At the time, this was just a funny comment from a spoiled kid. We just smiled, sipped our Lao Lao and continued warming ourselves by the fire. Then, last night at the full moon party on Koh Phangan, I realized that he may have had a point. Most of the people we've met while traveling in Southeast Asia have been in their early twenties, and last night's party felt more like their bag than ours. I had a great time, might even do it again, but if I could have dialed down the "spring break 2008" factor, I probably would have. More on how travel has made me feel my age another time.

Sadly, my favorite part of the night was the boat ride from Koh Tao to Koh Phagnan which makes me sound like an early retiree. The sun had just set and the view of Koh Tao was stunning.

On the island, the scene was what you'd expect: An enormous party in the sand with about 20,000 people, most between the ages of 17 and 21, behaving like... well... people between the ages of 17 and 21. The DJs were pretty good, the buckets of (???) were drinkable-ish, and we met some great characters (who didn't ask our age) to party with. The night closed with people shagging in the water while savage party goers pissed in their direction from the shore. Ah to be young.

The morning after had us arriving back in Koh Tao at 6:30, wrecked more from exhaustion than anything else and then crashing into bed. C has what seems like a nasty cold which means I'm going to go dive on my own tomorrow, sleep in this hammock today and then we'll put this all behind us and start diving together the day after that. Very civilized. Very grown up. -ish.

Nos ha llevado el amiguete Lwan en un " long tail boat", o sea, barco un tanto cutre con motor...tipo barquita de pesca  que encuentras por ahi tirados en las playas de la costa brava, pero con un motor al descubierto de quita y pon. Bueno, yo iba con una danesa, Jette, porque lo que estaba claro es que no me iba a meter ahi yo sola!

Los tiburones, que todo hay que decirlo no eran como el de la peli "Jaws", han aparecido de repente, CUATRO a la vez en nuestra direccion!! Yo me he hecho la muerta, o sea, ni he pestanyeado, claro que mi cuerpo tampoco respondia a esas alturas...Solo pensaba en que quizas al ser yo tan blanca no serian capaces de verme...pero mi bikini era rojo (gran fallo).

Han pasado por nuestro lado, tres a la derecha y uno a la izquierda.  Al pasar, he reaccionado, y me he puesto en posicion de perseguirlos a nado...sere idiota! Cuando consigo darme la vuelta, ya estaban a anyos luz de mi. No se en que estaba pensando, la verdad! El intento de persecucion hizo que Lwan me echara una pequenya bronca por atosigarlos!  Esta claro, que este hombre no me conoce...atosigar yo a un tiburon? Lo que faltaba.

Despues de esta primera experiencia, nos hemos envalentonado y nos hemos quedado en la zona, a ver si volvian a aparecer. Premio! Alli estaba uno de ellos de nuevo. Esta vez ha pasado perpendicular y a paso pollo, o sea, tranquilito, y he podido verlo en todo su detalle. No era muy grande. Quizas un metro y medio. Muy majo (pero que ni se me acerque).

El dia de snorkel ha acabado en el "japanese garden", que asi se llama el arrecife de coral al lado de la isla de Koh Nang Yuan. Esta isla en realidad es un conjunto de dos y se puede pasar de una a otra por un trozo de arena que queda al descubierto cuando la marea esta baja. Eso si, te cobran por entrar.

Despues de un dia agotador, se supone que iba a jugar al futbol con unos tailandeses, pero como que no puc. Igual manyana me lo planteo. Tengo que ver una tortuga todavia, como sea! No me ire hasta que lo consiga! Ahora tengo que celebrar mi triunfo ante los peces en el dia de de hoy, por supuesto con una Beer Chang!

Sitting at that our favorite place in Bangkok again, and indulging heavily in the luxuries of civilization. A decision has been made that we're no longer "traveling" but on a three-week "vacation" before moving to Singapore. We're off to the Islands on Friday for the Full Moon party on Koh Pha Ngan followed by a week of diving off of Koh Tao. Between now and then, we have dinner plans with C's family friend, hopes of making a Muay Thai fight, a queen's birthday celebration, a catch up with a Belgian, and best intentions of picking up my camera again as the flickr stream (see right) is getting a pretty tired.

Me hice con un equipo de snorkel y gracias a "Lwan", al que veis en la foto,me llevaba por distintos puntos de la isla para hacer snorkel. He de decir a mi favor que he mejorado! Por lo menos ya no salgo del agua hiperventilando!! Hasta consigo hablar con algunos peces. El coral, ni tocarlo, por supuesto! Mira que hay peces feos, que horror!
Eso si, me he quemado parte del culo....que como es posible? pues debe ser lo que flota cuando uno hace snorkel...el caso es que no me puedo ni sentar! Sigo haciendo salidas de snorkel...de hecho ayer, me fui nadando de playa en playa un buen trozo de la isla. Aqui lo malo fue la vuelta, porque no llevaba dinero ni toalla ni chanclas ni nada de nada...asi que a hacer autostop en bikini! No iba a volver a nado, como comprendereis!
El resto de mi vida aqui en la isla es muy tranquila...leyendo (estoy leyendo "Papillon"...gran libro) y comiendo frutas tropicales. Vale, suena como que estoy de vacaciones...lo confieso...pero no, todavia no, todavia no!

Manyana voy a ver tiburones...bueno, no se..hay una isla llamada "Shark Island" y me van a llevar... yo ya vere si me meto en el agua alli o no. Seguro que solo es el nombre de la isla..o los "tiburones" son enanos..ya lo veremos. Deseadme suerte! Por si acaso, me llevo la bolsa de plastico para la hiperventilacion...

Danonino tambien se apunta a esto del snorkel...no tiene los mismos problemas que yo...para el el resultado es Danonino 3 Peces 0. Menos mal que alguien saca de apuros a este equipo!

"I'll tell everyone not to come here!"
A moment later, the angry voice hobbled out of the shop. It was our Israeli negotiator who appeared to be on the same route as us.
He approached us with a look of dejection, a broken spirit, a belief that every local was out to ruin his trip, and eyes pleading for help.
"I was wondering if you guys could help." He looked about to cry. "I'm trying to find a place to make a local call and nobody wants to help me. I hate this place."
We suggested that maybe absence of telephone lines would suggest local calls really are expensive in Laos. Meanwhile, the people from the shop stepped out to point their new enemy out to the neighboring businesses. One walked past and shook an angry fist at the lot of us.  Now marked with his bad reputation, we were happy to be leaving town for Bangkok today.
"Try Skype?" C said trying not to sound as desperate to get away as she was, "Gotta run to breakfast. Good luck!" And with that, we were off.
Viang Vieng was been fantastic.  Sure it's full of gap year kids partying their asses off and high out of their minds.  But it's also gorgeous. Spent yesterday floating down the river in an inner tube, looking up at misty cliffs and swinging into the water from trees.
We're heading to Bangkok now to spend a few days at our favorite little hostel before heading to Koh Tao for the full moon party and five days of diving with these guys. What better way to wind down an adventure?

anyway... guess who's here in thailand!? mr. chris smyth and his chum, zach. bwah!? ryan and i met them at the airport today and hung out with them for a bit in kao san. they should be on their way to the island of koh tao right about now (they said they wanted to visit somewhere peaceful, and that is definitely the place). they get back on wednesday, and then they'll be staying with us for a night before they fly back to india. at lunch, i told chris, "do you realize this is the first time we've ever hung out, outside of school, and we're on the other side of the world?" so random. it was super good to see someone i knew... it made me feel like the world really isn't as big as it seems.

hmm... what else...

did i mention my birthday is approaching? i love birthdays. and if you're wondering what you should get me, i'd like some snow. many thanks in advance.

have a lovely sunday! let's meet here tomorrow, i'm certain i'll have more to say.

The most noxious and visible of the damage being done here, and of the inadequate wrongheadness done to accommodate the tourist crowds, can be smelled in the gutters than run with raw sewage, and seen in the big and stinking cesspits one not infrequently stumbles across.

A cesspit by one of the hotels being built to accomodate the booming tourist trade.

They are enough to make one consider swearing never to return, not because of their effects on oneself -- the environment's own system is large and strong enough to mitigate the immediate impacts on one's vacation (as in, you don't encounter poo and other waste in the sea) -- but to avoid contributing to the despoilage.

Already the turtles that were once Koh Tao's primary signature are gone, to other less impacted breeding grounds. And now, on most store windows, on bulletin boards, on T-shirts, in bar windows and on fliers posted around town, are signs urging the Saving of Koh Tao, the preserving of paradise, the taking of measures (such as refilling plastic water bottles) meant to forestall the degradation of this rock full of tropical jungle and crystal clear coral-filled bays.

Mango Bay, on the north tip of Koh Tao, has the most fabulous snorkeling, with massive schools of fish of every imaginable variety -- except for sharks, which we swam with at another bay, Ao Leuk -- in an extraordinary underwater world of coral reefs and boulders descending from the cliffside. Here KK and Langston play in the water about 60 feet from our front door.

Here's a sign of the times, seen through the spirit house on the project site, construction of a large guesthouse in the little town along Hat Sai Ree, the beach where we are staying in a bungalow just steps from the water.

This poster on a local coffee shop -- one often and coincidentally, I hope, empty of tourist trade -- seemed to capture some of the concern.

Click image to go to see alternate sizes.
Click here to see the rest of my Thailand underwater gallery.

Unfortunately for me, this photo was better in my memory than in real life. Taken in 2006 on a compact camera in bad visibility in Thailand. The other photos in the gallery from that time are much better but this alas is the only spiral I have...

See all the other photo Friday entries (and submit your own) for 'Spiral' here.

So Koh Tao was great, everything came together pretty well. In general I was diving every other day as quite a few of the days were fairly crap as regards to the weather. The dives were mostly great, a day trip out to Sail Rock which is essentially a big rock pinnacle sticking out of the water was cool, the best part about the site is that it has a 'chimney', essentially a long vertical swim through from around 4m down to 18m wide enough for 2 divers to go down side by side - lots of cool stuff to see. The visibility wasn't great on the day we were there but I sorted out my deep dive qualification on the first dive (30m) but unfortunately had a pressure build up in my sinuses on the second dive and had to come up after 10 minutes, I had only got down to 8m but the squeeze was not nice. There are only really 3 other dives worth describing in a bit more detail. The first of these was at Chumpon down at 30m, we sat on the floor and hung around for 2 minutes before about 6 sharks (oceanic black tips mostly, although there was one decent sized bull shark) came out of the murky water and started pottering around, very cool. Had to shallow up quite quickly due to being so deep for a relatively long period of time - my dive watch gave me 3 minutes until it went into deco as we were leaving. Second dive worth speaking about was the first night dive, first one I have done actually and a pretty good way to start I must say. It literally is pitch black down there apart from the torches which are pretty crappy. Trying to judge your depth and keep level without the aid of a computer or looking at console is actually pretty hard....I just followed the DM. But we did see a big Hawksbill turtle, hunting barracuda (one got a kill right in front of us....awesome sight) various nocturnal fish and if you turned the lights of and stirred up the plankton then they began to glow which was cool. Balance that dive with the second night dive the day after, we were all hanging on the line as somebody had problems with their ears. There were also 4 people who just finished their open water and were doing the first part of their advanced cause so they were a bit nervy. All of a sudden a guy drops down through us head first, cracks me on the head with his tank and turns around as if to say 'what you doing here?' tosser. About 12 people then dropped down causing absolute fucking chaos, no one had any idea who was who and where they were meant to be going. Only having one dive master for the advanced group plus me and a couple of other people wasn't great but it was the actions and attitude of the divers from one of the other schools that was a complete joke. Ruined the rest of the dive to be honest. But there you go, take the rough with the smooth and all that, it won't always be brilliant. The diving around Ko Tao is not as good as the other side of Thailand but the weather and conditions are better at this time of year, was a really nice place to chill out for a couple of weeks as well.

The island was quite busy when I arrived but then quietened down dramatically as at least 3/4 of the people went over to Koh Phannagn for the full moon party, those 3-4 days were the best ones I had on the island. There weren't so many motorbikes needlessly crowding the roads (seeing as most places are a 15 min walk at most), the dive sites were much quieter and the place seemed to have a better atmosphere. Contrast that to about 2 days after the full moon when the place was mobbed with people coming over from the party and the place almost turned into another version of the Koh San Road - pretty much everyone I had been spending my time with now decided it was time to leave Koh Tao.  Must be me getting old but why is it so difficult for people to put on a top or even a vest when they are in a bar?  As I have mentioned numerous time....people get some respect for the local culture!  Oh and while I am at it, driving an ATV (quad bike) on paved roads when you could walk in about 2 minutes does not make you look cool....in fact it makes you look like a cock.

The night before I was due to catch the boat/bus combination up to Bangkok turned into a rather big night. Originally we were going to the Muay Thai boxing but they wanted a stupid amount of money to get in so we went to the free ladyboy show instead, much more fun! A few slightly strange sights but the guy who did Frank Sinatra's "My Way" whilst changing from a woman into a man, scrubbing off make up, changing clothes etc was quality.   One of the guys in our group got dragged off back stage and came pack with lip marks all over his nipples, I got away with someone (he, she, mixture??) telling me they loved my eyes. Think we left there about 11-12 and then I stumbled home at something like 4.30am. I woke up the next morning an hour after the boat had left which also meant I would miss my flight to Chiang Mai from Bangkok that I booked. Stupid Thai Air Asia don't allow you to make any changes within 48 hours (what?!) so I had to write that off.  Lesson of the day kids is don't drink buckets of Sangsom the night before having to catch a 10am boat.  I did manage to complete my advanced diving course though after nearly a year so am now qualified to 30m depth and at least round here that's where the cool stuff is.

The journey back to bangkok was alright, bloody glad I missed the boat the day before actually.  Catamarans may be fast but they don't half bob up and down with the swell, there were lots of  extremely sick looking people knocking around!  8 hour bus journey after that which was ok, nice bus, tv etc.  I also updated my iPod with a couple of movies before I left Koh Tao.  If you get the chance to see it then go and see 'Lars and the Real Girl' absolutely bloody brilliant film.  Essentially it is about a lonely guy who can't talk to women who buys a true to life sex doll off the internet but has a delusion that she is real.  He does not use the doll for her intended purpose (doesn't even kiss her until the end) but instead treats her as a real person essentially using her to learn how to speak to girls and get over his insecurities.  The scene just before and just after the dolls funeral are some of the most moving bits of film I have seen in ages.

So I am back in Bangkok and have re-booked my flight to Chiang Mai for tomorrow afternoon.  Will sort out a cookery course for a few days, maybe do some trekking and then see where I go after that.  Looking into going into Burma for a 5 day tour.  It is a bit contrived and you don't get anywhere near the main parts of the country and it is meant to be 'like Thailand but different', would be interesting though I think.  Still thinking about going down into Laos or maybe I'll just get off the track around Northern Thailand, we shall see!

In terms of photos there isn't that much to put up.  I didn't hire an underwater camera whilst diving as it was about 20 quid a day and the visibility wasn't too hot sometimes.  The rest from Koh Tao are mostly of the beach and I haven't got many in Bangkok yet.  I'll take a look later and think about putting something up to give you an idea.

Will probably go and check out Patpong's night market later on or I might just skip out on that and go see Kung Fu Panda at the cinema....

xx

Caught a flight from Bangkok last Tuesday down to Koh Samui, very strange airport much more like a boutique hotel than somewhere that has a dozen flights land a day. A couple of hours on a boat and I docked in Koh Tao. Dive resort is pretty good, no beach bungalows which sucks but room is good enough and there is a nice beach bar which is a decent enough place to watch the sunset. Unfortunately I apparently bought the shit weather with me, day I landed everything clouded over and the sun has hardly been out since. Not much rain but the wind is playing havoc with the sea, coming back from the afternoon dives has been made more interesting by trying to avoid the heavy wooden table that has a habit of sliding around the deck trying its best to break someones leg!

Haven't dived the last two days. Didn't get to bed until 4am this morning so the idea of getting on a boat this afternoon with the swell as it is did not appeal to my already queasy stomach. Have a 7am start in the morning so having quiet night reading on the beach, not a bad alternative. The diving so far has been so-so. One site had some great swim throughs and caves to explore, the shafts of light coming down through the gaps in the rock were cool. Tomorrow should be better, going to the other side of the island out and into the sea a bit, more life out there apparently - some black tip sharks and other larger reef life.

Sorted out my last couple of dives to get my advanced certification and rewarded myself with a new scuba mask, was going to get some fins as well but they were pretty pricey for anything more than your standard rental models so will hold off on that for now. Also have a night dive course booked, something I meant to do in Malaysia but never got round to.

Not really a lot to say as you can tell from the rather labored and boring message above but once the weather clears I shall stick up another post with some pictures and what not.

Located in the Gulf of Thailand, Koh Samui, Koh Pha'Ngan and Koh Tao was paradise if you loved secluded beaches, bungalows that opened up onto the surf, and reefs that gave the Great Barrier in Australia a run for the money. Not a huge enthusiast for scuba diving (I have a very pronounced fear of great whites and being eaten by one...this has manifested itself in the past 10 years..but a story for another time).  These jungle oasis are not as popular as their brethren to the west (Krabi, Koh Phi Phi, Railay beach, etc) but were perfect for what I had in mind.

Touching down in a monsoon storm, I make my way up the jungle hillside to a shangri-la retreat called the Jungle Club. The french womand and thai man (owners who were great) need to work on their marketing as this name reminded me of some divvy beach bar in Cancun....but as I found out..this hotel was far from what the name implied to moi.

Tucked into the hillside and far away from the Chaweng Beach road and the tourist ghetto, this hotel offered serenity and tranquility for reading and writing. With a thatched bungalow to watch the geckos overhead, I hunkered down here for two days to wear out the storm.  The infinity pool the literally poured over the mountside into the cove hundreds of meters below was breathtaking. I spent a night out doors on a thai styled bed, having drinks with a couple from Cologne, Germany and two Austrians. We covered the gamut, from Obama/McCain, to China's evolution on the world stage, to the falling dollar.

Needless to say,  after two days of rain the size of bananna trees and lightening that lit up my bungalow during odd hours of the late night, I was ready for a sunburn. I decided to make my way to an even more remote outpost further up along the island chain.  I mean, here I was, in the jungle, with no A/C, no hot water, no roof (my thatched hut had a roof, but there was a gap on the sides to let the air pass through), i was sleeping in a mosquito net, yet my iPhone worked so I was able to update the world via Twitter!  Technology...ceases to amaze.

As we get to the top of the hill, we realise that we are the last two up the hill. The taxi (Ute) is completely full, back packs and luggage take up the bulk of the space in the back with its owners cramped up on the sides of the Ute. We cannot possibly fit; there must be another taxi. I am mistaken.

The Accountant and I are squeezed into the back of the Ute like dirty clothes into a bursting backpack. It’s only a ten-minute journey, we will be right. The Ute takes off with twelve people and their entire luggage squeezed hard into its front and back, it is heading for a very steep hill. The hill gets progressively steeper and more and more rocky. I cannot understand how we are getting up the hill, it is almost vertical. Large boulders on the water damaged road stick like stray teeth causing the Ute to jolt and jerk the Ute at their will. It feels like the Ute is going to tip, I have to use all my strength to keep from falling out the back; I hope the CEO is ok.

After my nerves and strength is tested to the max we make it to the top of the hill. The back part of the journey is on a sealed road. Everything is peachy.

Saa igaar afstes havde vi afskedsfest paa Koh Tao. Vi var til Queen Cabaret Show, som fordrer en hel blogg for sig selv at beskrive.. kommerciel kulturforvirring i proffessionel praecision. Endnu en gang fik jeg et kys af en mand. Det er saa 2. gang... hmm... Festede og tog afsked med Burmeserne. Det var specielt; kl 5 om morgenen begyndte de at lave mad til os. En meget aerlig og aedel gestus. Det var en ret smuk oplevelse. Vi sendte mange tanker til deres noedstedte land.

Skriver naar jeg er i Singapore

Apropo mad, saa var jeg med Emelie inde og spise paa en gourmetrestaurant der hedder Papas Tapas. Den drives af et par friske svenske kokke, som har besluttet sig for at lave god mad i godt vejr. Det var ekstremt! vi bestilte 10 smaa tapasretter. Asparges risotto, honingmarineret sparerib, raa tun med indbagt peber var nogle af hoejdepunkterne. En omgang der kostede 150dkk hver (inklusiv et godt glas vin og en kop 10aars Lefroaig whiskey ). Wow! Vi dansede forresten paa stranden hele natten derefter.

Mine foedder er ogsaa urolige! Jeg vil snart videre paa min rejse. Har besteget havets omvendte verden paa ned til 30 meter (ogsaa om natten). Det er spaendende, men som Carsten Jensen siger, saa foeles saadan nogle hobbier efter lidt tid, som "pseudolivtag med en forlaengst besejret natur".. Hvor jeg skal hen ved jeg ikke endnu. Ved ikke om jeg skal begraense mig af mine nuvaerende rejsekammaraters tryghed eller begraense mig gennem en enlig rejsendes ensomhed. Lige nu haelder jeg til det sidste, da jeg foeler mig aaben for nye eventyr.

Men det er ikke kun maven og foedderne der er urolig for tiden. Idag startede der et lille uvejr her paa min oenskeoeen. Paa dmi kan jeg se at hele oestasien er ramt af hvad man kan kalde en premenstruelmonsun (maerkeligt ord jeg lige fandt paa der).. Vores Burmesiske venner paa Easybar er meget oproerte over den orkan (Nargis), der ramte deres hjemland for nogle dage siden.. 20.000 doede og 41.000 savnet. Den vaerste i 17 aar, og 12. nogensinde. Puha... de har det ikke helt let i Burma. Men det er nogle positive mennesker! Skal maaske med til et bryllup nu.. 

Men hvad med mig? Vi ser hvad der sker i morgen. Det er der vist lidt for mange der taenker og strander her i maaneder og aar). Men ikke jeg. Vi ses paa den anden side!

Some of Thailands best snorkelling can be had in Koh Tao. Some snorkel tour operators bait the fish for a good show. Sometimes the fish show their appreciation by taking a little nip of the farangs (foreigners). These bites tend to be more startling than actually dangerous. Still, keep an eye out for trigger fish.

My hands down recommendation goes to the Coral View Resort. This dozen bungalow operation is run by John, an Aussie, and his Thai wife. If one waits for the touts to clear, one can usually spot John waiting for the mellow customer. The Coral View offers dive instruction, a quiet beach, easy access to fantastic snorkeling and a view of Shark Island. A short conversation with John is all one needs to get a discount on his already low prices, especially on extended stays. Please give my best to Honee, an exceptional girl amoung the normally industrious Thai people.

There are many ways to travel from Koh Tao to Bangkok.  If you used your imagination I am sure you could come up with a really unique way to get there. You could fly a balloon like Phillius Fog or ride a horse like Darren Beadman. Possessing no real imagination we chose to catch a high-speed catamaran, followed by a bus, plain old stinking bucket o’ pus.

 The catamaran was due to depart at the sophisticated hour of 10:00am. This gave us enough time to wash, eat breakfast and do some light reading before our journey. We arrived at the wharf at precisely 9:24 am to check in, this gave us half an hour to exchange tickets for a trip to Bangkok. As I have mentioned before, they love tickets here. I reckon seven tickets passed through my hands on the way to Bangkok. No shit. Now the high-speed catamaran is a strange beast. Transporting tourists, packed in rows like a log of Pringles (80 baht at the catamaran canteen), the catamaran speeds across the tropical waters like a jet ski on steroids. There are all sorts on this boat. Thai’s who you can recognise by their innate ability to push in front of any westerner, Americans, who’s sandals and thongs are a little on the chunky side, Canadians who talk with an amusing accent and sport that fucken red leaf on their backpacks, Geezers who are sunburnt, and Euros with their recently purchased cheap Thai jewellery and bad haircuts. As you have guessed tourist transport in Thailand is a melting pot of multi culturalism akin to Darling Harbour. I like this melting pot; I like everyone except for scuba divers. Nerds of the sea, plunking into the water with their clunky tanks and ridiculous lead weight belts, Stupid fucks, I can dive just as deep armed only with a snorkel and a pair of flippers. That’s only because I am exceptionally skilled in the art of diving deep. I get down low for respect. I get deep y’all. Word.

 So the obese Jet Ski with its pringle tourists ploughs through the water bouncing in a cumbersome manner over the deep blue sea. Everything is peachy, we are headed to Bangkok, the city of cheap sex and there is an air of optimism on the ship. That is until the air changes with the pungent smell of vomit. Like a large slap in the face I am struck with the smell of some poor bastards stomach lining. A few rows ahead of me a chunky sandaled lass is ridding her body of the mornings fruit shake into a troubled plastic bag. I cannot look, viewing this mess I would be forced to rid my own stomach contents of its club sandwich and freshly squeezed orange juice. I am forced to read my novel, ‘Trainspotting’ by Irvine Welsh, a novel as equally full of vomit and shit as the contents of Spew Girl’s plastic bag. It’s alright; we will be on a bus soon.

 As the boat pulls into the wharf we are all herded towards a set of buses. In exchange for tickets you are given more tickets. Eventually five large buses arrive to lug the perky travellers to Bangkok. The buses are equipped with televisions to keep the occupants calm. The first of several films that we are blessed with is the Hollywood classic ‘I-Robot’. This film stars the ever-versatile Will Smith, who tries to save the world from evil robots. The goofish Smith with not a cliché in sight beats the robots with skill wit and a dozen borish comments. I fucken hate Will Smith. Not as much as I hate Penelope Cruz though, she was in the next film playing the role of wild western bank robbing twins, how wonderful. Anyway one of the brains trust from the bus company decided that this shit boring film should be played at maximum volume. I could neither read my novel about the junk filled lives of Leith’s 20 somethings nor could I listen to the latest in dubstep on my trusty ipod machine. I was trapped with not one but two Penelope Cruz’s. Fucken scientologists.

 I gave the Minister for Health and Safety a loving glance. We were relatively comfortable; we would be in Bangkok in no time. But what was that smell? Oh my, another Spew Girl. This time it was a member of a Thai family. I do not think that there is much worse than someone vomiting on a bus directly in front of you. Surely in the age of motor travel people should be skilled in the art of avoiding motion sickness? Apparently not. Raising our legs and removing our belongings from the floor to avoid the vomit, the trip to Bangkok would turn out to be a long trip after all, or would it? Much to our delight Spew Girl 2 exited the bus shortly after ridding her stomach of the mornings noodle soup. Peace at last.

 We arrive in Bangkok at precisely 7:56pm. After a long days travel we are looking for a modest guesthouse where we can rest our weary bones. There are some other travellers looking a little bewildered as we depart the bus. They have never been to Bangkok before and they look like startled bilby’s. We have no time for their limited knowledge of Bangkok. As experienced travellers we high tail it past the vulture like taxi drivers who yap at us with the ever popular ‘where you going?’ I have no time for the rip off merchants. Our accommodation in Bangkok is but a short march away. Air con here we come; we needed it after living in a mosquito ridden sweatbox on the islands for a week.

 The night in Bangkok was uneventful. We meandered through the flea infested Kho San Road, glaring at the people buzzing in the street. We fended off suit makers who aim to befriend with comments like ‘hey, where you from?’ and eventually we stumbled across a very small Indian diner. In fact this diner was so small it was called Little India. A very creative name if I do say so myself. Filled with Chang and chicken tikka we retreated for the night. Tomorrow we would fly to Chang Mai.

 Like children who have just heard the tune of ‘green sleaves’ blaring from the speaker of an incoming whippy van, we were excited. So excited that not even a delayed flight could dampen our spirits. We were going to Chang Mai.

 Departing Chang Mai airport, I was gently stroked with a sense of calm. This great northern city had a somewhat relaxed atmosphere compared to its southern counterparts. Leaving the airport we gave the driver a piece of paper with our future guesthouse written clearly across it. He and all the taxi drivers laughed at us. I though something was up, and in an inquisitive way I asked the taxi driver

“What are you laughing at?” He replied with something in Thai. I will never know what they were laughing at but I bet it was funny. I remember when I was in primary school and this kid called Ben fell in the sewer. The whole bus started chanting “'ewer 'ewer 'ewer, Ben fell in the sewer” That was also funny.

 Our guesthouse Banilah is a beautiful little place. It is clean, comfortable and the staff is most accommodating. It was Sunday in Chang Mai, the night of the famous Chang Mai Sunday night markets. With a map of directions and the PA and I embarked on a journey to these famous (like Lleyton and Bec (bogans)) markets. Traditionally the markets were a place where all the hand made goods of the golden triangle could be sold and bartered, now the markets close down a whole suburb in Chang Mai’s city centre. Handicrafts from all over Thailand are sold, music is played from a variety of traditional Thai bands and unlike everywhere else I have been in Thailand, there are finally more Thai’s than there are tourists. The markets are busy but laid back, we eat from many different stalls and spend the night watching people and looking at goods that we will never buy (I have two and a half more months here and ill be fucked if I’m going to carry a round a bag full of bricka bracka). Like two good little tourists we eventually find a pub to enjoy an ice cold Chang.

 Now the pub we choose had a blues band. I am happy with this, so the Managing Director and I decide to kick back and relax. Over to our left is a Dutch family (you can tell this by the haircuts). The father looks like a cross between Jake the Snake Roberts and the gay barman who used to work at manly rugby club in the late nineties. Anyway the mother and father are embarrassing their adolescent daughters by making clucking (like a chicken) noises to a blues rhythm. Blues Chickens. This was two amusing for words, so we started clucking with them.

 Chang Mai has been a lot of fun. It is relaxing, we have taken time to just kick back and enjoy the city. We are off to Pai tomorrow, where I am sure I will have more mundane stories to keep you procrastinating at work. So stay chilled like a glass full of ice, and mack it out like snoop dog in a drop down. Peace in the Middle East. 

Hier noch ein Bild unseres Instrcutor Ingo. Weitere Bilder folgen nach dem naechsten Tauchgang.

Ausserdem haben wir einen neuen Begleiter der uns seit gestern treu zur Seite steht.

Wir nennen ihn liebevoll "Dreamy".

Also dann bis zum naechsten Mal

Marion, Sebi und Dreamy

I aften skal der fejres. Skal se filmen her om tyve minutter og saa tager vi til en anden strand og faar god mad og fester lidt.. det bliver fedt. Det ville vaere nemt bare at blive her. Men jeg vil se noget mere lokalt. Thailand har aldrig vaeret koloniseret.. Men denne oe er godt nok koloniseret af backpackere. De lokale forbliver anonyme og bag kulissen hele tiden. Men det er sjovt at kradse lidt i overfladen. For eksempel drives easy bar af Burmesere, som er flygtet her til og sender penge hjem til familien... det er en maerkelig verden vi lever i. I forgaars saa jeg paa trappen til mit vaerelse en doed gekko. Da jeg kiggede naermere paa den saa jeg af den alligevel bevaegede sig. Det var en hord af myrer der havde fanget et sig et enormt trofae. Men fangsten lignede mere en sisyfosisk forbandelse..

Iben er til anden proeve paa designskolen idag. Er spaendt paa at hoere hvordan det er gaaet. Savner hende meget og savner ogsaa jer! Jeg smutter igen.

Neben dem Tauchen ist auch das Essen hier nicht zu verachten. Es gibt viele gemuetliche Restaurants und laessige Strandbars. Allerdings muss man in den engen Gassen aufpassen, dass man nicht von einem der hunderten Mopeds zusammengefahren wird. Ab morgen werden wir auch zu diesen Mopedfahrern gehoeren. Also wenn ihr nichts mehr von uns hoert, sind wir entweder abgesoffen oder im Strassengraben gelandet :-)

hoffentlich bis bald,

Sebi und Marion

Hier noch ein paar Bilder von der Anreise nach Koh Tao