Old friends, new acquaintances and oh so many cocktails

Mon 6th Jan 2014  

Koh Samui had been a lovely Ibizaesque haven, but we kissed it goodbye and headed for Koh Tao, where we hoped prices would plummet and beaches would offer quiet little coves and clear waters.  

We hadn't checked ferry times, piers, or crossing schedules but simply taken a taxi to Big Buddha Pier on a hope and a prayer. There was a boat, the last boat of the day, leaving in 30 minutes! Lady luck was on our side.  

A Thai woman approached us and asked, "Koh Tao?" We both thought we'd been mistaken as part of a pre-booked group and smiled, thinking we'd managed to sneak on for free... until she directed us towards the ticket booth.  

600 baht (£12) each! What a killer.  

Bring back India and its 60p travel prices!!  

With no other choice, we sucked it up and paid the premium. The boat was full of party seekers, and we grew a little concerned about finding accommodation.  

We'd been warned the island was fully booked with people escaping Koh Phangan and their hangovers from NYE full moon parties, so we called a few places to try and make a reservation. Calls went unanswered. We'd have to risk it.  

The boat picked up more people at Phangan. It would be tough, but we'd find somewhere, surely??  

The boat docked at Mae Had, and we were quick to grab a cab and haggle the price down. We loaded on our bags and thought we'd beat the rush... until the taxi stopped, did a loop, and picked up another backpacker. All of the other taxis whizzed off full of people ready to book up cheap digs.  

We knew we were fucked...  

At Sariee, we were dropped in town and pointed in the direction of the beach. Backpacks weighing us down in the midday sun, we started traipsing the shore.  

"Hello, mate," followed by some embracing.  

"Joe, this is Suzie," Jamie said.  

Joe Ryan, Jamie's mate from parties in the UK, was here on Koh Tao. Joe introduced us to his lovely travelling gang, who offered to keep our packs whilst we hunted for a room.  

That made the mission much easier, but guesthouse after guesthouse sported homemade signs confirming "no rooms" or "hotel full." The few places with space were charging £50 plus a night.  

Down the main strip, we heard someone call out, "Hey, are you Millsie's mates?"  

The lovely Elliot Mills had been super helpful by putting us in contact with his pals who were celebrating NYE on the islands. Bach had Facebooked, letting us know he would be on Koh Tao and arranged to meet us that night for a drink... but here he was ahead of schedule with Jethro.  

They kindly offered us a room at their place, but it was on the other side of the island, and Jamie wasn't keen on scooting the infamous death roads. Paying for cabs would blow our budget, so we begrudgingly kept looking. We had a backup, though, which was brilliant news.  

We walked about for hours before giving up and heading to the beach to find Joe and start getting drunk.  

A couple of Long Island iced teas later, and every care in the world was long gone. We sat on the beach, slurping down more and more cocktails, watching the sun set and Al attempting cartwheels in the shallows.  

This is where the night started to get messy...  

We headed to Joe and Al's room to spruce up. A few outfit changes later, and the boys were ready to go.  

We'd picked up a rather talkative chap called Jon on the beach, who plied us with 7-Eleven bought beers for most of the night. A dirty pad Thai snack was enough to line the stomach, for a few hours at least.  

We left the guys briefly to go and see Bach and Jethro at the Diza bar. They were deep into a game of pool, so we had a quick chat and left them to it.  

On the beach at Fizz, our full day's travelling started to catch up with us, and we opted to keep the sleepiness at bay with an M150 caffeine-infused bucket of whiskey and lemo. This did the trick, and we were promptly inebriated.  

Not too long in, Jamie opted for a standard tactical chunder after a wobbly walk to the loo, whilst I persevered and tried my hardest to stay in the party zone.  

We lasted long enough to see bromance blossom as Al and Joe bought and exchanged anklets. #toocuteguys  

Al could see our weariness and had offered up the key to their pad, but we made it to the next bar for one more drink (water) before we bailed.  

Having nowhere to stay, we took the bed happily and would get on our yoga mats if and when they returned.  

When the door creaked, we jumped up and headed to the floor, only to be greeted by a rather drunk Dave, who chucked 10,000 baht on the table and left. Jamie called out, saying he'd keep it safe in his backpack and locked it away till the next morning.  

When Joe and Al returned, we were in a deeper sleep and were too slow to get to the floor. We were quickly told to stay put by two lovely yet very drunk absolute gents.  

We insisted that we couldn't take their bed, but chivalry won. We snuggled up and tried to convince them that there was loads of room, but Al and Joe insisted on taking the floor.  

This pair of absolute heroes saved our skin. We've banked a big favour for you guys—cash it in whenever needed.

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