A rather choppy ferry journey moved me over to the tiny island of Koh Tao, which seemed very heavily aimed at people wanting to learn or go diving, with schools on almost every corner. Not something I was particularly interested in, but I’d met a few people to hang out with and thought I’d spend a couple of days experiencing island life.

Not so populated

The first night, feeling reasonably tired, we decided to just go for a couple of quiet drinks… but accidentally ended up on a Koh Tao bar crawl. An experience for sure, but as always something I came away with mixed feelings about. Anyway, it involved buckets, a pool party and a short trip to a lady-boy cabaret show… However, it was great to take a quiet moment to stand knee deep in the warm sea water with a drink and gaze out to the boats and stars beyond.

Sunset in Koh Tao harbour

The following day involved a good English breakfast (or as good as you’ll get out of England) and some more leisurely exploring of the island. After that though, time to move on once again. I made the boat trip back to the mainland and Chumphon to meet Les (Mick’s mate who lives there) for some food and company (thanks again!) whilst waiting for the overnight train south.

So farewell to Thailand and across the border into Malaysia, hoping to experience some differences between the two and explore some more places. I would probably say Thailand has been as expected, a great place to explore but not somewhere I’d settle for much longer, for me anyway. It was great to experience the different aspects of the country though, from bustling cities to beautiful islands and stunning natural scenery.