Koh Tao

Unsuspectingly, we boarded the boat heading from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao, meanwhile thinking, "Gosh its busy today". Aren't there a lot of people on this boat? The entire deck, front to back, side to side was packed, not to mention inside, where the people are actually supposed to go, was full as well. There was a VIP lounge on the upper deck, which was air conditioned inside and only cost $1.00 more to sit in. We had scored, since there were actually a few seats left. But the people kept piling on, and squishing in. The maximum capacity of the boat was probably tripled by the time the boat took off for Koh Tao, but these people do this every day, right? So they must know what they're doing...... For the first half hour everything seemed fine, but once we hit the wide open choppy water, things took a drastic turn. The boat started rocking from side to side, and with every rock, it would sway further and further onto its side. This is when people started to scream. People started panicking (including me) and getting out of their seats to go out onto the crowded deck. Crew members started yelling at people to sit down, then a few of them started looking panicked as well. Forget buses, dirt bikes, and planes, this time I was actually convinced we were going to die. I have never been so scared in my entire life, and that's the truth. For two hours the boat swayed back and forth, almost ending up on its side. Ian was trying to calm me down, telling me we'd be fine, and that there was no way we would flip. When eventually he started giving me instructions on what to do if the boat flipped, I started really freaking out. That's when I made my way out onto the overcrowded deck, followed by Brent, to wait out the rest of our sentance on the Death Boat, white knuckled and pondering our own existence, or soon to be lack there of. Okay, so you can already guess we made it, miraculously. I know, I'm shocked as well. For about two hours after we landed I was still shaking. NEVER AGAIN! Now how was I going to get OFF this island?

Ian and Brent went off to find our accommodations, while I stayed with the bags. Eventually a man on a motorbike came to pick me up, with the rest of the bags. Far too many to be holding on a motorbike, but then again, these are the people who load a family of six, a dog, a fridge and a stove all onto one little bike, so who am I to complain? We eventually made it and Ian and I signed up for a four day Scuba Diving course. The next eight days on the island were amazing. Ian and I excelled at the scuba diving, # 1 and #2 in our class, ahem, thank you very much! We were up early every morning and didn't come back until late afternoon every day. The training was like a full time job. We loved every second of it though, and cannot wait to do it again. Seriously, we were born to dive.

Meanwhile, Brent was partying and making friends galore. We celebrated his birthday with a dinner on the beach and a pancake with candles in it. Classic. After extending our stay far beyond when we were originally supposed to leave, with claws dug into the sand, we dragged ourselves away to the pier once again. This time we opted for a catamaran, although it cost much more than the Death Boat. Like I said, NEVER AGAIN. We made it back to shore and started our loooooong journey back up to Bangkok. Our trip was slowly coming to an end. *Sniff, Sniff*