To start this entry, I think I have to start with a warning.....that this entry is likely not up to our usual standard, because we have been more focused on relaxing and enjoying time with our friends rather than with sightseeing or photography. This post will be shorter than most, but that does not mean we have nothing good to report, it just means it is a short report.
As we noted in our last blog, we had our plans for Japan cancelled due to the earthquake and the fallout afterwards. We have now finished up with our new found time and our plan B, which was time in Thailand, and are now very excited to be heading off to China where we will meet my parents for a two week tour. It was the one thing remaining in our itinerary that was very rigidly planned, and we are so relieved that it looks like it will be going ahead as planned. We were certainly sad to miss Japan, but seeing China, especially with the company of my parents, will be great and I'm sure soon enough we'll forget all about the fact that we missed Japan. In all honesty I suppose we are lucky that we chose to see Macau and Hong Kong first, as we would have been amidst the chaos in Japan otherwise, and I have heard that it is has been quite a difficulty getting out. And although Thailand was only a plan B, it was a great way to spend a week before heading to China to meet my parents. There is not a whole lot to report on over the past week though, but I will do my best.
When I last reported we were in Bangkok and had plans to head down to Koh Tao. We did end up finding a bus to take as down to Chumpon where we caught the ferry wit the company Lomprayah over to Koh Tao. It was a bit difficult finding 5 seats last minute for the bus/ferry due to the fact that there was a full moon party on Koh Tao’s neighbourng island, Koh Pha Ngan, which shares the same ferry service. However, we did manage to get some seats for a daytime bus service leaving early in the morning and still getting us to Koh Tao same day, so we grabbed those and were bound for Koh Tao. The bus ride was long, but comfortable. The ferry ride was another story! It was a crazy ride due to extremely rough seas. We had difficulty staying seated and had to try hard not get tossed around, let alone keep from getting sick, which most people were unable to manage. I never thought I would see it myself, but unfortunately we can now say that we have seen true projectile vomiting, from an inconsiderate passenger who placed himself directly upwind of the bulk of the upper deck of passengers, and proceeded to try to keep it overboard but managed to spray about 20 people seated behind us. Thank goodness that our crew of 5 were seated out of the path, but it did take effort not to make it a chain reaction as you can imagine, it was not a pretty sight. Anyhow, we survived the ferry ride and did not get thrown into the sea, and we were extremely relieved to be back on dry land when we hit the pier in Koh Tao.
Some photos.
Street food in Bangkok…and I’m still alive!
The ferry ride from hell, before we knew it was going to be hell!…
Being blown away!
The whole reason we were going to Koh Tao was because Tim, who had recently qualified as a divemaster, was seeking further qualifications as a scuba instructor, and he had been in contact with a PADI career development centre where they conducted the training, so he was heading there to start his training for a month. Trouble is, being in 'Thai mode' for a few months, Tim had not taken the time to learn where this place was or how to get there, so we ended up on a bit of a detour for the first night. It really was no trouble, as we got to discover Sairee Beach further up the island, but it was amusing that we spent our first day and night on the island searching for a place that was about 100 metres from the pier where we landed. When we did find the spot we were looking for we all settled in and got comfortable. Kim and I, having just been frustrated with an unsatisfactory room in a crappy guesthouse the night before (complete with brown water and and a smell of sewage leaking all over the floor), opted to stay in a mid-range hotel instead of another Thai standard room at Crystal Dive resort with Tim and Terry and Rachel. So, we grabbed a room at Montra right next door, and we ended up with a very similar situation to the one when we had when visited them in Lonely Beach on Koh Chang over Christmas.
Once all settled in and comfortable, we enjoyed some much needed chill time and beach time on Koh Tao, and we also of course took the time to do some diving. I was unfortunately nursing a cold, so I opted out of the 2nd day's diving. The first day's diving was fine, but we had some very low visibility, apparently due to the full moon. Also, we ended up missing seeing the first dive site due to a few miscalculations on the part of our divemaster, and we did not see anything all too spectacular. Plus, on top of that, a few of the staff kind of rubbed me the wrong way, so I decided to skip the 2nd day. Unfortunately for me, Kim came back with reports of spotting her first sea turtle on a dive, so immediately I regretted wussing out. Oh well, I enjoyed my day of rest in the sun, and Kim of course has the sheer delight of bragging about her turtle sighting. Apart from the diving though, not too much to report on in terms of activity, apart from everything you would imagine from being on a beach in Thailand with your friends. We had a few days in the sun, had some beers and nice meals in those standard chilled out beachfront bars, and a big night out dancing at one of the clubs. It was definitely not a sightseeing type trip, more of a relaxing holiday, so not good for blogging, but very good for our overwhelmed and exhausted state of being.
Pictures from Koh Tao..
The lot of us… Kim, Tim, me, Tez and Rachel…
The two of us, and some dork photobomber
Some frisbee on the beach in Mae Haad…
Our hotel’s wicked pool…
A Thai bar in Sairee called Lotus, recommended by our friend, Alex…
Diving…
This is Tim when we told him we were leaving him to his peace & quiet. Just kidding, one of our night’s out.
The Castle, where they have a clever background show of silhouetted girls on a screen..
Our time in Koh Tao just flew past, and it all came to an end too soon as usual. Yesterday on the bus back to Bangkok we were finally letting it sink in that our so-called free time on this journey is now gone, and we are now on a rigid schedule for another few weeks, which I think will be a good thing, as quite honestly we have little to show for our last week in Thailand. I just hope that my parents are up for action, because the itinerary looks packed! After China we are heading back to more familiar territory, likely direct to England for some time in Seaford with Kim's family and friends there. We did have plans for a stopover in Iceland as well en route back to Canada, but at the moment flight prices are not cooperating with that plan, so we will see. Either way, the end is most definitely in sight now, and we are trying to stay present and not get too bogged down with all the realities that await us when we finally end this fantastic journey of a lifetime.
There has been a strange turn of events back home that is very sad for our friend Craig, who was with us when we were last in Thailand over Christmas. We learned that his apartment building, and our former home – 4100 in Iqaluit, burned down to the ground last night. Craig has lost everything. We are devastated for him, but were so glad to get the news that he was okay and to get a phone call into him to let him know we’re thinking about him. We've yet to learn if he has any insurance or where he will be staying in the near term. Luckily he is safe, although he is obviously in shock right now. It is strange luck for us however, as that was our former place of residence, and likely would have been where we resided when we return in a months time. We have had the feeling that we have been on some sort of serendipitous path that has steered us eerily close to, but ultimately away from, all these crazy bad things happening, such as the earthquakes and the mining disasters in New Zealand, the flooding and the extreme weather in Australia, the volcanic activity that had preceded us in Indonesia, the chaos in Egypt and the rest of the middle east that ultimately had us miss Egypt as a destination. Most recently there was the earthquake and tsunami and nuclear scare in Japan that we missed by a day, and now realizing that if not on this trip we also would be dealing with the same reality as Craig. So we feel lucky that we have had all these amazing adventures and have avoided the problems that have been happening all around us. We are certainly hoping for the best for Craig and all the rest of the residents of the building. I guess we’ll have to see what the deal with our housing situation is in Iqaluit, as we we had just been riding a high most of this past week having just learned that we had been assigned staff housing again Iqaluit, and are now wondering what will become of that, as obviously there will be some higher need individuals than ourselves in the short term… only time will tell.
In my last bit of news before signing off, I am a combination of disappointed and excited to report that thanks to Tim's insistence and hijacking of my computer and passwords, I have now joined the world of Facebook, so we will see how I deal with that, as in the first four days of being signed up, I still have not been able to bring myself to actually log on under my own volition. Nothing against those who use it, but there are elements to it that put me off, and I think despite being a great tool for keeping in touch with friends and family, I fear it as a dark side. Anyhow, enough of my own personal struggles with Facebook.
I promise that next time we will have more exciting things to report, as we are currently only hours away from touching down in the world's most populous nation, and one of the biggest cities in the world, Beijing, where we will be seeing my parents for the first time since last September. We are obviously excited about our adventures, and we hope to have some time to take a break and post an update.
All the best to our readers, and especially to Craig and anyone else affected in Iqaluit.
Cheers,
The Knotty Travellers
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