Koh Tao - day 88

From the pier we took a super-fast catamaran to Koh Tao, an island in the South East of Thailand. There was so much wind and the waves were so high that the entire crossing turned into an endless rollercoaster ride. We had barely left the pier, when people were already dragging themselves to the back of the boat to throw up. It was supposed to last 1h30, but it turned into 2 neverending hours... We spent the entire time trying not to throw up, which was nearly impossible given the fact that at least 3/4 of the boat where already throwing up in the most noisy way imaginable! Pierre made it til the end without giving in... Nat on the other hand wasn't so successful... We must say that the service aboard was great, there were stewards everywhere ensuring everyone had a clean bag as soon as they'd used one, they also provided tissues... clearly this must happen every time they cross over to Koh Tao! Anyway, we got to the island, hopped on to the back of a pick-up truck and were driven to Ban's Diving Resort. We booked our diving courses (Open Water PADI for Pierre and Advanced Open Water for Nat) and a nice deluxe room with TV, DVD player, fridge, safe, a big double bed, a bathroom and a nice balcony! All that for only 20 euros per night... a lot cheaper than most of the hostels we stayed in so far (outside of Thailand of course)!! We unpacked everything in our bags for the first time since we left and brought half of it away to the laundry service. We had lunch at a little restaurant with a terrace on the beach. This is the Thailand we had been waiting for! After lunch we walked to town and had a drink at Cafe del Sol. After that we walked back to our resort and Pierre went to check-in for his diving course. The first part consists of watching a DVD and doing some quizzes... The beach our resort is on is surrounded by restaurants and little shops. For dinner we'll probably have some Mexican food.

Weather: sunny and delightfully warm

For those who are worried about the situation in Bangkok: we are now far from Bangkok, on a tiny island; since we are not actually trying to get out of Thailand, we are not concerned by all the disaster stories that are being spread by the media about tourists desperately trying to get flights back home. As far as we've noticed, the Thai people aren't aiming at the tourists in any way, if anything, they are helpful or just joke about the situation, telling us that now we'll have to live in Thailand permanently... :-P