Let me tell you a story of the idea of this trip.
It's happened when I surfed for something (which I can't remember what it was) on the internet. I found the trip on a website of a tourism agency. And when I looked at the price of the trip... the day after, I went to a bank to check the amount of money I had in my account. Then I found that... I could go... and I did want to go.
I didn't tell anyone about this trip since I knew what they would reply me.
"How can you go alone?"
or..
"It's too dangerous for a girl."
or even..
"You're not allowed." (Of course, that would be from my mom.)
So I kept it secretive and meant to let everyone know when I would be on the bus which was the beginning of the trip.
Well... I did feel guilt when I thought how much my mom and family would be worried about me... So about few days before the trip, I decided to tell mom about this...
And... what I was worried became true.
Mom asked me, "how could you go there alone?" Then she sulked... and said, "You don't have to tell me. You already planned to go on your own without asking me, didn't you."
So.. before I went on my trip, one duty that had to be done was to reconcile with my mom.
Anyway, in case you don't know, I'll let you know something about me. I'm stubborn enough to insist what I want to do. And you know what? I went on my trip finally.
While enjoying the trip, I just knew that there's an exchange - the trip with mom's allowance. It's that she would call me every 30 minutes... However, the trade was acceptable.
I left Bangkok around 9.30pm on... well... it's so long time that I can't remember the exact date. So.. just take that it's one Friday in the past May.
The bus took about 8 hours to get to Ban Toong Makham Noi pier. There's a German women who I thought she didn't realize that the weather in Thailand was much differ from her home country. I guessed... she might forget to shower. And I also guessed... she must have forgotten to do it for few days.
Her scent was so nice... that made me got a headache and couldn't sleep. What a bad time I had on the bus!
I arrived at the pier around 5.30am. All I did when I was waiting for the boat was trying to find new friends. Luckily, I got 3!! One was a girl who went there to meet her friends. Another two was a couple taking vacation there and stayed at the same hotel as me.
5.30am at Ban Toong Makham Noi pier
One thing that I prepared myself to face with was the price of stuffs on the island. It would cost more about 50% or even two times of the normal price on the mainland. There's a good preparation for tourist before the real situation... It's the breakfast I had... 90 Baht for a 15-cm.-long ham baquette sandwich!
The boat took about an hour and a half - 2 hours to Tao island. I had to wait for the hotel's car to pick me up.
After I've checked in, I was thinking about renting a motorbike to ride around the island. I knew that I wasn't good at riding this vehicle but it's much cheaper than an AVT car. After took awhile to make decision, I decided to pick the cheapest option, my feet.
I walked along Sai Ree beach, round walking trip, about 2 times. There's a lot of foriegn tourist and very few Thais. And well.. because of that, I had to confess... I had a good time there. :-P
In the evening, the couple I met at the pier invited me to a pub on the beach. I also made new friends there. They're 3 guys from several countries and just met there. I always think that this is a good thing of being guy. They can make new friends easier than girls.
After taking a walk along the beach at night, I was thinking about walking along a track back to the place I stayed. There's not electric lights on the track but only the light from restaurants and hotels at the both sides that could light it. So some parts of this tiny walking street were dark. The couple asked me to ride with them. They said... it's not any good if there something happened. Also there's a warning written in Tao island guide and some signs said, "Don't walk alone in the dark. We warn you!!" So they told me, for a girl who came travel by herself, "safety first" was the best.
It's unusual to see me watching TV. But this night on the island was an exception. There's nothing to do in the room since I couldn't go hang out alone. (The reason is in the above paragraph, plus... I didn't dare to walk alone in the dark for many reasons.) All I did was talking on the phone with someone (thank you to him, he made me feel less lonely) and went to bed earlier than usual.
I woke up so early in the morning. Well, I'd rather say I didn't sleep well and was awake almost every hours. I guess it's because of it's different place and... I had nothing to cram. Those always are the reason that I couldn't sleep well when I have to stay at different place but home.
It's a little bit disappointing morning. It's raining and cloudy, I didn't expect to have cloudy and rainy day at the sea. I walked on the beach again. It's quite quiet and there's a few tourist was awake.
In the late morning, a truck picked us (the couple and me) up at the hotel to a pier. We had diving trip today. And, YES!! the sun came out finally!!
Though I loved this snorkeling trip but I couldn't say I enjoyed the boat ride much. I got a bad seasick. But the worst thing was... well, it's mix feeling. Maybe this picture could tell you what I felt...
I didn't want to be alone...
The last place we went dive was Nang Yuan island. It's very nice place!! I wish to go there again. Of course, next time I'll take someone with me.
There's a Thai expression, "Finally, the party has to end." The vacation was over and I had to back home.
I said goodbye to the couple. I really appreciated them. They're nice, had good heart and were worried about a stranger like a stubborn girl like me.
The hotel truck drove me to the same pier where I've arrived. I didn't have a good time on the boat... There's a foriegn couple sit by me. They hugged and kissed each other while The Lord of The ring #2 were playing on the boat. After I've tried to focus on watching the movie for awhile... I felt like I lost my patience. Hmmm.... Well... Hey!!! Can you just stop doing that??? I envy!!
When I was at the pier and in the line to pick the seat on the bus, I told myself to pick carefully... since I've learned lesson on the way came here... that I should be aware of people whom I would sit near...
The ticket seller was surprised to hear that I traveled alone. She repeated 3 times if I really came by myself. Finally, She picked this seat for me.
The seat which there's no one sit by...
It's empty... the seat by me...
Anyone wanna take a ride beside me?
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