A Week in the Life...

Another weekend has come and gone, even though there are no weekdays or weekends here. Throughout my travels, I have always been able to somewhat keep track of what day of the week it is, but somehow on this island paradise, it escapes me all of the time. A Thursday will feel like Sunday, today is Tuesday and somehow seems like Saturday. I think of time as today and yesterday and the day after next. It's a beautiful thing, but scary when you realize how fast it all goes by.

I took off on my visa run last Wednesday night. Destination: Burma. A sixteen hour journey of buses and boats that took me from Koh Tao and dropped me right back off without a hitch. The night boat was amazing. I got a lift to the pier and immediately plunked myself on one of the mattresses in the dorm for a great five hours of sleep. We arrived in Chumporn and were wisked away in a minivan to the border at Ranong just two short hours away. The border was hectic and it was extremely hot inland. I checked out of Thailand and got on the smelliest boat ever to take me and thirty others across the lake to Burma.



The ride was exciting, as I was sure the longtail boat we were on was going to sink at any minute. I was accompanied by people from all over the planet with the same intent on getting back to Koh Tao. I met some truly annoying British girls that had no idea what they were doing and watched them as they freaked when they saw the sign that said "Welcome to Myanmar." "Where's Myanmar?" they asked. "Where are we going?!" It was hilarious seeing all of the people on the boat wondering what these girls are talking about and then seeing one kind gentlemen go up to them and explain that Myanmar and Burma are one in the same.



We went to immigration in Burma and I really just felt bad. It was a shoddy office with just a card table setup. The poor guy sitting there looked miserable as he stamped our passports in and out of his country thinking about how we all didn't want to be there. This is not entirely true...I have to say that I'd like to visit Burma one of these days. With their men wearing skirts and their kind looking faces. I would definitely like to travel the areas that I am allowed someday. It's just that I have more pressing matters in Koh Tao at the moment.

We arrived back on the Thai side and I was granted fourteen more days in the country. Not long enough, but I'll be going back to Burma in a week or so to do it all over again. We hopped back on the minibus and then on the catamaran across the gulf. After an hour of relaxing below deck, I surfaced and looked out to see my home in the distance. I was back in Chalook Bay and welcomed by my friend, Sam, by 3pm.

Sam came down from Bangkok earlier in the day and was ready for me when I arrived. It was a wonderful reunion and the couple of hours that she'd spent alone on the island made her realize why I'd ditched her to stay there. We went to my apartment and settled in. It sounds like she'll be staying with me for a little while as I try to persuade her to try out the diving scene.

Her first night here was a special one. There were two DMTs that just completed their training and the night was reserved for the pool party/snorkel test. Whenever anyone finishes their training, their initiation is to drink a bucket (small bucket of some sort of alcoholic concoction) out of a snorkel. Not many finish, and I'm sure I won't when it's my time, but it's all in good fun and everyone attends. We went into Sairee to the Ban's pool and had our own private party with everyone around. We finished the night at the local pub with new friends in tow and it was a wonderful introduction for Sam to the island.



The day after the party, everyone decided to relax. We all curled up in the bungalow classroom on the beach and studied and talked and told stories of the day before. We swam in the sea and found some fun floatation devices to play with. I was supposed to dive that afternoon, but everyone else bailed, so I decided to relax that afternoon as well. The next day we were all headed out on the long journey to dive at Sail Rock, off the coast of Koh Phangan.

Everyone had a picture in their mind of what the Sail Rock trip would be like. It was the last dive on the islands for two of the people at the school. It was supposed to be a gorgeous day and the water would be like glass. The visibility would be 40 meters and we would get to see the whale shark we've all been looking for. I woke up in the morning, walked out on my balcony and found the complete opposite. For the first time on the island, it had rained overnight and the storm clouds were still rolling in.

I arrived at the dive school and everyone started taking motion sickness pills...not a good sign. The sky was opening up with buckets of rain as we hopped in the back of the open pickup truck to the other side of the island. We got on the Ban's boat and looked out at the rough seas and knew we were in for it. The swells were huge and water was pouring over the front of the boat. Everyone stayed on the bottom level wrapped in all of the dry clothes that they could find as we made the two hour journey out to the rock.



We arrived and people adorned their wigs and costumes before putting on their wetsuits to get in the water. Being a 40+ meter dive sight, the tech guys were there ready to find whatever lies below the point us novices would go. The visibilty wasn't spectacular, but it was beautiful just the same. The fishes were on steriods there. I saw a grouper that's head was larger than a basketball and it's length was at least a meter and a half. The rock has a chimney swim through which was fun to explore. We swam in at eight meters and out at eighteen a couple of times, watching our bubbles rise behind us. I was in a group with four newer DMTs so navigation was a bit of an issue, especially with the current, but we made it back to the boat safely after both dives. No whale sharks or tropical sun, but all in all, it was a good last dive for the couple of people that were leaving the island.

For the final hoorah party, we all decided to play it cool as everyone had something to do the next morning. Through the brilliance of Bastian, one of the leaving instructors, we found Crazy Mama's restaurant on the rough roads out towards Tanote Bay. A group of 15 of us dropped in on her after 9pm when the restaurant was completely empty. Mama is this truly crazy, and incredible Thai woman that welcomed us all with open arms and broken english. She called in reinforcements to cook us a huge meal while we all chilled on the balcony overlooking the twinkling lights of the bay below us. We didn't eat until after 11pm, but with the excellent conversation, no one really noticed. After dinner, she brought out the props and we all had a good laugh as she dressed us in wigs and hats and gave us fake guns to play with. The pictures turned out phenominal. Check this blog in a few days, I'll post them when I've got my camera with me.







Since Crazy Mama's, I've been on a bit of a diving binge...as if it could get any worse. It's like my job now, and I couldn't have a better one. I feel bad that Sam is left alone all day, but she seems to be keeping herself occupied. We have the evenings to hang out and chit chat. I started assisting my first course, a rescue course. I get to be the victim this time, and it's not as easy as it sounds. Flailing about in the water with full gear takes up energy. And when you've already done two dives in the morning, then spend four hours in the pool trying to play panicked diver, you get tired. I did this the other day and then proceeded to take a night dive afterwards and my body was exhausted...but the events of the night dive, the freakiest one yet, woke me up pretty quick.

One of my fellow DMTs, Lars, and I are in a competition. He started his just before me and is leading me in dives by about five or six at this point. I can't let him get too far ahead, so when I was on the break between the sea and the pool the other day, I decided I'd take him on and power through the night dive with him as my buddy. Both of us are still new at navigation, but White Rock is a fairly familiar site, so we took off on our own in search of whatever we could find under the sea.



We got into the water and immediately saw that the visibility was shit; maybe one or two meters. It's bad enough being in the dark, but in the thick blackness that not even our torches could penetrate, it felt slightly suffocating. We kept our course anyway and slid off the main rock after a few minutes to find the two other pinnacles that reside at the other side of the site. We swam through the sand and kept our compass on what we thought was the correct heading. We turned off our lights for a few minutes and played with the green phosporescents around us. We swam towards the pinnacle, and just about the time I was telling Lars it shouldn't take this long, a huge barracuda flashed in front of our lights. Normally this is an awesome occurence and we both tried to show off that it was sweet with our hand signals. But then we realized that the rock wasn't where we thought it was, and we both seemed unsure of our direction. After a few minutes of searching, I thought I'd found it...we had hit some sort of land mass. We cheered through our regulators and started swimming around it before realizing that this small boulder was not the large pinnacle we were looking for...and we both gave eachother the look. I pointed on the map that we should go back, we set our direction and started swimming....with the giant barracuda still flashing across our lamps. It was cool at first, but with each kick, Lars and I started swimming closer to eachother. We were huddled together watching this one meter fish circle us and wondered what else was going to come out at us from the deep. After a couple of minutes we gave up, it was time to surface. We ascended slowly, and very close together. We stopped at five meters and held hands while the required three minutes ticked by for what felt like an eternity. We surface just 45 meters from the boat and came up hugging eachother. It was a freakish night dive that I will not soon forget. I haven't been scared of a dive in a long time, but this one took the cake. With that horrible barracuda and no sense of direction in the blackness, I will admit I was a bit terrified. Both of us are laughing about it now and it's a great story to tell. I'll be emailing him in ten years to remind him of that night that we had to face our fear...but did everything that the books and lectures have taught us. We were smart divers that evening...and everything turned out brilliantly.

Yesterday, I jumped right back in the water in the morning for the second day of assisting on the rescue. We were on the boat bright and early and I was to play the victim under the water. We got to the dive site and I attempted to be the buddy from hell. I was swimming off into oblivion and flapping my arms wildly. I pretended to start touching the coral and my diver had to calm me down each time. I had to laugh when we came back up after a short 33 minutes and I had very little air in my tank. I'd sucked it all up with all of the energy I expelled trying to play my part. I was a bit embarassed but soon got over it. We did another dive and practiced some more. It will be good for my DMT to continue playing these parts. I learned a lot in the two days I was there for it.

Unfortunately, I couldn't complete the third day. Sam and I had plans that could not be broken. After the dives and some quick shopping (I finally have my own gear!!!!) we hopped on the boat and sailed over to Koh Phangan, just a two hour journey across the gulf. The famous Thai full moon party is tonight and we're here to see what all goes down. We arrived in the afternoon yesterday with big plans to go out last night, but after we saw our luxurious new bungalow, we decided to relax a bit. We walked in to our honeymoon suite of sorts, complete with air conditioning, gorgeous ourdoor bathroom and cable tv and just couldn't leave. We had dinner and drinks at the restaurant and then came back to watch two much needed episodes of Sex and the City, with Thai subtitles of course (PK- you should've been there!!!). This morning has been spent playing on the free internet in between movies on HBO. After this we will have to escape and go see the mayhem of Haad Rin Beach. With just two nights away from Koh Tao, I need to say that I saw something more than my hotel room. Hopefully the current clouds will dissapate and the full moon will come out and we'll dance our cares away until it's time to get back on the boat tomorrow afternoon.

PS -- Due to the sheer amount of people here and the possibility of theft, I don't have my camera on me while posting this blog. Check back in a couple of days. I'll make sure the pics of the last week get posted in their correct place. :)

DMT

I'm still here. I haven't left the island. My last blog stated that I would be going to Bangkok and on the day that I was supposed to leave, I bailed and decided to stay. This island is a magnet. So many people come here and just never leave. The diving is incredible, the people are fanstastic. It's always warm and there are beaches surrounding you everywhere you turn. So my new thoughts on it are, if I'm so happy, why should I go?





It all started with last week. I was out fun diving almost every day and hanging out with people from the dive school at night. I was still staying at Sunshine on the beach and still hadn't left that area of the island....and then it happened. I got on a motorbike and went up to Sairee, the larger beach, with some friends to see my very first Thai lady boy show. And it was all downhill from there.

The show was actually quite awesome. And the girls...I mean boys....were really, really good looking. They do a whole Vegas showgirl routine, throwing some Thai "culture" into it and everyone has a blast. They pull people onto the stage in the end of it all and dress them up as well. Quite embarassing for everyone watching, but all in good fun of course. My new friends and I all enjoyed and made a night out of it afterwards. It was my first big party on the island and it felt wonderful to have so many people around me.





From there, it was St. Patrick's Day. With so many tourists on the island and so many Irish, it wasn't hard to find something to do. I went out with a bunch of the people from the dive school and it rained green glitter on us throughout the night. We laughed and had such a good time. The next day I woke up, went for two dives, had the most amazing visability yet on the island, and my mind was made up. I've become a new DMT (divemaster trainee).

After my rescue course, I had been contemplating this move, but was really going back and forth on it. Becoming a divemaster requires a massive amount of skill assessments and tests, written and in the water. People take at least two months to complete it, many take much more. The DMTs usually finish with over 100 dives in their logbooks, although with all the free diving you can have, there are a lot that surpass 150. My big debacle is that I will not finish it before I have to return to the states. Starting it here and now means I absolutely have to come back asap. I don't like long term plans, as everyone knows, so of course this was a tough decision. But seeing this place and becoming part of this island has been so wonderful, it won't be difficult to return. I'm looking at plane tickets for the middle of July. I'll be here until I finish my training, and then we'll see where I go from there.

After my decision was made, I got my new Sunshine Dive School t-shirt and attending the Koh Tao Underwater Festival with everyone else. The fest was gloriously decorated with jellyfish hanging from the trees and a huge silver fish over the stage. There was food and drink everywhere. Thai bands were performing. And each of the large dive schools on the island had their own dance routines to show off to the crowd. It was great fun for everyone and I think the entire island attended. The fest lasted two nights, and I was even able to get some diving done in between.



After the festival was over, it was time to get down to business. Priorty one: a new place to live. I was paying an exorbitant price for my last place on a nightly basis, and although it was close to the school, paying that for another five weeks was just not going to fly. I went diving with a few people on Monday and they knew of an open apartment in their complex, so I went to look at it that evening. I was moved in within the hour. My new bungalow is beautiful. I have a bed, two sofas, a small kitchen (sink and refrigerator only, it's way cheaper just to eat out here) and a bathroom (cold shower only, but man, it's hot here, it really doesn't matter). I have a gorgeous tile balcony that faces out to the palm covered mountains. There's even a place to hang my hammock.





So what does this all mean? Basically, I'm not traveling in Asia right now. By the time I leave this island, I will have seen nothing but what lies under the sea around it. I talked to a friend about this last week when I was making this decision, and the main thing is that these countries will still be here when I get back. I have a home for the first time in over six months and I'm quite content to stay in it for a little while. I've made friends here and always have something to occupy my time with. Speaking of which....

Yesterday, a friend an I decided to ride over to Shark Bay to have a snorkel. I had borrowed another friend's huge fins and mask and attempted to get a look at some of these sharks close up. Apparently, I'm getting a little more ballsy as time goes on. Low and behold, I saw my first sharks yesterday...and yes, I freaked. They were small, less than a meter, black tipped reef sharks. They are non-aggressive, but the first two came so close in the very shallow water that I sucked all sorts of water through my snorkel and then proceeded to choke as it swam away from me. With the second, I forgot to put my snorkel back in and then tried to breath underwater like I was diving, which had the same result. After maintaining my bearings and telling my buddy I was swimming to shore, I saw two more of these little creatures. I was pretty shaken, but in retrospect, they were so beautiful the way they glide through the water. If nothing else, I think I'll be a little more prepared the next time I see one. And I'm definitely going to be using better equipment.

So there you have it. That's what I've been doing. Not much different than real life. It's work, taking people out diving and studying things like physics and physiology. I led my first diver alone today and got lost on the dive site, which is pretty easy to do with my bad navigation skills. But it all turned out well, just a small surface swim. In time I will get better. The friend that I was supposed to meet up with in Bangkok will be here on the island tomorrow and I'm so excited to host her in my new place. Unfortunately, my visa is running out very quickly, so tonight I actually have to leave Koh Tao. Luckily I will only be gone one day. There is a boat that will take me to a bus, to another boat, and another, and another bus to another boat that will take me to Burma and back. I will pop across the border tomorrow morning and walk back into Thailand with my visa renewed. I'll have to do this twice before leaving Thailand for good. It's a small price to pay to stay in paradise just a little bit longer.

Under the Sea

"Darling it's better, down where it's wetter, take it from me!" I've been singing songs from The Little Mermaid in my head all week. The impending sea festival on Koh Tao and the mass amount of scuba diving that I have been doing are making my head spin. I have officially been on this island longer than anywhere else that I've been in the last six and a half months. I live next to a tropical Thai beach and there is a wonderful community of people here, I see no reason to leave at this point. My original friends have now all left to go other places, but new ones come in every day. The water is getting clearer each time I go diving and I've fulfilled all of my certifications. I've moved to a new cockroach free room that looks out to the water. I think I'll spend one more week here and get some more fun in before going back to Bangkok.





I started my advanced open water course last Monday and have been working hard ever since. the school here is fantastic; far better than where I learned in Colombia. The woman who runs the operation here has been on the island for thirteen years and done over 10,000 dives. The divemaster program is incredible and all of the trainees are so dedicated to their hobby. We have a lovely classroom on the water, which makes the theory part of it all much more enjoyable.



I had to choose two electives for my advanced certificate, and as they have no shipwrecks here that are shallow enough, it was time to try a night dive. When I first got here, everyone told me I should do it, but knowing what kinds of things are in the waters around here, I was terrified. I told them that as well. I don't mind swimming at night, I do that quite often, but something about swimming with the fishes 14 meters below the surface in the dark of night just didn't appeal to me. Everyone assured me that it would be wonderful and the things I would see would be amazing, so I signed up. Last Wednesday I took the plunge to complete my course.

We went out just as the sun was setting and Emily, my advanced instructor, debriefed us on the dive sight, White Rock. There were four of us on this dive and as we were jumping in, I seemed to be the only one with any apprehension. I did it though. I went down the line with the rest of them and had my dive light on. The dive site is just a huge boulder covered in coral. As we descended, the fishes started to come out and I could see all of their silhouettes shining in the moonlight from above. We saw huge barracuda, an octopus, giant hermit crabs and puffer fish all entangled in the stunning environment that we were in. The corals are a different color at night and they fan out as the sun goes down. The phosphorescence glows as you shake your hands in front of your face. Everything down there seemed to slow down. I used a lot less air than normal as I was more calm than I have ever been on a dive. It was an experience I will never forget, and I plan on doing another before I leave the island.





After the night dive, I completed my advanced. My two moped buddies had gotten their open water that day as well. So we were all divers now and happy to join the club. As our friend, Thue, was leaving early the next day, we went out to one of the many beach bars for a small celebration. We had a large group that joined us and it was a great night out laying on cushions at Eazy Bar. Nights out here don't tend to be late though. Usually everyone's got something important to do the next day.



For me, it was the beginning of my three day Rescue Diver course. Rescue is the last one that I needed to be able to go for my Divemaster. It consisted of two half days of theory, one afternoon practicing in the pool, and then four "fun" dives off the boat where anything can happen. My new instructor, Sarah, is American and incredibly good at what she does. She's been on the island for four years and diving since she was twelve. The infamously dramatic Blaize was my victim throughout the course. She got to drown several times, threw up on me once, ripped my mask off and reg out of my mouth while I was 14 meters down and generally drove me nuts for the entirety. It was awesome, but not easy. There were fake shark attacks and people with motion sickness. I can't even count how many times I had to jump off the boat to save someone. It seemed every time I turned around, some catastrophe had affected the boat and it's passengers. After the first day, I wanted to kill some people, but it was worth it in the end.



The water was more clear than I've ever seen it during the rescue, which made it difficult to concentrate. The visibilty was more than 25 meters and Sarah knew I was dying to get down there while not trying to save lives. Yesterday was my last day on the boat and they took it a little easy on me so that I could enjoy it. The last of the original group, Ryan, was leaving in the afternoon, so he joined me on the boat to get his last bit in. He got some good shots of me rescuing, so I'm looking forward to see those very soon. We both got to dive and the water was incredible. There were lots of little creatures and gorgeous blue water. Still no sharks yet, but I keep looking. It was the perfect ending to his trip and the best way for me to finish all of my certifications. I got a proud handshake from Sarah at the end and I feel like I've accomplished something amazing. I am a Rescue Diver now.



After our morning dives, everyone seemed to want to take the afternoon of. A Sunday Funday was in order. We had lunch and drinks while saying goodbye to Ryan. Afterwards, a bunch of us sat in the sea with Tiger beers and Singha for hours. It was a quick 10 foot move up to Eazy Bar in the evening where we celebrated my instructor's birthday. Even though my old friends are gone, it seems that I'm making new ones quickly enough. It was an early night for me as I feel a cold coming on (that would be worse than a hurt back, no diving with a cold!) and I got up early this morning feeling refreshed. Ex-students get a good price on diving here, so I've already signed up for my first two this afternoon. Even if it's cheap, I've still got to watch how much I decide to do it. If divemaster is an option for me, I need to be prepared to drop some money fairly soon. Working on tropical islands and diving as a job? I don't think that sounds like a bad idea at all. Whether I decide to go that route or not, it will definitely be fun trying.

Life Lesson # 563

Don't do something that you've never done that could cost you a boatload if you screw up....especially when on a limited budget. For the second time on this trip, the first being the time I fell asleep in Heathrow and had to pay $300 to continue my flights, I've done something ridiculous and it's cost me (relatively). Yesterday I decided it would be a good idea to rent a motorbike for the day, even though two wheels and a motor are something I've never experienced before. After two small accidents and (thank god) no physical harm, I can say I've learned my lesson. I think I can officially laugh about all of this now.

Before I begin the story of the mopeds on Koh Tao, I'm happy to say that I made it here with no hiccups after paying such a small amount in travel expenses. I got to my pick up point in Bangkok on Thursday evening to find the travel agency closed. Luckily there was another rider there as well and we were quickly picked up by a small Thai man and wisked down a dark alley and out onto a main road where he held up his hand meaning either to stop, or that he would be back in five minutes...neither of us knew which. After twenty minutes of not really knowing what was happening (and still no sign of our disappearing tour guide) a bus with a magical horse and image of Popeye showed up and we knew our problems were solved. We were on our way to Chumporn.





I got to know my new Danish friend on the bus ride down in between trying to sleep and shivering in the freezing bus (they apparently love their air conditioning here too). We arrived at the dock at 3:30am to wait for our boat that would leave at 7. We really couldn't figure out why the buses were scheduled this way, but we took it for what it was and were glad to be there anyway. When a beer was sat down in front of me a half hour after our arrival, I didn't complain. Sleeping was not an option and my schedule was all thrown off from the overnight bus anyway. I passed the time meeting new people and trying to figure out where I was going. I was able to catch the most beautiful sunrise over the water just before our boat started boarding.



The three hour ride was good. Everyone just relaxed on the deck and was eager to see our new home in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand. There were two dive operators on the boat advertising their programs and I chose where I wanted to go from their information. Instead of the large western beach, I would be taking the free taxi ride down to the south for a more chilled out stay on the island. As we approached Koh Tao, I found that my Danish friend and an Aussie that I had met would be doing the same.



After a quick ride in the back of a pickup truck, I found myself at the beach. I chose Sunshine Divers as my new accommodation and even got a bungalow near people that I had met on the boat. I plan to stay on the island for a week or two, so I actually unpacked and put things in drawers. I must be going through some sort of nesting phase because it feels great to be settled for the moment.



My room is cozy, although I seem to be sharing it with a family of creatures that I guess I'll just need to get used to. The geckos don't bother me much anymore, but the three inch cockroach that taunted me while showering yesterday morning was getting to me a little. I was quite happy when I saw him scurry from the bathroom out onto the porch in the afternoon. I quickly screamed for one of my friends next door and we chased him away with a broom after quite the scene. I was laughed at by a few Swedish guys in the area at that point, but I think I can call the "girl" card on that one. These things are just gross. The geckos, on the other hand, are pretty neat (especially considering they eat mosquitos). I came home to a huge one last night which I just wanted to keep as a pet. Between the bugs, lizards and choirs of birds in the trees of the garden, I feel like I'm in wild kingdom.





So on to the story of the motorbikes... I've grown up seeing my dad ride my whole life and although I've never really tried the whole two wheeled thing, I figured it couldn't be all that hard. That's basically all there are on this island, just mopeds and motorcycles with a few pickup trucks just to shake things up a bit. While walking around on the first day, we found out just how cheap these things are to rent and thought we'd give it a go.

Yesterday morning, we picked up our new rides and proceeded to terrorize the island. We drove to the center to have some lunch and a swim and then started to make our way to some of the more remote beaches around us. Much to our dismay, the bikes were crap. They looked good, but with balding tires and little power for the steep hills, we got ourselves into trouble quickly. The two guys I was with were pretty experienced, and although I was starting to feel more comfortable, I was still shaky. After a couple hours of riding, I had my first wipe out at the top of a hill. There was sand on the concrete and the tires wouldn't grip. I was going slow so had no damage to my person, but the bike got a few scratches. After this first one, I was a little more careful for the rest of the day.

Even with extra caution, my lack of motor skills hurt me in the end. About ten minutes later, I found myself pulling out on the main road from a gas station, causing a tiny bit of carnage in the process. I attempted to turn left and was gripping tightly to overcompensate for the shotty brakes when I somehow managed to turn the throttle and aim my bike directly into another, which then hit a pickup truck coming from the other direction. This all happened in slow motion and the next thing you know I was being pulled out of the road. The other bike didn't fall over and he was gone before I realized what happened. The owner of the truck just stood there and laughed as I shook and was glad to have two friends there to comfort me. The pickup had a nice crack in the front bumper, but no one came to talk to me. The next thing I knew, all of the parties involved were gone without a word and I was at a bike shop getting the brake that I broke off fixed. I managed to get through all of this without a scratch. I'm not really into motorbikes anymore... at least not in Thailand.



After all of this mayhem, we actually continued on and went to another beach to relax. Of course, with my luck, I jumped into the crystal clear water for just long enough to realize I was being stung by tiny jellyfish, and then promptly got out. It was a beautiful day and it would've been nice for a swim, but it just wasn't in the cards for any of us.

Last night was an early one after all the chaos of the day. So this morning I awoke and felt productive. I cleaned my room, did some washing and started reading some of my advanced diving manual all before 7:30. Ryan came around about 8 and told me he was taking the bike for a ride before breakfast and I happily sent him on his way alone. He came back an hour later with a bike more scratched up than my own. He'd had a spin out as well on the crappy roads of Koh Tao.

We had breakfast and contimplated how to deal with the situation. We decided we'd take them in at that moment rather than delaying the inevitable. We brought the bikes back with our eyes looking downward and hoped they'd miss something, which of course, they didn't. They attempted to charge him almost $450 and me $300 and we asked to speak to the boss. The bikes weren't worth much more than that and the thought of so much wasted money just made us sick.

So to try and forget it all for a moment, three of us went kayaking out to Shark Beach this afternoon (yes, there are sharks there...no, I didn't see any...and yes, I swam). The day was hot and the water was beautiful, so it worked at the time. When we got back this afternoon, I ended up having to pay two thirds of what they wanted and it was the same for Ryan. It was a bum deal that we got, but it needed to be settled. I was at least able to rationalize it in the fact that my accident was real and I could've ended up spending money fixing a Ford F150 as well.





So that's it. I've decided not to take anymore risks of that magnitude. I knew what I was doing and am glad that it was only monetary damage involved. Besides some of the drama, life on Koh Tao has been fantastic. It is beautiful here and I've made some friends that are keeping me company. I've chosen a dive school and have my first two dives tomorrow. I think I'll be settling here for the next week or two, so we'll see if I can keep myself out of trouble until then.

Culture Shock

Traveling is an emotion. It's this butterflies in your stomach, can't keep the smile off your face feeling that I've become addicted to over the last six months. Being in New Zealand was so familiar to me that I lost it after the first few weeks there. Yesterday when I awoke in my own room amidst the hustle and bustle of Bangkok, I got it back. Everything is so fresh and new and different again. I'm getting a buzz off of all of the excitement and culture around me. It's a great feeling to have, I missed it more than I realized.

I said my goodbyes to New Zealand and jumped on the plane over to Sydney not sure what to expect. The ride over was uneventful, although I did get to see some of Sydney's highlights from the plane. I wish I could put it on my travel map, but I don't think the three hours spent wandering the airport counts for much. I had the great pleasure of being in the absolute last row on the monster of a plane from Sydney to Bangkok. With massive turbulence pushing us in every direction, I was glad that I had a couple glasses of wine before boarding. I will be correcting my seat request before getting on that flight again.



I arrived in Bangkok just before midnight on Tuesday and was immediately struck with all of the lights, smells and loud music. I'm staying near Khao San Road, the tourist mecca of the city. It's basically like Las Vegas; I'm pretty sure just about anything goes here. I checked into my hotel and have found that traveling will be different, once again, here. I had my own room with comfortable bed and nice ceiling fan, although sans bathroom, for just 325 Baht...about $8. It'll be different from the dorm life that I've become so accustomed to. I like dorm life sometimes as it's easier to meet people and see what's going on, but after that first night with no big guy snoring on the top bunk, I think I'll just find a new way to make friends.





Yesterday I woke up with a giddy feeling. I could not stop smiling as I faced the extreme heat to take a walk around the city. I am on the move again and there are so many things that I'm looking forward to seeing. Asia is just so different than anything else. With it's guilded palaces and happy faced statues, what's not to love. The people seem lovely, although I feel bad that I know nothing of the language. I've asked how to say thank you about 20 times, and still can't remember it. The words and tones all sound the same to me. I'll just have to keep asking until I get it right.



I made it to only one tourist attraction as I walked around yesterday, the temple of Wat Pho. This temple houses a 47 meter long statue of the Buddha and it's surrounding gardens had a plethora of interesting sculptures and buildings to see. I entered the site and lit some candles for my family and friends and just felt at peace with where I am at the moment. Life is going to be good here, and it's already started off well.





In the heat of the afternoon, I was melting so I decided that it was time to get my first Thai massage. Just before I left Christchurch last weekend, I managed to throw out my back. I talked to a physiotherapist the other day, and she said it was stress related, but I can't figure out how that works with my life and lack of structure. Basically, I felt something funny when I woke up on Saturday morning, and when I went to throw my pack on as I always do, the muscles in my lower back gave out. By the time I got to Auckland, I was immobile. It was a backpackers worst nightmare. It's feeling better now, but still sore when I sit for too long. The magic fingers of that Thai woman yesterday definitely seemed to help. At $4 for a half hour, I may just do it again today.

I was lucky that I got to meet up with another friend of mine on my first day here, even if it was brief. The companion I had throughout eastern Europe just happened to be passing through Bangkok yesterday afternoon before his flight back to the states. It was a wonderful reunion. We got to have a few drinks in between him wrapping up his souvenir shopping. I was sad that it didn't last longer, but as we both plan to continue traveling, I'm sure that we'll be seeing eachother again soon.

I'm leaving this evening on the overnight route to the island of Ko Tao. I went to one of the hundereds of travel agents on the street and bought a ticket yesterday afternoon for the stunning price of 500 Baht. This was by far the cheapest I found anywhere else, and I have to admit that concerns me a little. When I told Dave the price I got, he basically told me to prepare for the worst. Lots of stops, possibly no air conditioning and hidden costs that weren't presented to me when I bought it. I actually considered just going and buying a whole new ticket, but that could end up just the same. So I'm going to try this shady bus to god knows where. If I get lost or dropped somewhere strange, then maybe that's how it was supposed to be. As long as the bus points south, I will eventually get to this island. I've got nothing but time on my hands and with 40 plus scuba schools on Ko Tao, I'm in no rush to get there.

Goodbye Auckland...Hello Bangkok!!!

A month ago, I was ready to leave this place. I was in the car with Daniel and couldn't think about anything more than getting out of New Zealand and getting to the excitement of Asia. The natural beauty of this country is incredible, but it's missing the cultural depth that I had in other areas of the world. I thought it was too much like home, and I'm traveling to get away from all of that. Now,about to head to the Auckland airport, I realize how much I'm going to miss this country that I've enjoyed so much for the past two months.

New Zealand grew on me, it really did. The people here are so nice. They have the same affinity towards bare feet as I do. And they say cute things like "sweet as" that I've grown to love. The landscapes in this country are sickeningly beautiful. The best part of it is that I have experienced real life here...well, as real as it can get without a job and the stresses of it all.

In the last few days, I've basically been waiting for this flight today. Brad and I made our way up to Christchurch. We had a rockin' night out with friends on Friday. I said my goodbyes and see you soons on Saturday morning and made my way up to Auckland. I am so happy to have caught up with my friend Kitty again, as she graciously offered me a place to stay. I got to meet all of her friends and attend a barbeque on Sunday afternoon. Brad got up here and we went out to see the genious of the band Pavement on their opening night of their first tour in ten years. It's been a great ending to it all, but somehow that always makes it harder to leave.

So today I head to Bangkok! My flight is in a couple hours. I'll make the short hop over to Sydney to enjoy the airport for three hours and then it's non-stop to Thailand. It's going to be a long day of travel followed by the crazy culture shock I'm sure to experience at midnight tonight. No matter how hard it is to leave one country, it's always exciting to get to a new one. I've got a friend to meet up with tomorrow afternoon in the city and then I'll likely start making my way down to the beach. By this time next week, I hope to be sitting on a tiny island in the middle of the Gulf of Thailand.