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Sawasdee Ka...another update? OK!!! I've got plenty of time on my hands at the moment as Susy sits here fiddling around with her new camera. All I hear is the random giggle, "check this out" and "SMILE".
We are currently in Hua Hin. Off the islands, a much needed break after feeling the constant sea sickness for the past 3 weeks. It wasn't THAT bad though, so here's the gist of it...
island hopping started on Koh Samui...we had heard its not the greatest place to visit, but we had to be our own judge of that. It's nice having a few contacts round the world, we were able to meet up and stay with a few of Susie's friends from Perth. We hired scooters and cruised the island to our own beat for 5 days...climbing waterfalls, lazing at the beach and riding to view points...yes this means up hill, on sketchy roads. Scoobie (my pink scooter that Dave and Sus thought suited me so well) almost didn't make it! The view from the Jungle Club was well worth it.
Next was onto Koh Phangan for the Full Moon Party. We arrived a few days early and were keen to find accommodation FAR away from the party zone. Again we hired scooters, but this time we had 65lbs of luggage each to carry with us over hilly costal roads. We settled the first night for a beautiful view, and went on to find a better location the next day without our bags on board. In the days waiting for the party we were hard done by, having to practice yoga and run along beautiful beaches. We read about bottle beach, isolated and only accessible by road from the east or by boat...and we were far west. Our map says that it's only a 1 hour hike over this mountain thru the jungle, just follow the bottles. If I can scramble in the Rockies, I can handle this right?! Well it definitely didn't take an hour and there were a few big gaps between bottles; but we made it. The views from the trek and time with no other tourists in sight was worth it. We still opted to take the boat back, only because it would be dusk by the time we'd make it back to our bikes parked at the end of the highway. This is where the real adventure began. We hoped the boat would drop us at Coral bay. A short walk up the hill to our bikes. Well, the tide was out and the boat dropped us at the next available beach. A few short miles farther along the coast. Ok, let's take a taxi. Hmmm, no one will go there for a reasonalbe price. So we start walking. After about 10 minutes someone pulls over and offers a ride for 50baht each. We opted for Susy to take the ride and me to wait. I waited, and waited, and waited...and finally, after being offered many rides and giving directions to lost tourists. Susy putts around the corner. Spitting chicken feathers, and covered in dirt with bloody patches on her arms and legs (sorry Pauline). This gives me great confidence to get on the back of a bike with her=:) I'd say: Susy=0, chicken=1! We survived, made our way back around the island after a snorkeling stop to clean the wounds, and seafood BBQ to watch the sunset. The next day was the full moon party...so in order to prepare for this we planned our day around napping so we would be able to stay up late enough to make it to the party. ( we usually have been in bed by 9) Chub and Dave( Susie's friends from Perth- we stayed with them on samui last week) came over for the party and spent the night on Phangan too. This was good fun. We spent the afternoon sitting on our deck overlooking the ocean enjoying a few drinks and the sunset. Then headed for dinner and took the bus into the town with the party, Haad Rin. I cannot even describe this party. It was amazing, the beach was packed with ppl, slides, foam parties, flaming skipping ropes, live music and much more for entertainment. Since I had already learned my lesson with the flaming skipping rope on ko phi phi I passed on that experience. But the rope ladder up to the completely vertical slide that sent u shooting out onto the beach...I was all over it! It wasn't until I was at the top I realized it was a waterside! 2 times was my limit on there...or my shorts limit I should say. I ended up with 2 huge tears in the right butt cheek. It's a good thing we bought cheap party clothes as we were warned about the body paint that doesn't come out of ur clothes. And I wasn't ready to part with anything out of my bag yet. All in all, success at the party. The 4 of us made it home safely and in good spirits. With a days recovery Sus and I set out on a snorkeling tour of Ang Thong National Marine Park. More hiking, view points, Emerald Lake and snorkeling: the tour was well worth the $$!!!
Speaking of money, the next day we were leaving for Koh Tao for scuba diving. One of 2 things we booked in our 18 months of travel. Susy was well prepared for the day, wearing pants and a tshirt to cover her war wounds from the bike accident. She rocked up to the bike shop to make her return hoping they wouldn't notice the extra scratches on the bike or the new mirror. She didn't even make it into the shop before they called her on the accident. Wanting to charge her 7800 baht, and holding her passport hostage Susy could only barder them down to 3500. She made the ferry by minutes and we were smooth sailing to Koh Tao!
During our first few days we complete 5 dives and got our open water certification. We planned to take a day off before starting our advanced course, I didn't plan to spend the day in bed with the travel bug tho:( I had a speedy recovery and was up to start my course the following day...Susy needed another day in bed. Diving an old Thai Navy ship, practicing buoyancy skills thru an underwater obstacle course, night diving, getting narced, and shark hunting gave us our advanced adventurer certification! We can dive to 30m anywhere in the world! Thanks BigBlue diving! We celebrated with a night out at The Queen Ladyboy Caberet, and a party at the Castle. We may not go out often, but when we do we do it right!
Only 3 weeks until school starts in Chaing Mai. With no plans except a border crossing by September 2nd, we've got a lot of ground to cover.
Sawasdee Ka
Beth
- comments
Mom Sounds like lots of adventures.
Mom Can't seem to get the new pics though
Beth No pictures up for this one yet Ma!!
Andrea C Congrats on the diving!! that's soo exciting, shark hunting?! My goodness I would be freaking out! lol Sounds like you are having a blast, Miss you, say hi to Susy for me! Love you