Our original plan wasn't to go to Thailand, we were supposed to go to Japan but due to the earthquake and tsunami hitting and devastating Japan a few weeks before our intended arrival we had to re-plan our original route. This was done with a heavy heart as we really wanted to see Japan and help them out with our tourism but sadly our trip there will have to wait til another time.
So there we were in Melbourne, a couple weeks visa left and no real plans set in stone. We had two options; go home early (which we were already doing by three weeks for a wedding) or find an alternative option in Asia. It was a no brainer. Vietnam and Cambodia were our original focus as the idea of Thailand had never really appealed to me. From what I had heard it sounded completely over run with westerners and that western culture was creeping in. Our new flights were sorted out thanks to Kerry at STA (we owe all our limbs to for her incredible help) who had arranged a reroute to Singapore instead of Tokyo which was awesome as it's so cheap and easy to get around Asia from Singa. So with our flights booked it was just a matter of deciding where we'd be heading for. A late night binge of internet due to insomnia was to seal our fate. During the night googling I stumbled across a volunteer marine conservation programme on a small tropical island in the Gulf of Thailand. Knowing that Ryan loved diving it was perfect so we threw caution to the wind and booked our places hoping that the island would be as small and isolated from western culture as promoted.
Within a week we were scooting our way to Thailand landing in Koh Samui where we were to spend two nights before our placements on our “tropical island” (Koh Tao) began. Koh Samui is probably one of the better known islands in the gulf of Thailand as it's the biggest and most developed. That's if McDonalds, Tesco, fake clothes shops and English pubs are your idea of development. There's no harm in biting the bullet and absorbing yourself in the tacky lady boy, buckets of booze culture that Thailand has become so well known for. It is a great night out but just remember, there's more to Thailand than what the tourist industry has marketed it to be. Hire a scooter and you will find some awesome parts of Samui that represent a more realistic view of the Thai way of life. Some beautiful beaches, wee fishing towns and amazing temples are but a few things to explore and zipping around on a scooter is also a great way to shake off that Samsong bucket hangover. Just don't be a douche and pay to ride around on the backs of the mistreated and ill kept elephants that get promoted in a couple places on the island.
After a couple days of drinking Singha, eating Phad Thai, driving precariously around on a scooter and sweating our own body weight thanks to the high humidity and heat it was time for us to get the ferry across to Koh Tao. If you don't like sailing, don't go to Koh Tao. Unless that is you like watching a family of Chinese people vomiting throughout the entire journey due to the large size of waves and small size of the boat. It's also a bit disconcerting when you see sunk ship's masts sticking out the top of the water. Apart from all this we quite enjoyed the journey as it gives you an amazing view of Koh Phagnam and Koh Tao when you pull up to it. All these islands I should mention have become pretty famous thanks to 'The Beach' which was written whilst travelling around these islands and so making them the massive tourist attractions they are today. When you see these green, forest covered islands appearing on the horizon they fit the image that's been pumped in to your head by films and the media. They also reminded me a bit of Rio's green mountain landscape. Anyway point being, they are a strangely familiar yet spectacular site.
When we arrived in Koh Tao it was straight on to the back of a pick up truck which drove us, along with other people, to the dive school where we were to commence our volunteer work. We arrived, were briefed, shown our accommodation and were left to settle in. Our room was under £10 a night and was complete with a fan, toilet and shower. Cold sea water shower and no flushing toilet but it was so cheap you can't really complain about that and the cold showers were actually pretty nice in the high temperatures. For the next two weeks Ryan worked under the sea and I worked on land, both of us helping to make Koh Tao environmentally cleaner. Koh Tao is a beautiful island and we soon became really good friends with the crew on our volunteer team and these guys really made our stay amazing. Many laughs were had in the Sea Bar where we widdled away our nights on the beach and under the palm trees drinking Singhas, Mojitos and smoking shisha. Many more laughs were had in the Rasta bar but this was due to something else entirely. God bless the Rasta Bar and it's amazing bunch of barmen who never failed to keep us entertained with connect four, shithead, pizzas and home grown produce. Deisha also had the pleasure of inking a few of us up before our departure and I think myself, Ryan and Claire can honestly say we wouldn't have wanted anybody else to take a bamboo to our skin.
Our two weeks flew by on Koh Tao and we couldn't bare to think about leaving so we decided to extend our time there for another week. Well after a cheeky night out in Koh Samui to bid farewell to Claire and Rosie that is. Our last week on Thailand and last week of our year out was spent soaking up the sun, snorkelling, hanging out with great people and living the life some people can only dream of. It was the perfect way to spend our last week travelling and it made us realise how totally lucky we were to have experienced such a lifestyle. It did also of course make us dread heading back to the cold, industrial life of the UK but all good things must come to an end.
Leaving Koh Tao was an emotional experience. I'm not sure whether it was because we were leaving such good friends and a great way of life, were utterly hungover or because we knew this really was the end. Perhaps it was a bit of everything. The year had seemed to fly by and on the flight back to Singapore I felt a total sense of denial that it had even happened. It's like my brain wanted to forget the amazing year I had experienced in order to cope with the fact it was over. A very strange sensation and one that left me feeling pretty melancholy during the entire flight. Thankfully Ryan was his usual amazing self and had booked us in to the Raffles Hotel for our last night in Singapore. After living the year in shared dorms, on floors, in vans, in tents and in rooms with salt water showers we were now about to spend the night in one of the most famous, expensive and posh hotels in the world. It was utterly amazing and probably the best way to cheer us up and finish our year off. And to top it all off we had a flushing toilet!
Our last day was spent consuming more than an acceptable amount of Singapore Slings before catching our over night flight to London. We were walking out in to the rain at Aberdeen Airport before we knew it and we hadn't even touched down when we were already scheming our next trip away.
It has been a fricking amazing year, that's all we can really say to sum it up. We've seen and done so many awesome things, met so many awesome people and visited so many awesome places that it's hard to believe it all really happened. Without a doubt the best time of our lives was had and the best thing is knowing we're going to do it all again some day, once the bank balances have evened themselves out again. One thing's for sure, we arrived home just as lost and broke as we were when we started, and we wouldn't change that for the world.
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