Scuba Diving

Yesterday I completed my Advanced Open Water certification. I went on a night dive last night, my first, which was an amazing experience. The only thing one can see is that which is lit by a narrow flashlight beam. Look to either side and one sees only complete blackness.

Earlier in the day I did two dives with an underwater camera. Some of the photos I took follow.

Today I'm doing a Emergency First Response course (Primary and Secondary Care, i.e. CPR and First Aid) and tomorrow I'll start my Rescue Diver course.

Indecision

I find myself tonight on my way back to Ko Phi Phi. How this happened, I'm still not entirely sure. Yesterday I was on Ko Phangan on the other side of the Thai peninsula and convinced that I would go to Ko Tao, slightly north of Ko Phangan, to do some scuba diving. This was despite very mixed reviews of the diving here including claims that the visibility was far inferior to Phi Phi and the dive schools run on a mass, impersonal, package tourism scale. This morning, however, I awoke with the certainty that I would go to Bangkok and from there onto Chang Mai in the north of Thailand. I went out and bought a ferry ticket to Surattani and a bus ticket from there to Bangkok. At some stage on the ferry to the mainland, though, I suddenly realised I was not yet ready to leave the south. I wanted to do some more scuba diving and, if I went north now, I did not know when I would be back, as it would make sense to go into Laos from northern Thailand, and from there into Cambodia. So, upon disembarking from the ferry, I bought a new bus ticket to Krabi, on the other side of the Thai peninsula. Which is where I now find myself. Tomorrow I'm taking an early ferry back to Ko Phi Phi. I've always been indecisive and unable to make decisions, but this is becoming chronic in my travels. Then again, it's nice to have the freedom for indecision.

Full Moon

Two days ago I finally left Phi Phi and made my way to Ko Phangan in the Gulf of Thailand. I caught a 9am ferry from Phi Phi which took me to Krabi on the mainland. A minibus then took me across the Thai peninsula to Surattani. On the way, however, we entered a tropical storm. It rained and did not stop raining. From Surattani a ferry took me over rough seas to Ko Phangan.

When I finally arrive on Ko Phangan and took a pickup-truck-taxi to Haat Rin, it was quite late. My bag, which had spent much of the journey outside (for instance, on the roof of the minibus across the peninsula) was soaked, as was much of its contents. Valuables luckily were stored in waterproof bags (those which Chris ridiculed).

When I arrived at the beach at Haat Rin, all accommodation was fully booked, as I knew it would be. The Full Moon Party was the following night (last night) and much of the accommodation at Haat Rin and the surrounding areas fills up several days in advance. In my taxi from the ferry to Haat Rin were several travelers with no accommodation bookings. I suspect they were still wandering the streets in search of a place to stay late into the night.

I also had no booking. I did, however, have a vague promise from Lauren (Canadian) and Ella (English) who I had met briefly on Ko Phi Phi that I could stay on their floor. (Lauren I had originally met in Hanoi, although I ran into her quite by chance on Phi Phi). I found where they were staying and, indeed, spent the night on their floor.

Last night was the Full Moon Party, certainly one of the more overrated attractions in Thailand. The beach, several hundred metres long, fills up with throngs of partygoers (in the tens of thousands some months) gyrating to bad dance music and getting pathetically drunk on the horrendous tasting Thai 'buckets'. Nonetheless, as a spectacle the party is fascinating. I lost Lauren and Ella at some stage during the night, but ran into some Australian girls who I met on Phi Phi and spent the rest of the night with them. (Because the Full Moon Party is quite popular and many travelers in the region make their way here for it, one inevitably sees many familiar faces. In the course of the night I saw at least ten individuals who I had previously met in either Vietnam or Thailand). I watched the sun rise, had a relaxing breakfast, and finally made it to my bed on the floor at 10am this morning for a few hours sleep.

Ko Phi Phi

I've spent the last week on Ko Phi Phi. On our second day here, Jon and I discovered, directly across from our guesthouse, a tiny bar owned and run by Tiki, a charming Thai woman. We've since spent a large proportion of our time here.

Aside from going scuba diving, I've spent much of my time relaxing and meeting other visitors to the island. A few days ago we decided, with a group of new friends, to hike across the island to a remote beach, Rantee Beach. We set out with Tiki, Ruben (from the Netherlands), Synnøve (from Norway), and Lotta and Siv (from Denmark). There are a few bungalows on the beach and one bar/restaurant owned by a Welshman, Sam. In the evening Tiki, Jon, Synnøve, and I decided to stay the night (despite having nothing but the swimming trunks we were wearing). We spent the night on the beach and the following day, having decided to spend another night at Rantee, headed back to Ton Sai (the main town on the island) to get our bags and check out of our guesthouse there. We did so, loaded the bags onto a boat, but then decided to stay in town a for a couple drinks and walk back over the island. By the time we ended up leaving it was too dark to walk, and we couldn't get a boat as the tide was out, making navigating the reef near Rantee dangerous in the dark. With no room and our bags now in Rantee, the five of us spent the night on the floor of Tiki's bar. The next day we finally made it back to Rantee for another night on the sand.

Jon left for Bangkok this morning, while I'm going to stay in Ton Sai for another couple nights. While Ton Sai itself is a bit crowded with tourists and guesthouses, the island is nonetheless stunningly beautiful.

Phuket to Ko Phi Phi

Traveled from Bangkok to Phuket, Thailand's largest island. I spent a night in Phuket Town before moving, on Eoghan's suggestion, to the Shanti Lodge further south on the island. The lodge was an oasis on an otherwise overly developed island. I spent one day scuba diving--three dives including one wreck dive (the Kingcrusier which went down in the mid 90s between Phuket and Ko Phi Phi). I saw a beautiful blue spotted stingray on one dive and a turtle on another, along with a stunning array of tropical fish of all sizes.

Jon, from Wales, whom I met in Hanoi, joined me in Phuket a few days ago. We spent a day on motorcycles going guitar shopping (I bought one) and the following day we took the ferry to Ko Phi Phi. We've been here two nights. Today I went diving again--two dives this time. On the second dive I saw a huge turtle which we followed for a while as it swam and ate.