We arrived in Ko Tao early this morning after an overnight ferry from Surat Thani and a wild bus ride that began in Karon where we had been staying. I say wild because the bus (mini-van) was late and only had us down as 1 passenger, and only had room for one more person and their luggage. We crammed everything in and drove to Phuket Town while the driven made phone calls along the way. He then dropped us off at a little cell phone shop and told us to wait there.

About a half hour later, another mini-van pulled up and we got in and headed for Surat Thani at around 150 Km/hr. The driver was fearless, or just crazy. We were in no rush since the ferry didn't leave until 11:00 and it was only around 3:30. The drive was only a few hours, but he was acting like there was a pregnant woman about to give birth in the back seat.

We arrived in Surat Thani at a little hole in the wall cafe and were told to wait there. We spotted all the folks who were in the original van. Seems they were catching a 7:30 bus to Bangkok. We think our driver may have wanted to get us there in time for that. Who knows.

Around 8:00 we were ushered into yet another mini-van and hauled down to the pier where we were given a pair of tickets and shown a ferry that looked a bit like a box on water. We went inside to drop off our packs and at first it looked like it was a freight boat, but then we saw the upper deck. This was interesting! It was a room about 15' wide and 75' long. There were mattresses lining both sides of the room with an aisle down the middle. Each mattress was numbered. They were maybe 18" wide and about 3" think. This was our 'space' for the trip. We decided to go have some dinner before getting on board for the night.

We found an Italian restaurant and had some great pasta and then walked around for a bit before getting on the boat. As soon as we boarded, both of us put in ear-plugs, and I was asleep before the boat left the dock. I woke up around 6:00 am just as the boat was pulling into port. Not bad! I don't think Val slept quite as well as I did since she has been napping all day since we got here.

I have already scheduled some diving tomorrow, and I am going to see one of the dive operators about a teaching position tomorrow afternoon. We have been discussing a possible plan change to allow this. If it looks promising, I'll follow up with another update in a day or so.

That's about it for now. Don't forget when you travel, ear-plugs can be your best friend:)

Eric and Val