Arriving back from Kanchanaburi for Djalma to teach for one more day before his two week long holiday began, the parents and I decided to head into the big weekend market in Chatuchak. We spent a solid five hours there. After sorting out some important passport stuff we had lunch and then Berna and I paired off for some girly shopping time while Ned sifted through the markets for presents.
I can not believe what an excellent shopping companion my mother-in-law is, as we traipsed our way through the narrow maze of shops and stalls we stopped off to look at various items, trying things on and generally admiring the choice. I bought a couple of dresses, one of which I am deeply in love with – a floor length dress with thin straps made from good quality cotton printed with a bright red/dark pink cherry pattern. No way would I have bought it had it been only me but a little encouragement from Berna and it was mine, and not a jot of guilt, even when I got home! Berna got some light weight trousers she needed for the humid weather here and a pretty skirt from the same shop as my cherry dress.
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| From Bangkok, Thailand: Week Ten |
The following day we had a mission to get to Hua Lampong train station where our train was due to depart at a few minutes after three. I had booked the tickets the previous day, Sunday, for the eight hour trip down to Chumphon where a ferry departs early morning for the islands but although I double checked the time I hadn't double checked the date. After an aborted taxi trip we decided to try some last minute luck in the BTS and the metro. After running, huffing and puffing our way between transfers and trains Djalma re-checked the tickets to find that I had booked them for the following day, oops. It worked out in our favour we arrived at the station a good five or ten minutes after our train departed and we were able to change the tickets for a train a couple of hours later.
Departing after 5pm we arrived in the wee hours of the morning in Chumphon where we caught a couple of hours sleep at a hotel before setting off at 7am for the ferry.
Two and a half hours later we pulled up on Ko Tao and made our way to Sairee beach where we got a couple of, as Jonny later put it, 700 baht shit holes. They weren't that special and we shared our room with plenty of ants, fortunately none of which made it into bed with us.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
The following day Jess, Jonny and Garrett arrived and we caught up with them in the afternoon having much to talk about since Bangkok. In the evening I went for a little run on the beach which killed my calves later and after a much needed shower I joined our little group for beers and dinner. We sat at a table on the beach enjoying the sea breeze and the company, tucking into lots of fresh seafood and more beer. We arranged to share a boat and tour the Island the following day.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
Meeting each other for breakfast we set off in our brightly painted boat in search of beaches, rocks to jump from and coral bays to snorkel in. The sea was rather choppy and as we set off round the outcrops of rounded rock we were greeted with plenty of water. In the face.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
But the sea was a sapphire blue, the ride was smooth, the company good and our taxi boat driver, proficient and it was a great start to the day. I've no idea of the the names of the beaches we visited but in all of them the coral was more than half dead and tragically damaged, there were some fish that were friendly but it was sad to see such battered sea gardens.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
Our masks and snorkels were rubbish but good enough for an afternoon and it wasn't long before we found an enormous rock for Djalma to test his nerve and good luck from. Snorkelling round and climbing up onto the behemoth we all decided that it looked rather risky and tried to talk him down. Natural he wasn't having any of it so Jonny went to check the depth of the jumping ground, deemed safe enough Djalma waited for the boat to chug round so I was in prime photographing position – as he said later he wasn't about to do it with out pictures or an audience.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
We moved on and found a beach to have lunch, some sweaty 7-Eleven ham and cheese or tuna sandwiches with crisps and lots of water. We soon departed after a couple boat heaving with passengers pulled up and made our way to the final stop; The Oriental Garden.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
This place was supposed to be the best diving site on the Island... Well, there were more fish. Much of the coral lay shattered on the seabed and the bits which were still standing were a shadow of what they should have been. The small shoals of fish which were inquisitive where the most exciting part, Jess and I swam together and were surrounded by lots of the little creatures swimming up close to our faces to get a better look, different fish passed us by and we floated at the surface thinking our amazing it all was. We left our gear on our long tail boat and swam to a small outcrop of rocks where there were steps to the beach.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
The view was incredible, the sky was blue, the brilliant white coral sand reflected the most beautiful shade of aquamarine near the beach and a beautiful deep blue further out to sea. We had a quick and slightly painful walk across the little sandy spit that connected the two green hills trying to avoid the ticket man so we wouldn't have to pay the 100 baht fee to visit the Island. After a few photos and last lingering looks at the incredible beach we made our way back to our boat and around one last corner to Sairee Beach.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
Almost as soon as we stepped foot on dry land Jess headed for bed with what we assumed was a minor case of heatstroke but what later we learned was Dengue Fever. This was unknown to all of us that evening and so Djalma and I walked up the length of the beach with Ned and Berna and had a nice quiet meal on the beach before heading back home for some much needed sleep.
The next morning at breakfast Garrett came running up to deliver the news that Jess had been taken to the clinic with suspected Dengue fever. It was particularly awful because at that point I confused Dengue Fever, a non fatal infection which takes approximately a week to recover from, with one of the more serious infections that there is no cure for and only a 1 in 3 chance of surviving without permanent brain damage or dying (I think this is Japanese Encephalitis). I very nearly cried with relief after I googled it to find that it is only serious if haemorrhaging occurs and there is no medical attention. As soon as we finished eating we headed up to the clinic for a little visit. After a day in the sun she was looking more than tanned and healthy although very tired. She lay in bed with a saline drip looking very fragile and more than a bit bored, wondering out loud if the staff wouldn't mind speeding up the drip and letting her go early. We stayed for about an hour before leaving so she could get some rest. Back outside I discovered that someone had pilfered my new havianas and I was most annoyed all the way back to our room.
After an episode of JC (Jonathan Creek) we headed back up to the clinic and we said our goodbyes, the clinic had arranged for them to go to the nearest hospital on Ko Samui where they would be able to monitor her daily and where they also had supplies of blood should any complications occur. We left them, hoping and praying that everything would turn out just fine and that Jess' stay in hospital would be a little air-conditioned, all paid for, break and nothing more than that. As we walked down the corridor Djalma and I both thought to ourselves how lucky we were to have met them both and how good it would be to see them again.
Having passed in the news to a very woeful Garrett we headed back to our room and went straight to bed. The following day, Friday, we got up around 9am and started to get ready to leave, I went for a very half arsed run along the beach, barefoot running on a gradient is painful! And then we packed up and had breakfast waiting for the evening to come round, playing cards and chatting, so we could jump on the night ferry back to the mainland.
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| From Ko Tao, Thailand |
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