Day 30 – Koh Tao – Thursday March 31st 2011
We were up early, to get to Mae Haad pier as soon as possible. Trying to check out, the staff didn’t have the key to the safe, so couldn’t get my passport out. Eventually the key was found and we were trying to escape Koh Tao for a second day.
The pier was pretty quiet when we got there, so we were right at the front to get our tickets re-confirmed. One way or another we would be leaving today!
In the queue we saw the Basingstoke trio again, and also got chatting to a Melbourne couple who seemed pretty chilled out. It’s a shame that we don’t plan to as far as Melbourne. They made it sound like our sort of place.
Sea Legs
Nic and I took some travel sickness tablets and by some amazing fluke we survived the whole return trip without revisiting our breakfast. The journey was loads better, but there was still a load of sick bags being passed around.
The pier rumour may have been correct, as we ended up docked in a fishing village, where waiting TV crews were interviewing people as the loaded off the boat.
There was a free coach into Chumporn Town, so we got that. We found Fame Guesthouse near the Railway Station, and paid £1.50 each for a basic room with no fan and shared bathroom. It was fine by us, and the perfect place to recover from the island.
Fame have a decent restaurant downstairs which serves good cheap food, and even makes their own fresh bread every day.
We went to the Tourism Authority of Thailand office to find out about trains south. Bad news. No trains yet, but there should be one to Hat Yai in the next couple of days.
The Thai Met Office have advised against all non-essential travel to islands in the east or west and also advised caution in Southern Thailand. I am getting worried about missing our flight from Singapore to Bali on April 11th. Bali could be our only chance of getting on the beach.
Hidden Gem
Although not here by choice, Chumporn actually seems quite interesting. We ate some good street food at the night market, and the whole place is not really geared towards tourists. Often people pass straight through here on the way to the islands, but I will be happy to explore around here for a couple of days until the trains are running again.