Leaving Thailand

We are back in Bangkok yet again, but just to say goodbye as we fly for South Africa today. Although we are much more confident in this crazy city than we were 3 weeks ago, we aren't very sad to be leaving. Sad to leave Thailand, yes. Bangkok, not so much. :)

The last few days on Koh Tao were fantastic. We ended up spending an extra day on Koh Tao because our flight to Capetown had been cancelled...what a bummer! Hmmm - we were given the choice of spending one more day on the island or one more day in Bangkok. Tough choice. We spent a couple of days enjoying the beach, exploring and staying dry while Michael's leg healed up a bit. We got up early one morning and rode our little motorbike as far as we could, then hiked to a remote beach to check it out. It was by far the hottest hike I've ever done even though we were back before 11am, but so worth it! The beach was beautiful and different from all the rest. Michael was able to break open a coconut on our way back after trying many times before with no success. We may turn in the video for America's Funniest, but it sure tasted good!

On Sunday, our last day, we got a waterproof dressing put on Michael's leg so we could snorkel, snorkel, snorkel! There is so much bacteria in the warm sea water that infections happen all the time. After my little incident we don't take the word 'infection' too lightly!! We had decided not to do the scuba diving course (or skin diving as they call it here), so were very excited to get to the snorkeling. We rented a taxi boat for the day with a French family and snorkeled in about 5 locations all around the island. All in all the color under water wasn't spectacular, but we saw loads of fish (maybe even a barracuda?), surreal isolated beaches, and had an all-around great day on the water.

I think if we had known we would have an extra day we may have traveled to some of the other islands, but we aren't disappointed with the relaxing week checking out just about the whole island of Koh Tao. We were so lucky with great weather, especially since it is technically the monsoon season there.

All in all Thailand has been such a great experience. As we sat on the porch of our little bungalow in Koh Tao, we made a list of a few things we will and will not miss about Thailand:

Will Miss - Thai people - Thai food - Cheap living - Free movies while eating dinner

Won't Miss - Thai bathrooms - Bangkok!

Thailand has boosted our travel skills, been an introduction to a culture so different from our own, a beautiful place abounding with history and religion, and an absolute joy meeting such warm, accommodating people.