Unsuspectingly,
we boarded the boat heading from Koh Phangan to Koh Tao, meanwhile
thinking, "Gosh its busy today. Aren't there a lot of people on this
boat?" The entire deck, front to back, side to side was packed, not to
even mention inside, where the people were actually supposed to go, was full
as well. There was a VIP lounge on the upper deck, which was air
conditioned inside and only cost $1.00 more to sit in. We had scored,
since there were actually a few seats left. But the people kept piling
on, and squishing in. The maximum capacity of the boat was probably
tripled by the time the boat took off for Koh Tao, but these people do
this every day, right? So they must know what they're doing...... For
the first half hour everything seemed fine, but once we hit the wide
open choppy water, things took a drastic turn. The boat started rocking
from side to side, and with every rock, it would sway further and
further onto its side. This is when people started to scream. People
started panicking (including me) and getting out of their seats to go
out onto the crowded deck. Crew members started yelling at people to
sit down, then a few of them started looking panicked as well. Forget
buses, dirt bikes, and planes, this time I was actually convinced we
were going to die. I have never been so scared in my entire life, and
that's the truth. For two hours the boat swayed back and forth, almost
ending up on its side. Ian was trying to calm me down, telling me we'd
be fine, and that there was no way we would flip. When eventually he
started giving me instructions on what to do if the boat flipped, I
started really freaking out. That's when I made my way out onto the
overcrowded deck, followed by Brent, to wait out the rest of our
sentance on the Death Boat, white knuckled and pondering our own
existence, or soon to be lack there of. Okay, so you can already guess
we made it, miraculously. I know, I'm shocked as well. For about two
hours after we landed I was still shaking. NEVER AGAIN! Now how was I
going to get OFF this island?
Ian and Brent went off to find our
accommodations, while I stayed with the bags. Eventually a man on a
motorbike came to pick me up, with the rest of the bags. Far too many
to be holding on a motorbike, but then again, these are the people who
load a family of six, a dog, a fridge and a stove all onto one little
bike, so who am I to complain? We eventually made it and Ian and I
signed up for a four day Scuba Diving course. The next eight days on
the island were amazing. Ian and I excelled at the scuba diving, # 1
and #2 in our class, ahem, thank you very much! We were up early every
morning and didn't come back until late afternoon every day. The
training was like a full time job. We loved every second of it though,
and cannot wait to do it again. Seriously, we were born to dive.
Meanwhile,
Brent was partying and making friends galore. We celebrated his
birthday with a dinner on the beach and a pancake with candles in it.
Classic. After extending our stay far beyond when we were originally
supposed to leave, with claws dug into the sand, we dragged ourselves
away to the pier once again. This time we opted for a catamaran,
although it cost much more than the Death Boat. Like I said, NEVER
AGAIN. We made it back to shore and started our loooooong journey back
up to Bangkok. Our trip was slowly coming to an end. *Sniff, Sniff*
