Turtle Island + terrible weather = :(

We left Bangkok and headed for Koh Tao or Turtle Island...one of three island paradises we will be exploring over our remaining few weeks in Thailand. Leaving Bangkok was a bit sad, as we had spent so much time there recovering from Dengue Fever and racing to cram all the site seeing in during our remaining 2 days. We saw a giant Buddha and 1 million temples and just walked around, as the 8th and 9th day of Dengue Fever still leaves one feeling weak. We did manage to end up in Bangkok on some random Buddhist holiday in which every single temple and Buddhist tourist attraction offered free entry so that was cool, but there was also a "Red Shirts" anti-government rally, that was actually quite peaceful, but some journalist said to watch out for bombings...what a dick. I think he was just hyped up on the moment. Everyone was wearing red shirts and telling us all about the protest and it was all very interesting, but we carried on with our site seeing. Down the street from the rally was the something called a Giant Swing and we were very excited to see this apparatus and maybe swing on it, but much to our disappointment it was just a huge red rectangular pole thing. So, packed up our stuff, sent a package back to England and met about 50 other people travelling via coach to the jetty and then off to the various islands. We said our goodbyes to the most stimulating road on the world, Khao San Road, with all the lights, shops, tiny huts serving food, bars, clubs, happy hours, random lit sticks that they catapult into the air like a rubber band and watch them spin around to the ground and goodbye to the frog ladies that walk around in very ornate outfits with beaded necklaces hanging from each arm and hobo bags draped around their shoulders carrying these strange wooden objects in the shape of frogs with ridged backs that make a croaking sound as you rub a wooden stick up them...very annoying, but part of the Khao San Road experience, as were the smells...like wet dog and sewage mixed with sweet fruit and fresh urine. The coach trip was not that bad, but very uncomfortable as per the usual. It was an overnight trek for about 12 hours with one break, but they did have a toilet on board that we did not use due to the smell. There were some young parents with a 3 year old boy and a 9 month old baby boy enduring the journey. They were very strange, as they played toss the baby to each other during the break and enjoyed the stares and commentary that followed from this activity. We found it very attention seeking and went straight into Social Services mode, as the father them swung the baby around by his arms and tossed him back and forth to his mother all near benches and just many objects that could cause harm. We could hear others making comments about tossing a baby and how much fun it is to cause brain damage and shoulder injuries...very weird. Then we arrived at the jetty about 3 hours before the boat actually takes you to the island so why not just leave Bangkok a few hours later you might ask...well we all asked that question and there is no answer...you just leave early and sit and wait for 3 hours to take the coldest boat ride ever to the islands. We got to Koh Tao at about 10am and it was dreary and rainy. but we thought it would blow over and the sun would come beaming out soon enough. Well, it would appear that it is actually rainy season, but only on the Eastern part of Thailand and not the Western part of Thailand, of course, as we will be island hoping along the east of the islands...what are the chances I ask you!? Well, this is Mel and Al so the chances are quite high. We refuse to let it get us down so we settled for a room by the beach, but moved the next day after finding a cheaper room with better television channels and a fridge. We have rented a scooter and the near death experiences we have had on said scooter have topped the charts on this island, as the roads are not that paved and there are so many sever uphill and downhill pathways to and from various beaches and views that we actually had to park and walk or I would just get off and walk and meet Alex further up or down the hills. We have seen so many people crash and just have eyes of terror when trying to navigate around this island so we opted to only rent a scooter for 2 days and then hoof it elsewhere. There are a lot of activities to do on the island if you are interested such as rock climbing, scuba diving, snorkeling, Muay Thai, quad biking, yoga, cooking classes...you just have to be interested and ready to spend the money. We have decided to do a scuba diving course for 4 days on either Kho Phangan or Kho Samui (whichever is cheaper) to learn how to dive and see some underwater creatures...very excited and a bit nervous about this activity. Unfortunately, the weather is total shit and they won't let you dive in certain weather formations and snorkeling is quite impossible when it is raining and stormy so we have been eating and exploring the various areas where people stay and shop. There are a lot of dogs and cats here so we have purchased some doggy biscuits and go around making the dogs love us and manipulating them to come and hang out with us...it is great. We are trying to find a dive school, but there are so many and we just don't know which one to choose. Once we settle on one, we will begin our 4 day course and be scuba certified in no time. Tonight we are going to see a lady boy cabaret show, which we missed that night in Bangkok, as we were just too tired. Cannot wait to see this and blog about our experience...