THAILAND: Ko Tao (July 7th - 9th) The Final Island Hopping Destination -

We took another boat north to the final stop among the islands, the island of Ko Tao, the smallest of the three.  This was also the nicest of all our accomodations since joining the tour.  Everyone had their own little bungalow going up the side of  a hill with huge views of the ocean.  There was a pool down on the beach, but it was full of kids screaming in a variety of languages, so we found a much quiter pool at the top of the resort on top of the hill.  They call it paradise zone and the views from the pictures show why.  We stayed up there swimming until sunset, had dinner, and spent a cozy night in the room.

The next day, we went on a snorkeling tour around the island.  We had specifically been waiting to snorkel until this island because it has a reputation as one of the best snorkeling and diving spots in the world......and it was SPECTACULAR.  This is when we first really regretted not having an underwate camera with us.  Some other friends from the group got some ridiculous pictures.  We had never seen so many fish before, and so many different kinds.  In a few areas the schools were so thick it was impossible to swim through them with out them bumbing into your mask and you could feel them swimming across your back and legs.  Also, some of the areas had coral formations the size of castles.  The boat made its way around the island, stopping at four different spots and allowing us to explore.  After lunch on the boat it dropped us off at an area of three little islands connected by narrow sand strips.  We hung out there the rest of the afternoon before the boat took us back.  We went into town for dinner that night and had some incredible Thai/Brazilian style bbq, probably the best meal so far on the entire trip.  We found a popular little club right on the water, did some dancing on the beach, and called it a night.  Again, Em and I turned it in a little earlier than the young'ns.....but were proud of oursleves for making it until about 1:30.....a big accomplishment for us.....especially for Em ( :

We were so bummed to be leaving the islands for good the next day....plus we knew we had about 48 hrs of some serious traveling ahead of us.

The pool at paradise zone

View from our hillside bungalow

Chillaxing

The small boat ride that taxied us out to the snorkeling boat

We look awesome......like scuba-weds

Em...showing off her coconuts ( :



I think she's seriously contemplating staying and never coming home