A Beach Birthday

If someone had told me at my 21st party last year that I would be spending my next birthday on a secluded tropical island off Thailand, I would have said ...... hell ye bring it on!! I have no intention of freezing my ninnies off unnecessarily.

Turns out, not a bad aul choice to spend my 22nd birthday. I started the day off with a nice western breakfast, and then my travelling buddy Helena gave me a lovely birthday present, and I headed down to sit on a beach for a few hours and attempt to get a bit of a tan. If I go home to Ireland looking like a milk bottle after 9 months in Asia I will never live it down.

At about lunch time, we decided to visit the emerald cave which the island is famous for. We could have done the tourist thing and took part in a boat trip costing 600 baht each (15 euro), but no. We decided it would be smart to hire a two person kayak for a sixth of the price each and head off in search of the cave ourselves. We were barely out of the cove when we were puffing and complaining about the pain in our shoulders. Turns out sitting at a table teaching kids for 6 months doesnt do much for your fitness levels. But regardless, we powered on, and about half an hour and a good mid ocean rendition of 'Happy Birthday' later, we arrived at the emerald cave. We negotiated with a boat captain to tie our kayak to his mooring line, and we grabbed the snorkels and hopped out. Below the surface we were met with stunning coral and thousands of fish. Inwardly thanking my mother for her years of forcing me to go to swimming lessons, we made our way into the cave, only to find a slight concern .... its dark in caves. Why we didnt think of this before hand I dont know, but we found ourselves latching onto a family and their guide, who were swimming through the pitch black cave with nothing but a little torch that was flickering scarily, while the guide said 'this way, swim swim, swim swim'. Five minutes of pitch black swimming later, we found ourselves in the most stunning location. The cave led out to a pool of water surrounded by sheer rock. Basically it looked like you were at the bottom of a massive well in the cliff. Its sooo hard to explain!  Here are a few pics of google images (I was NOT bringing my Canon in the kayak)

So, after marvelling at this amazing natural beauty, we followed the guide and his flickery light back through the cave and into the emerald exit back to the ocean. Again, we were wowed. The light from the water bounced off the roof, making the emerald green colour of the rocks glow, and in turn it made the water look a bright emerald green. Again, when we looked below, the green coral and all the tropical fish blew our minds.After having our fill of amazement, we made our way back to our kayak, only to encounter a little problem. We had a bit of trouble getting back onto the double kayak. But not to fear, friendly Thai boatmen were there to help. They pulled our kayak to the edge of their boat, and we climbed on board and from the edge of the boat threw our bums onto the kayak, all to the great amusement of the Thai holiday goers aboard. A few fits and giggles and a lot of puffing later, we landed back on our beach and handed back our kayaks, vowing to always remember to be a typical tourist and go with the boat trip. 

We finished off the night with a pizza, chips, and a fair amount of wine and girly conversation on the beach.

Best birthday I have ever had. 

Sawatdiikha.