From Koh Tao (2)

Hello friends! Happy new year!

We write you from Koh Tao, Thailand, where we have spent the last two weeks being scuba / beach bums and gathering our energies for our upcoming adventures. We have had an incredible time here and feel that we are leaving just as we are becoming locals-- we know how to dodge the speeding mopeds, how to ask for no MSG in our food in Thai ("mai aow ponk churog"), the names of our favorite waiters, and which part of the beach is optimal for laying out to maximize sun exposure and minimize tourist noise. We have reached Thai beach bum nirvana.

Definitely, the highlight of our time in Koh Tao was learning how to scuba dive and doing our certification through the Advanced Open Water PADI level. Part of this incredible adventure included doing a night dive, which was thoroughly frightening initially. Jumping off the boat into a black abyss, not being able to see predators? 'No, thank you,' we thought. Night diving turned out to be "absolutely brilliant," as our British classmates liked to say. With our flashlights turned off at the bottom of the sea, we were able to see neon blue phytoplankton, hunting barracudas, sleeping sea turtles (Koh Tao means "Turtle Island"), crabs, and moray eels. It was so silent under the sea, and we felt completely peaceful as we weightlessly floated in the dark.

Koh Tao is an international scuba certification hub. According to several people we met, our school (Ban's Diving) is the number one scuba school in the world in terms of yearly new- diver certifications. Other than scuba diving and snorkeling, which are the main focus of Koh Tao, visitors are able to relax in one of the many low-key, charming restaurants and cafes on the island. We spent Christmas and New Year celebrating in these restaurants and bars on the beach. The scene was low-key but festive, with candles placed in holes in the sand, floating lanterns being released into the sky, terrific lounge music in the background, and intense alcoholic concoctions being imbibed (including "buckets", which are mixtures of a concentrated Red Bull, soda, and spirits literally drunk out of a bucket and designed to keep you up all night). Most of the really intense parties happen in Koh Tao's crazy neighbor, Koh Phagnan, so the scene in Koh Tao tends to be a bit more relaxed than one might expect. Click here for pictures of our adventures.

Tomorrow we leave for Bangkok via a combination of boat and bus. Because of a storm in Indonesia, apparently the waves are expected to be huge, so we will be drugged with Dramamine for the journey. After a few days in Bangkok, we will head north for Chiang Mai. We miss you all and will write you more soon!