Life As Canvas

It’s been a lazy few days here on Koh Tao, one of Thailand’s smaller popular islands. Koh Tao is known for scuba diving which becomes very obvious as you step off the boat and are accosted by smiling, sign-holding men who come up between the guidebook you’re reading and your face, practically screaming “You want scuba tour? You need bungalow??” We swatted at them. Like flies they scattered, then came back. The trick, I find, is to either look them in the eye and, with a cold face, say “no” to everything they say, even if it’s “Where you from?” Or smile and yell “Go away, go away, go awayyyyy!”

After the initial frenzy was over and the crowd had dissipated, we made our way (again, clumsily, stumbling, with our big swaying backpacks) over sandy beach upon sandy beach to a little cluster of bungalows on stilts.

For a few days we did pretty much nothing. We went to the beach, swam, got a massage, watched fire dancers on the beach and sipped lots of fruit shakes. We needed to soak up as much beach as possible before heading back to the crazy city life in Bangkok.

Yesterday, though, we went on a snorkel tour just along the outside of the island. The first stop we made was at a place called “Shark Point.” This is because it is teeming with sharks. Normally, the idea would make me nervous but our guides told us they don’t bite and that sometimes you could see them swiming around in the shallows. With that, I was the first one off the boat, speeding through the water with my fins and snorkel, scanning the bottom for sharks and then, a familiar flick of a tail… a shark! It was only about 3 feet long but I got excited and looked back to the boat to see if anyone else was nearby. They were all still on the boat. So I slowly paddled on, letting the warm water lap up against my skin, admiring the little fluorescent blue fishies below when I saw something big and grey. With a start I realized it was another shark. This one was about 6 feet long, though, and fat. I blinked in awe. Then it turned a little too suddenly and started to move in my direction. Panicked, I turned and swam, slowly, slowly away. No need to be nervous, I reminded myself, but when you see a big shark for the first time, warning lights go off in the brain.

After checking out a few more friendly sharkes, we stopped to snorkel around choral and see some other colorful fish. I felt like I had plunged right into another post card. The deep blue water, the yellow fish, blue anemones, and oddly shaped hills of choral, all so clearly visible in the water, which is incredibly warm and calm, here.

Though we didn’t want to pay for the course, it seems like the perfect spot to get your scuba certificaton and maybe one day I’ll come back to do so.

Today we’re off to Bangkok again! That giant hub crawling with people, smells, loudness. It’s overwhelming sometimes but I like it in short doses. From Bangkok I’ll be making my final move – home – and on the way I get to stop off in Seoul, Korea for 6 hours. Stories about the Seoul airport coming up!