SE Asia... Oceania... and Beyond

I’m back…

It’s been a while since my last update, but it is only because I have been extremely busy… But now I am back in Koh Samui, my self declared home in Thailand. My place to relax, read at the beach, watch movies and just enjoy the greatness of being away from life.

After I left Koh Samui last time, shortly after my last blog update, I headed southwest to the Island of Phuket and Patong beach. Phuket is probably one of the heaviest tourist areas of all of Thailand and it is also a gateway to the islands of Koh Phi Phi Donn (PPD) and Koh Phi Phi Ley (PPL - which has become infamous since the Movie “The Beach” was filmed there a while back). Phuket also happens to be one of the areas that got hit hard by the Tsunami, although there is very little evidence that now. I spent 4 nights in Phuket, but only one day. This is because I spent my days doing tours to the many islands that surround Phuket, the islands that truly make western Thailand a tropical paradise. My day trips included (1) a full day snorkeling and sight seeing tour to PPD, PPL, Monkey Beach and other various lagoons and islands, (2) a day trip including kayaking and sea canoeing through caves and lagoons among the over 40 islands of Phang Nga (James Bond Island being the most popular), and (3) a day trip Visa run to Myanmar (AKA Burma, officially my 20th country). I met many wonderful people along the way and spent many nights partying in the clubs, seeing shows and post partying in the ocean with people from Denmark, Canada, South Africa, England, Australia, New Zealand, Bulgaria and England.

As fun as Phuket was, I needed to get away and head to somewhere more relaxed, so I headed to PPD, the only one of the PP islands that is inhabited. It didn’t take much to fall in love with the PP islands. There is absolutely nothing in this world that I have seen that even compares to their natural beauty. The water temperature was like a warm bath, the clarity was second to none with visibility between 30-40 meters (98ft-113ft) and the marine life was in an overwhelming abundance. I spent most of my days with a buddy Wayne, South Africa, touring the islands in our own private long boat, seeing the beaches and snorkeling among the vast marine life and coral reefs. At night, it was sunsets, pool, fire dancers and dancing with friends from across the globe, coupled with beers and “buckets” of course.

Life on PPD was great, but Krabi and world class mountain climbing in TonSai Beach and Railay Beach (Krabi Province) was awaiting. This was my first time staying on the mainland since the October and ironically this place had the fewest amenities of any place I have ever visited in my life. There is good reason for this however; these beaches are only accessible by water because they are completely surrounded by huge grandiose rocks which protrude from the earth in no particular pattern or unfailing shape or size. It is rocks such as these that make the Krabi Province so awe-inspiring and unique. It is also for this reason that Krabi is one of the world’s top destinations for rock climbing and has spectacular snorkeling, both of which I have been fortunate to experience firsthand. I can’t even begin to explain how amazing this part of Thailand is, I can only hope that one day you will see it for yourself.

So... yeah... Koh Samui again... the third time? I originally came back here for one week because it was my friends birthday and I just wanted a break, some time to relax from the craziness, never ending activities of western Thailand. However, this week has been prolonged… and Malaysia (which was to be my next destination) has been postponed indefinitely. This is because today, less than 2 hours from now, I will be under sedation getting a wisdom tooth removed. Yeah, this week of relaxation has been great, but the last week and a half in general has come at a vast price... my friend dropped my camera in the ocean (apparently cameras do not like salt water), my memory card has disappeared and I woke up the other morning in intense pain with swollen gums. I am now on three types of medication which have since eased my pain and most of the swelling. So now it is time, according to my dentist, for the extraction.

And that is it for now. Wish me luck and little swelling as I hope to go diving in the Similan Islands (a top 5 world dive site) next week and then hopefully off to Bali for Christmas.

Best wishes and happy holidays to everyone!

Tim

Pictures (Some of these are not from my camera... but trust me, had my camera not been trashed there would be much better pictures)!

Me and James Bond Island

Some of the random Phang Nga islands

Koh Phi Phi Ley from the Sky

Maya Bay in PPL (where "The Beach" was filmed)

My Favorite Lagoon in PPL

Monkey's Everywhere... It's called Monkey Beach for a Reason

Amazing Sites and Amazing climbing at Railay Beach

Where to begin…

Koh Samui… The remainder of my days in Koh Samui were full of fun, excitement and exercise. I spent most of my time hanging out with three crazy English blokes (Roger, Simon and Peter) from Brighton and a really cool local named Aom, touring the island on motorbikes, partying at night (every night is a Friday night in KS), and doing occasional water sports during the day.

Speaking of water sports, be careful when you rent kayaks in Thailand. About a week and a half ago the English lads and I decided we would rent two double kayaks and head out to some islands a bit offshore. It sounded like a great idea, and it would have been one had Roger and Peter’s kayak not capsized and filled up with water about 1 Kilometer offshore. It turns out there was a hole in their kayak and the entire inside cavity of their kayak was slowly filling with water, no matter what it was only a matter of time until it sunk. Once it did sink it was up to Simon and I to drag the sunken kayak and two not so light individuals to shore against a slight current. This was not the experience we had hoped for, but it was also one not to forget.

The following night it was off to the Full Moon Party in Koh Phangan. What a great time this was. Imagine a beach at least 1 km long just full of thousands and thousands of people from all across the globe. The party celebrates the full moon (obviously) and is considered to be the world’s largest beach party. If anyone every feels like they need to let loose… Koh Phangan is a great place to do so.

After Koh Phangan it was off to Koh Tao. Koh Tao is this small, almost desolate island, where the only thing to really do is snorkel and scuba dive (which is exact reason that I was there). Once I arrived on the island I met up with a friend of mine from Sweden named Fredrik. We spent our first day snorkeling and saw just a wonderful array of fish species, underwater life and coral. Day two started off with more snorkeling and ended with school as the two of us signed up for our Open Water Scuba Diving certification. Over the next 4 days we spent a lot of time in the class room and made one pool dive and four ocean dives. On our dives we saw tons of marine life including moray eels, schools of barracudas, tuna, clown fish, blue ringed angel fish, blue spotted stingrays, triggerfish and more. I enjoyed myself so much that I decided to sign up for the next certification, Open Water Advanced. This course included some more class time and 5 specialty dives (I chose Navigation, Deep, Multi-level, Night and Naturalist). All in all I left Koh Tao after a week with two certifications and many magnificent experiences and memories.

So where am I now? I am back in Koh Samui, sitting at the same internet café and same computer as the last time I updated my blog. I intend to spend a few more days here with friends and then I will head off to an undetermined location.

I’m out!

Tim

Koh Samui from the mountains

Full Moon Party In Koh Phangan at night

One of my favorite views of Koh Tao including my motorbike

My Open Water Scuba Class

Sunset in Koh Tao

All smiles after a great night dive

View from Twin Rocks Dive site in Koh Tao

My first Thai haircut