Dave's ridiculous (half) world tour

Liveaboard dive cruises are awesome. There are three things you do for the four days you live on the boat: dive, sleep, eat. The trip involved diving Thailand's best reefs off the west coast - the world-famous Similan's and Surin Islands - the water is warm and the visibility is from another planet. Our first dive I could see the another group dropping into the water from about 35 meters away. That's very far for diving...

Unfortunately, nothing big appeared other than a large leopard shark. The dive sites have the reputation for large animals such as manta rays, and whale sharks. Not this time to all the divers' disappointment. Got a hell of a fright actually as the dive guide motioned shark underwater (place hand like a fin in front of your face!) and all I initially saw was an ominous large sillouette of a shark above the shipwreck we were diving (adding to the eeriness). Luckily it was just a leopard shark, a very beautiful and peaceful shark.
The night dives were the best for me - its completely surreal entering the water with the boat lights illuminating everything beneath it and then searching the reefs with underwater torches. We surfaced in the middle of a torrential downpore the one night - very cool! There was a really sombre mood as the boat headed back to land, we all had a great time out there.
I also snorkeled with a greenback turtle on the second day - that was amazing. It was completely unfased by being close to people in the water. It even pushed me with one of its fins when it got really close at one point.

So I've seen 7 snakes in the last few weeks, a couple of them very close. The first one was at Ko Pha Ngan - I saw some movement in my bungalow as what appeared to be a lizard shot under my mattress. Nope, not a lizard - it was a little snake!... I called the bungalow owner and he sorted it out (brutally smashed it with a broomstick). Didnt sleep too well for my last few days there!
About a week ago, I was walking at night through the campsite at the remote island of Ko Tarutao when I almost stepped on a long green snake crossing my path. The next day, went to a remote beach on the island and there was a python hanging from a tree on the beach.
Then the last few days - I've been diving off the Similan Islands in the Andaman Sea and saw three sea kraits... one of the world's most deadly animals! Apparently you're fine though - their fangs are too small to puncture a person's skin (urban legend??). Would have been good to know before I saw it...
Then yesterday, another snake sneaked past my feet in Khao Lak.
Anyway, enough of this nancy-boy talk...

Ko Tarutao was just the medicine I needed to get away from the resort crowds. Its a beautiful and virtually untouched strip of islands run by the National Marine Parks board. Totally remote - we'll see how long that lasts - one of the islands is already being developed by resorts. Anyway, it was good.

Spending one night in Khao Lak led me to investigate the effects of the Tsunami on the area. Khao Lak was the town that made much of the news from Thailand in December 2004, having suffered more than half the casualties for Thailand. I think about 4,500 people died. There is a significant flatland extending behind the town towards some hills a few kilometers from shore. Evidence of the strength of the tsunami lies in a 25 meter Thai Police cruiser, which lies almost 2 km's inland from the water. It was literally pushed that far by the waves and makes it easy to see how impossible escaping the wave must have been for people staying/wprking close to shore. It was pretty heady stuff. I also went for a walk on the main beach, and came across a completely deserted and destroyed resort. It was also quite heart-breaking walking through the broken bungalows and beach bar, realising that many people never could have escaed in time. It's a huge resort and occupies a large part of prime beach. I didn't hear why it still hasn't been re-developed, most of the other resorts have been rebuilt now.

So... now the real traveling begins. This time tomorrow I'm in Nepal and will be making plans for the Annapurna Circuit in the Himalaya's. Wish me luck, and don't expect news back for at least three weeks - the circuit takes at least 17 days to complete.

Travel days in Thailand are both pretty frustrating and amusing. Mostly amusing though. You often have to just sit back and go with the flow. Eventually you'll get to your destination! After a long 14 hour trip I arrived in Railay (various spellings) late at night. The trip swayed between interesting/amusing/frustrating/'some level of crazed madness' by a number of factors:
- Full Moon party the night before and arriving back to my bungalow at 04:30 (early for Ko Pha Ngan, I hear)
- The endless ocean swells on my boat back to the mainland at 08.00 that morning
- the Thai travel operators, reminiscent of dictators in their continual and unabated commands ("You do dis!", You come here!", "You eet now!", etc.)
- Two little German girls in my bus who attempted to break some sort of decibel record - earphones were no match for them
- five hour bus ride with another lunatic driver
- deluge similar to monsoon season on the 15 minute long-tail boat ride from Krabi town to Railay

Travelers start to feel sorry for themselves on travel days! I guess the day taught me to just laugh it off and sit back and enjoy the ride! However, it was all worth it. Railay is surrounded by four beaches - three of which are completely stunning. The beaches are all surrounded by massive cliffs and pinnacles. The water must be close to 30 degrees and if you open your eyes underwater it's similar to swimming in a pool, if not clearer. One of the beaches is Phra Nang Cave beach - without a doubt, this is (in my opinion) the most beautiful beach I've ever been to. I rented a kayak today and did some awesome paddling between the various bluffs and cliffs that jut out of the water. On the way back, I cruised past Ton Sai beach, home of the rock climbers. Its big wall climbing there and the view 200 meters up one of these rock faces must be absolutely amazing and terrifying at the same time. One day perhaps (Haig, Waterman, Millar - we'll have to talk...)...

Maya Bay at Ko Phi Phi Ley island is where The Beach was filmed. I did the mandatory speed boat visit of course. It's well worth it - it comes a close second to Pranang Cave (and my hometown favorite of the great Nahoon beach, of course) on my beach ratings. It's full of tourists, but you still marvel at the beauty of the place. Some amazing snorkeling as well, with reefs all over the place and full of life, with schools of little fish often surrounding you. I also registered about 8.2 on the Burner Scale that day. Think I added a few thousand freckles. It's nothing compared to the 9.9 I registered a few years back.

So Ko Pha Ngan is great for hammock swinging. Luckily, my spot was a few km's away from Haad Rin - the island's 'capital' - constantly partying for some shape or colour of moon. Lazy days - I read the first of my el-cheapo re-cycled 'travel guru' classics on a hammock for a few days - Tom Sawyer - going back to basics. When you're not chilling out, you're at Haad Rin or renting a scooter and cruising the island. And on the topic of scooters, Ko Pha Ngan has more than its fare share of Thai tattoos. That's big, bandaged injuries from scooter wipeouts - it seemed half the tourists had them there. Probably a combination of late nights, dodgy roads, suicidal local 4X4 drivers.

The full moon party puts pretty much any party to shame. No new years bash I've been to is like this. Picture a wide beach, with clubs/restaurants each throwing their own party via booming music and fire dancers, and at least 10,000 revelers. It's Khao San Road all over again, and anything goes. They actually hosted the party two days later than initially planned due to elections. Plus, it rained, so no one saw the full moon anyway!

Next - thinking of heading further south to see Ko Turatao National Park - these are almost untouched islands according to some locals I've spoken to. Pictures to come soon... (monthly picture limit still too high)

Thank goodness for Mom's 'Fabric care: Travel wash!' Sweating is what foreigners do best in Thailand, and locals reckon its a little chilly cos its still winter. As a result, I'm washing my shirts a lot! At midday, I generally find myself lazing about a beach bar in the shade, with a strong fan above me! Honestly, I thought Africa was hot, but in reality it's refreshingly cool.

So the last week was spent in Koh Tau, and what a place. As a Kiwi commented to me last night, while we soaked up the sunset, cold beer in hand - "It's easy to fall in love with the island". It truely is remarkably beautiful. Its not big - perhaps 2 km's from north to south, but houses a lot of people and over 50 dive operations. Dive courses are cheap. So lots of people do introductory courses, where they learn to dive. To get an idea - the place I stayed at is one of the bigger operations and has at any one time, probably 8 groups of open water divers. They have eleven instructors and churn through almost 300 Open Water qualifications each month. My dive school back home does perhaps 12-20 qualifications a month! So it's scuba on steroids here!
So the first few days I dived, and what a pleasure this place is for divers. There are plenty of dive sites all around the island. Unfortunately, the visibility is not that great here - I was expecting at least 15 meters, but on all 6 dives it was below 10 meters I think. Its very comparable to Sodwana Bay, South Africa - in terms of underwater viewing, except with less vis but much warmer waters.

The highlight undoubtledly - was a 5-6 meter whale shark sighting at a dive site called White Rock. A radio call came through to all the boats in the island's area that a whale shark had been spotted there, and so all boats headed to White Rock really fast, in the hope of catching sight of it. We got to the site and there were dozens of anchored big boats already emptied of divers. Thinking it must have been hounded off by now, I went down thinking our chances of seeing it were minimal. I was wrong! 3 minutes in, and a big shape emerges above us, glides slowly over, and not a diver in site. The big guy didnt need to offer twice - so I swam up and joined him, swimming alongside him for a few minutes. He even eyed me out, his big eye swivelling around to look me over, and wonder what this little thing was trying to do next to it and why the hell there so many bubbles coming out of it!! I was absolutely elated! The rest of the divers caught up and I drifted off, its legion of remoras clinging to it, and a dozen divers a few meters behind. Whale sharks are so popular - they have plenty of friends!

Another highlight happened yesterday, and involved sharks of another kind. Believe it or not, Shark Bay has sharks. Little ones though - perhaps just 2 meters...! You snorkel out into the bay, the reef system starts really close to the shore. It gets deeper gradually, and soon you're far out. You're not too sure what to do in case you do see a shark, so the guys with me were sticking really close together! Then you see something - a reflection, and its much bigger than the rest of the fish - black tip reef shark!! Cruising along the reef only six meters away! It was about a meter long - small-ish I think. I saw plenty of others yesterday, and they take no notice of you. In fact, you feel quite safe. What a day!

Other highlights were the visit to the Nang Yuan islands - also stunningly beautiful and seems to come straight from a post card; and hiring a scooter for the day to explore the little island. Discovered some beautiful spots...

I'm in Koh Pha Ngan (pronounced Ko Pan yang by the sounds of things) for the next five days. Full moon party here we come. Adios

I doubt there's anywhere else like Khao San Road in Bangkok. It's quite simply... chaos! For a first time visitor, this road can blow your mind. Its the tourist mecca of the city, most foreigners arrive from the airport and stay there. I booked into a decent spot with a window over the road, with complimentary additional lighting from the 7 meter neon hotel sign right next to my window. Across the road were two booming nightclubs, neon big screens advertising their doors to the masses. Their neighbours are restaurants whose front line in dealing with tourism are attractive Thai 'hostesses' almost wearing small dresses. On either end of the road, taxi drivers offer lifts, and anything else that a tourist may require - I got offered 'Wanna girl??' a few times! Some revellers are still going strong when buses pick up tourists for day trips the next morning at 7am. The food sold by the street vendors is excellent, by the way - its cooked in front of you and takes a minute or two.

I only stayed in Bangkok for two days, of which, the second day I spent in Ayuthaya, Thailand`s old capital. This was mostly because of my experiences on the first day thanks to making the error of taking a tuc-tuc to the Grand Palace. Ok, its probably not that bad, but I'm convinced Tsu (I think), my very friendly and approx 15 year old tuc tuc driver, was trying to kill me. Incoming traffic means nothing to this guy, although I'm sure he must 6-foot under by now. A tuc-tuc is a converted motorcycle with a sort of bench and canopy attached to its back. Its quite fun taking side alleys, but then you get into heavy traffic, and this is a tuc-tuc driver's opportunity to impress with his maneuverability, acceleration, and gap-taking skills. Which are all impressive, and timed to the mili-second - I had some large lorries bearing down on me a number of times. The mesh wire tuc-tuc backing appears a little fragile during those hair-raising moments. Its also interesting to note that you will get a great discount to your destination if you let them take you to some shops they recommend along the way. Inevitably, you find yourself at a jewelry or mens suit store, who finance the drivers to drop off tourists at their front doors. I got to see the Wat Phra Keo (huge, ornate temple) and the Grand Palace in Bangkok, which are both immensely impressive. The art works surrounding the interior of the temple are amazing.

Ayuthaya is an ancient collection of Buddhist temples. Its really worth the trip. Unless you've been to Angkor Wat I imagine. I went on a day tour, which unfortunately makes you feel like you're part of a large herd of sheep! The day tours are efficient conveyer belts of tourists, constantly being transported to each venue, with very specific time limits. On the up side, you do get to see all the top spots, which are all impressive.

Next stop was Kanchanaburi, west of Bangkok, for three days. Mixed feelings about this place: Erawan Falls is really beautiful - the water is refreshing and is a weird turqoise colour. It has seven falls in it, and is a great forest hike - it wasnt packed and swimming under some of the falls was a great way to cool off from the rising heat. I also did an elephant ride, which was really cool, and we went off the beaten track into the bush for half an hour.

On the other side of the coin, is a hideous tourist trap called the Tiger Temple. This is an animal rights case waiting to explode (unless that has already happened). Despite discounting it in their lie of a brochure, the tiger temple - without doubt - uses very heavy drugs to keep the tigers drowsy and pretty much asleep for what must be most of their lifespans. I've seen enough wild animals to know that you need a pretty large fence between predators and people. Between the mass of tourists and the dozen tigers there is only a thin rope, which is not to stop tigers, but just to show you were to sit. I had two massive adult tigers not 7 meters away from me, but they were so sleepy they didnt even know I was there. Every time they raise their heads, one of the tenders walks over and thrusts a water bottle at their mouths - the tigers love the flavour and lap up the concuction. Two minutes later, they are asleep and posing nicely for photos, the tenders placing their giant heads into tourist laps. The cubs - in the other den - are guarded by savage western volunteers, who guard their cubs as their own children, claiming that despite the thousand hands that touch them every day, they will remain normal tiger cubs; touch them on the face though, and they're all of a sudden too close to humanity and at the risk of being raised abnormally.
And still the hordes of tourists vans keep coming. Geez, its ridiculous. But I guess if tourists want to pose to with tigers, that's what they'll get, right?

I'm finding it really easy to meet and chat to other travellers - so far met some really ridiculously crazy Dutch chicks (waterfall pic), Canadians, Slovenians, Danes, Brits, Germans, Aussies, and all sorts. I'm seeing quite a few of them in Koh Pha Ngan for the full moon party.

Ko Tau, south east coast - I've just arrived two days ago, and its like a postcard - more to come on this and the dives I've done so far. This morning... scuba dived with a whale shark!! AAAH! And, I got photos. More to come.