Bangkok to Koh Tao

If you ever travel south from Bangkok to Chumphon/Suratthani and have a few more Baht than a bus fare to spare, then take advice from the man in seat 61 and catch the night train.  For some reason (delight?), my apprehension about sleeping with a bunch of strangers dissolved when I boarded and clocked the retro brown leatherette seats, green curtains and old fans attached to the ceiling. 2nd class is communal, which means meeting the people next to you and watching the people around you. Shaven-headed white-robed Buddhist nuns, a bunch of army guys who tumbled aboard as the train was pulling out of the station. For company I had a Canadian semi-professional Muay Thai boxer on his way to training camp and to turning pro; a young South African lecturing sports science in Bangkok, on his way to full moon party on Koh Phangan (he taught me a new phrase - "bum gun" - no I'm not going there - Google it!); and a lovely Thai lady who'd recently had a personal tragedy and kindly steered me to the right ferry desk when we got to Chumphon.  Perhaps being in a confined space for a long time encourages people to tell strangers quite personal things. Or maybe it's just my matronly looks - the same ones that cause every passing tourist in London to ask me directions. Anyway, take the train, and a jersey if you travel in aircon carriage...and thick-soled shoes for the toilets.

                                    

 

Chumphon. After bodies and bags being labelled pink for Koh Tao by an interesting, flexi-gendered person, we were offloaded at the pier at sunrise. And what a pier it was. Of the rickety wooden type you see in cheese-art wall posters: stretching across a still sea, with palm trees and longtail boats in the background. Unexpectedly romantic.

Koh Tao. First thought as the ferry approached: "oh my, places like this really exist on this Earth". Second and third thoughts: "oh shit, I forgot...first on, last off, duh", and "I feel like a pink-branded cow in a cattle market". But that feeling faded with the friendly welcome I got from the folk at my dive shop, who are also a refreshingly enviro-conscious bunch doing their bit to combat plastic waste which is a real problem on an island and in the marine environment.

I won't rehearse the confined water skills underwater mask removal scene for the world at large, but let's just say it was public humiliation no.2. And then I dived. Wooo hooooo! Amazing! I saw butterfly fish, angel fish, banner fish, spotted rabbit fish, orange-spined unicorn fish and barracuda...aaand Titan trigger fish, grouper, tiny translucent shrimps that clean your cuticles if you keep your hand still, a tiger cowrie, a Durban dancing shrimp, gobi (a little fish that lives in a hole in the sand on the sea bed with a shrimp that does the housework) and lots of others. I have no idea how rare or yawn-common these things are, but it was fascinating to be down there with them.

So good that I was uncharacteristically not too boverred by public humiliation no. 3. I inadvertently flashed a good few people when the toilet door on the dive boat flew open (choppy seas man, and inadequate briefing about the method of locking - note: don't use the shiny bolt, use the grubby piece of string and attach to tiny nail). Happily, a woman instructor came to my rescue and held the door shut whilst I sorted out my tangled one-piece swimming cosi (yeah, I may well be the only person on the entire island not wearing a bikini). 10 mins later it was a funny anecdote. Ok, 1 hour 10 mins later. At this rate of public humiliation I'll be shameless by the end of my travels. Poor you guys! So I may buy a bikini, especially after the Thai massage lady told me "you have niiice body" as she cricked my back.

"Right ear pain?"......"I can't see tympanic membrane. Uhhh you have wax...wax impact. You need ear irrigation." "How long will that take? I have to dive at 11.45". My final 2 dives to get my Open Water qualification. The doctor looked inexperienced, nervous. He shooed me over to a communal bed in the clinic where nurses administered ear drops to cries of "do you have insurance?" Everyone disappeared to the back until I called out "hello - o" over the clink and clatter of lunch. Once on my feet, I asked if the doctor was going to try to find my eardrum again before they sent me on my way. Somehow, this question provoked surprise. The doctor eventually emerged. After more pulling and twisting of ear and lobe and poking with different lights, he confessed that he could only see 50% of my eardrum. "Does that mean my eardrum has burst?" "Yes." Incredulity. "No diving?" [thinking in my head "ever"]. "No diving". He said I'd need to go to Koh Samui to see an ear specialist.  Dazed and upset, with visions of my insurer wrenching me back to the UK floating before my teary eyeballs, I was moto-zipped across town by my dive instructor for a second opinion. That doctor at least looked like he knew what he was doing. Eardrum intact (pheeewhooooo) but a bleed in the middle ear. No diving for 7 days and instructions on the circumstances in which it would be ok to try again after that. Big relief mixed with big disappointment...oh nooooooo, my plans up the spout. I'd been considering doing my Advanced Open Water over the weekend combined with a trip to Sail Rock, one of the best dive sites on the island. What to do? Well, instead of pressing on to Cambodia and completing my OW there, I've decided to stay here for a few more days (cheaper, and Koh Tao is well set up for dive emergencies and for people like accident-prone me) and adjust my plans for Cambodia. So, I may do some snorkelling, seek out a yoga class and while away some time in the south of the island (away from the dive shops- sniffle). Possibly here:

Uh-huh, view and weep. Banana Rock Bar - made from driftwood, playing reggae and mellow Thai music, with a picture of Che dangling amongst stringed sea shells, and run by a hip young eye-linered Thai dude, who looks like he'd rather live in a city (yeaaaah or maybe not - such a lovely spot). And I will swim/watch passing boats here:

And I will try to supress the urge to demand my money back from doctor no. 1 for incompetence and subjecting me to unnecessary and costly treatment.  Please send me positive vibrations for my ear. I would very much like for it to be better by Friday morning (GMT: midnight Thursday). Oh and I should say, I'll have even more sporadic internet access for the next three weeks. Toodle- om (yeah I have yoga withdrawals).

Posted: Koh Tao, 11 March, about 16.55.