We have fallen in love

With Koh Kood.  Today I followed a leopard fish for 15 minutes, I was surrounded by a bluey silver stripey school keen to stay close to me.  The coral is a work of art, so many different shapes and colours.  I could study it for hours.  I did study some for an hour or so yesterday and unfortunately forgot one of the rules of snorkelling – sun cream on all areas.  My bottom is extremely red and uncomfortable today.  Ouch.

I decided not to scuba because I have a fear of going deep under the water.  I managed to do it in an Oxford swimming pool but once in the ocean I feel more comfortable, relaxed and free swimming on the surface with no equipment.  Maybe I will come round to it by the end of our trip as it is a total delight to see Kelty and Taran’s faces as they emerge from their dives.  Taran says he now wants to be a scuba diving vet.  (There is no vet on this island but we have never seen so many dogs – definitely there is a gap in the market)

Make that a scuba diving, ‘daredevil’ vet – as Taran followed by Kelty jumped from an extremely high rock into a waterfall pool today.   Again, and again, and again – I filmed with my eyes closed while the fish cleaned my feet.

Dinner was cooked by supposedly the best chef on the island and her husband King Seafood, who lives in the fishing village by our guesthouse.  It is a very picturesque pattern of wooden walkways which winds itself by the inlet from the sea with ramshackle houses on stilts lining the sides.  This is a part which hasn’t been ruined by tourism and only locals still live here.  Except for Pete from Sheffield and his Thai wife Fon.  Pete runs a scuba diving academy which has a contract with the fanciest hotel on the island.  He told us that last week he took a Saudi Arabian Prince and Princess out for a dive.  To be allowed to live here he had to stand up for 3 hrs in front of the locals explaining why he wanted to live here.  It sounded a bit like The Voice as they voted while he was speaking and he eventually ended up with 98%.  He knows who the 2% is – he lives across the way.  Anyway, it was Pete who recommended King Seafood who cooked us a huge white snapper in black bean and garlic sauce.  It was massive and not the best food on the island but they were charming and, as described by Pete, the Thai version of Manuel from Fawlty Towers.  Taran loved their three tiny kittens too.