I'm sitting on the porch of our little, old, wooden bungalow in Tanote Bay on Koh Tao's east coast. Music comes from a bar behind us, a local band plays reggae music, a bit out of tune but not too bad, just too loud for sleep and that's why I'm writing the blog. Now suddenly it's quiet! Black out, as so often during night times here. Yesterday I sat at the same place reading because of the bar on the other side of our bungalow where bumping electronic music kept me away from sleeping but tonight it's quiet and dark in Poseidon's bar. Now the electricity is back, sadly those black outs never last long enough.
After our friends, Riikka and Mikko started their journey back home from the Krabi airport, we changed over to Thailand's east coast and across the gulf, the ferry stopped at Koh Samui first, at Koh Pha Ngan later where we changed the boat on to Koh Tao. We called ahead to book a room as Christmas was only a week away and places started to fill up. We stayed in the JP Resort in Chalok Baan Kao bay, south of the famous Sairee beach because we wanted some quietness for reading, relaxing and snorkeling.
We then found out that a friend of Anni was on the same island, quite a coincidence because we met him in Ao Nang too. Together with him, his girlfriend, small son and family members, all Finnish of course, we booked a long-tail boat for a snorkeling trip around the island where we could decide where to go and where to stop. It was a brilliant day. The water around Koh Tao is incredibly clear and very rich in fish and corals where they haven't been destroyed yet, either by tourists or anchors of the numerous boats ashore. Highlight for everyone was probably Shark bay, not just a fancy name, we saw plenty of black tip reef sharks, some of them massive, I myself counted nine sharks in about 15 minutes.
Another day all of us went to Nang Yuan island, basically three islands connected by sand and crowded with tourists. They have a funny or annoying rule, depends how you look at it, no one's allowed to bring fins or plastic bottles onto the island. Doesn't count for the hundred or so divers around all the dive spots nearby or near the beach, learning skills on the bottom of the ocean, with fins. What hurts the corals more, a snorkeler with fins on the surface or a diver with fins on the bottom? I didn't get it, especially because the beaches are sandy without corals a long way out into the sea. We also snorkeled off Sairee beach where we found a beautiful reef parallel to the beach, we didn't expect that in front of the busy main beach. And the sunsets viewed from there are stunning!
We spent a great time with great people in truly magnificent nature but they left soon for a visa run and we were alone again. Then I got a cold and couldn't snorkel anymore. We also decided to move to another place because ours at JP's was a bit characterless and very hot as it was a concrete and brick room. Anni asked around and found a nice place called Taraporn on the far north side of the same bay. We moved into our bungalow and were happy as we got quite a bargain, 500 Baht is relatively cheap during christmas peak season. I was getting sicker from day to day and was looking forward to a good night's sleep, the ocean only meters away and with gentle waves that would follow me into sleep, I hoped.
Then, after dinner time, the music started. First from the main beach, carried across the bay and then from Taraporns bar. First at a modest volume but with the rising consume of alcohol also the volume of the music rose. Peak was at around midnight, quietness came at 03:30am. Every night. I didn't mind a christmas party or two but it was every night. And at the 27th it was someone's birthday party, louder than anything before and trust me, earplugs didn't help. So I spent lots of time outside, waiting for 03:30 to come. After the five nights we already paid, we left for Tanote bay. We found a bungalow for 400 Baht and this bay is famous for its good snorkelling and as it is far away from everything, only accessible over an awful concrete and dirt track, so we were sure to find peace. And quietness.
When we first saw our little hut we were delighted. An old, wooden bungalow only about 50 meters from the sea, a porch facing it, just perfect. And quiet! Just the sounds of waves, geckos and squirrels that jump from tree to tree above our porch. Then nighttime came and so did the music. First only little but it got louder and louder the later it got. We saw the restaurant next to our bungalow when we moved in but we thought hey, we're in a far away place, who wants to party here? The same as in the last place, not many.
First it was Sunshine divers, a big and busy dive company in Chalok Ban Kao and now it is Poseidon in Tanote bay. The Sunshine company had the AWARE sticker on their windows, an organization dedicated to saving sharks, I'm also a member. This is all very nice but during the hours I lie awake and listened to their bumping sounds I couldn't get this sticker out of my mind. Aware. Most dive companies on Koh Tao are very aware of their environment, organize clean-up days to collect rubbish from beaches or the sea bottom, they save or breed turtles and help sharks but one of these companies I got to now only through their so cool parties and music and around the others gather people already at lunchtime, holding their beers. Where's the "aware" here? Do they only care about the divers environments but not about their neighbors? How can they blast music all night long when the next bungalow is only steps away? Does everyone have to join them and party, if not you're a loser anyway?
We met more people here that seek quietness than people that are in need of more party. Two minutes before midnight at new years eve I went over to Poseidon to grab a drink and I found the place basically empty. Five people sat or lied around a table, music blasting but no sign of party, the drunk barkeeper gave me a beer out of a coolbox and went back to "business". If even at new years evening the bars stay empty, why the hell don't they turn off their music and power a fridge instead? So our search goes on, we'll go back to the west coast soon in the new year and look for a quiet spot but we gave half up already. Why not go to Sairee beach with cheap accommodation and music everywhere, at least it's cheap.
