezest, dzsungelturakat, joga orakat, thai box traininget, sziklamaszast vagy fantasztikus kilatohelyek felderiteset a sziget csucsairol. Szoval ha csak siman pihenni akarsz, arra is tokeletes a maga csodalatosan belassult legkore miatt.

Erkezesemkor Siem Reapbol (Kambodzsabol) Koh Samui szigetre repuptem bangkoki atszallassal. A Koh Samui repterrol egy tomeg-taxi 150 bahtert elvitt a sziget eszaki reszere, ahol a McArthur hostelban szalltam meg aznap ejszakara. A McArthur egy affele startup hostel nagyon jo arcokkal mind a szemelyzetet es a vezetoseget illetoen. Kar, hogy nem tudtam tobb idot itt tolteni. A kovetkezo reggel egy gyors taxi ut utan a kikotoben felszalltam a gyors katamaranomra, ami 2 ora alatt Koh Taora repitett. Koh Tao elott elobb megalltunk Koh Pangan szigeten, majd a miniatur Nang Yuan szigeten. Ahogy megerkezel Koh Taora a helyi taxi maffia hazug mosollyal felvertezett szervezett tamadast indit a penztarcadban lapulo bahtokert. Ajanlatuk teljesen nevetseges. A szigeten 1 – 4 km-es tavolsagok vannak, amire a taxisok keszseggel felajanljak az autoikat es beszamlaznak 400 baht-ot. Egy robogo 24 orara 150 – 200 baht! 🙂

A kikotobol elsetaltam koh taoi elso szallashelyemhez, az Earth House-hoz. Azert valasztottam ezt a helyet, mert itt tradicionalis bambuszkunyhok vannak, amiket en nagyon imadok. Mokas itt elni, azonban a kunyhok nem tul komfortosak es csak 1 szemely lakhat bennuk, mert az aljuk 2 szemely alatt konnyen beszakadhat. Egy gyonyoru hetet toltottem itt tropusi viragokkal es fantasztikusan karcsu kokuszpalmakkal korbeolelve es a vekony bambuszfalaknak koszonhetoen a dzsungel egesz ejjel altatodalt enekelt nekem. Ha behunyom a szemem, meg mindig hallom azokat a kulonleges madarakat, amik ott eltek a kunytom mellett es dalukkal ejjelente alomtalan alomba ringattak. Voltak itt mas allatok is, nem csak madarak. Egyszer zuhanyozas kozben egy gekko kenyelmesen elhelyezkedett a torolkozomon es nagyon ingerultte valt, amikor letessekeltem rola. Soha nem felejtem el azokat a lesujto pillantasokat.

Egy het bambuszkunyhozas utan ugy ereztem tobb terre van szuksegem, szoval kibereltem egy en-suite-ot egy honapra 11,000 baht-ert (plusz szamlak). Ez kvazi egy franciaagyas szoba volt, furdoszobaval es erkellyel mint a hotelekben.

Az elso ejszaka utan azonban at kellett koltoznom egy masik szobaba. Amikor bekoltoztem, nem figyeltem fel a terjedelmes resekre a bejarati es a teraszajto alatt. Lattam is egy gekkot a falon lefekves elott, amit 10 percig hajkurasztam aztan vegul feladtam. Mondtam neki, hogy bent aludhat, ha nem horkol es ha ott marad szepen a falon. Amint rabolintott szepen lekapcsoltam a villanyt. Orbitalisan nagy alvas utan arra ebredek reggel, hogy valaki gyengeden karmolassza az arcom. Tekintetem egy almos gekko-szemparba furodott. Felugrottam kb 2 meter magadba es uldozobe vettem a halalra remult szornyeteget. Es ekkor vettem eszre, hogy nem csak a gekkoval aludtam kiskifliben, hanem ott volt meg egy 8cm-es szazlabu is. Ekkor kozoltem a tulajjal, hogy ha az allatok nem szallnak be a koltsegekbe, akkor kell egy allatmente szoba. Igy a masodik nap egy jobb en-suite-ba koltoztem az elso emeleten.

Kozlekedes szempontjabol bereltem egy robogot 5,000 baht-ert az RPM Bike-tol. Ez egy nagyon kiraly kis ceg, akik nem lehuzasra vannak specializalva. Ok nem azzal jatszanak, hogy minden karcot, amit az elozo ugyfel tett fel a robogora, teged probalnak terhelni 10x javitasi aron. Ezt csinalja sok ceg es ha nem fizetsz, akkor zsarolnak az utleveleddel vagy nem akarjak visszaadni a kauciodat. Elso szabaly: soha ne add oda senkinek az utleveled, barhogy sirnak vagy mosolyognak. Inkabb add a fenymasolatat es kauciot. Utlevel nelkul nagy dramaba kerulsz, amit jo elkerulni. Ha pedig jogtalanul tartjak bent a kauciod, akkor ne engedj, siman ~~tordd el az orcsontjukat a konyokoddel~~ hivd a rendoroket, akik segiteni fognak. Ezek az altalanos szabalyok, ha robogot berelsz Del-Kelet Azsiaban. Azonban az RPM Bike-tol nem kell tartanod, ok jo sracok.

Szoval megegyszer: nagyon boldog voltam, hogy megerkeztem Koh Taora Thaifold buvar fovarosaba. A sziget gyonyoru merulohelyeket rejteget: csodas zatonyokat, szines elovilagot, egy izgalmas hajoroncsot, autoroncsot (???), vizalatti konditermet es mas csodakat.

Miutan vegigjartam egy csomo buvarkozpontot – ahonnan nem csak arajanlatot kertem, de kivancsi voltam a legkorre is – vegul megtalaltam a legjobbat: The Ocean Republicot, amely az egyetlen buvarkozpont a szigeten, ami Sea Shepherd tengeri élővilág megmentéséért alakult nonprofit szervezet resze. Az Ocean Republic csapat szenzacios. Nagyon odafigyelnek a vendegekre, nagyon jol kepzettek a helyi vizalatti floraval es faunaval kapcsolatban (nem Flori, nem rolad van szo. Rolad nem tudnak semmit – kerdeztem oket!) es keszseggel keszitenek szemelyreszabott ajanlatokat egyenek vagy csoportok szamara. A Sea Sheperd reszekent a sracok intenziv korall rehabilitacios projekteket vegeznek Koh Tao vizeiben.

A legkor nagyon kiraly, koszonhetoen Jonathannak – tulajnak – es az osszes buvartura vezetonek: Lucynak, Albanak, Kasianak, Igornak es Nicolasnak akikkel merulesek elott es utan jokat szorakozunk. A hajojuk kenyelmes es el van latva kivalo thai keksszel es mezedes ananasz szeletekkel. Az elso merulesemet a szuletesnapomra idozitettem es Lucyval kovettem el. Koszonom neki ezert a kulonleges ajandekert.

Az Ocean Republic-cal a merulesek iszonyatosan jok, lenyegtelen hogy milyen szinten allsz buvarkodasban. Ha sosem probaltad, ezek a sracok villam gyorsan open water vagy akar advance szintre hoznak. Es Koh Taon a buvartanfolyamok hiresen olcsok, szoval ha erdekel a vizalatti vilag, ne teketoriazz sokat: ugorj be az Ocean Republic irodaba Koh Taon.

Az Ocean Republic elerhetosegeit itt talalod.

Kedvenc merulohelyeim a Chumphon Pinnacle es a Satakut hadihajo ronccsa. A Chumphonnal hatalmas falkakba verodott halak ezrei mozdulnak egyszerre, amint egy ragadozo beuszik kozejuk. Mintha aramutes erne a rajt, egyszerre suhannak el kulonbozo iranyokba, amivel megzavarjak az egy adott halra fokuszalo tamadot. A jelenetek olyanok, mint a National Geographic-ben. A Satakut pedig egy sejtelmes rejtelmes szellemhajo, hatalmas lovegekkel az elejen es a hatuljan.

Egy napos turara erdemes taxi hajoval atruccanni a szomszedos Nang Yuang szigetre, amelyet a poszt elejen emlitettem. Nang Yuang 2 mini sziget, amelyet egy vakitoan feher homokpad kot ossze. A homokpad fele gyakran viz ala kerul.

Nang Yuang csodasan nez ki, kb mint a kepeslapokon: feherhomokos strandok, hatalmas szurke sziklak, kokuszpalmak es dzsungel boritotta csucsok.

16 napom alatt jo par kellemes strandot bejartam Koh Taon, peldaul: freedom beach, Sairee beach (ez 1.7 km hosszu), Sai Nuan beach es Tanote beach. A nagy kedvencem a gyonyoru Sai Nuan, de a Tanote sem rossz ahol egy 7m magas sziklarol ugorhatsz az oceanba.

Amikor nem vagyok viz alatt vagy a strandon, akkor altalaban hatalmasakat kajalok a Bam Bam es a Yang vendeglokben.

Es megismertem egy hires enekest: Louise-t Hollandiabol. Remelem jol erzi magat Koh Panganon, 2 het mulva talalkozunk.

Ez az elso poszt Koh Taorol, mert biztos sok mondanivalo lesz meg a kovetkezo 2 hetem alatt, amit ezen a meses helyen toltok.